The Buddy System Works
Scanning across the gym, you can see the grim looks on the faces of isolated individuals that have their earbuds in, and are slogging away through their training sets. Brightening up the landscape are two or three sets of buddies training together. In contrast, they are laughing, joking, spurring each other on, and having a great time.
The Buddy System works.
It even works if buddies are not physically together. Recently, we’ve had times where we were experiencing very low motivation to get to the gym at all. A call to our buddy was enough to get us motivated enough to make it to the gym. Another call to a buddy afterwards, to analyze the training session, provided another mood lift.
We’ve mentioned in the blog recently that only 3% of people make it to the gym three or more times a week. This is very clear evidence that making it to the gym is just not an easy thing to do. Being that we humans are social creatures, we need a little help from our friends.
The Buddy System also works for the main goal people have for going to the gym: losing weight. Let’s take a look at what the research says about the advantages of The Buddy System.
Greater Weight Loss: A study published in the Journal of Health Psychology found that roughly 54% of participants in a weight-loss program who chose a "buddy" lost more weight and reduced more waist inches than those going solo.
Better Accountability: Group and peer-led programs (such as Weight Watchers) often yield higher success rates because shared goals build social support and mutual reinforcement.
Maintenance: Follow-up data show that individuals who tackle diet and lifestyle changes with a friend or family member are more successful at keeping weight off in the future.
So why does The Buddy System work so well?
Consistency: Buddies provide accountability to each other, and offer real-time motivation during difficult slumps–providing a key element to the golden equation of “Consistency over time yields results.”
Shared Resources: Exchanging recipes, nutritional information, workout routines, and coping strategies are all ways buddies can share their resources for success.
Reduced Isolation: Knowing someone else shares the same daily struggles makes the psychological burden of calorie restriction easier to bear.
So, grab a buddy and get down to business. Whether face-to-face or talking and texting from a distance, there’s no more effective way to meet your goals than tackling it with a friend.
The Buddy System works.
Until next time
Scott and Lennart