Working Out With a Friend

Happy Friday!  I woke up this morning with a stomach ache, but knew I had to make it to the gym before having 2 days off.  Today was triceps day (my least favorite).

The walk to the gym was pleasant though.  It was a bit colder this morning, but overall not too shabby. I tried to do regular push ups today, but still am not strong enough to complete a full set.  I also tried doing them with my knees bent on the ground, but after about 2 push ups… I had shooting pains in my knees.  I am hoping by the end of the next Phase, I will be able to complete the entire 3 sets of push ups without fail.

Let’s take a look at yesterday’s workout.

Yesterday was a shoulders/abs day!  It’s not as fun as legs day, but not too bad.  My favorite exercise today was the dumbbell front raise.  My least favorite exercise is the rear-delt raises.  I’m not sure I’m doing them properly, so I’ll have to re-watch the instruction videos.

I’m really liking the 10 reps instead of 12.  It allows me to lift heavier weights for a shorter amount of time.

On another note, something I wanted to address was working out with a friend or a group.  At my gym, I see groups of women  who work out together.  I don’t have anything against working out with a friend, but if it becomes more of a social session instead of a workout…I see a problem.  However, I do notice many benefits when groups of women work out.  The one benefit I’ll talk about today is motivation.

Here are some of the ways I think working out with a friend can help motivate you.

1. Motivation to get out of bed and head to the gym.  When working out with a friend, there is much more motivation to actually get to the gym.  There have been many mornings when I didn’t want to get out of bed.  I thought to myself, “Who’s going to hold me accountable?”  The answer is no one.  Since I go to the gym in the mornings by myself, no one is there to call me to get out of bed or yell at me for not showing up.
2. Motivation to keep up.  I noticed that if one person feels like he/she can’t keep going, the other person pushes and motivates the other.  If you go to the gym and work out alone, like myself, you have to be self-disciplined.  When I feel like I can’t push any more, I keep telling myself “one more.. one more.. one more.”

So I got to ask… do you work out by yourself or with a friend? Why?