by Rick Scheer
“Two by two they came into the boat, representing every living thing that breathes.” If this concept is good enough for God and Noah, then it’s good enough for weight loss and fitness! I know that in my life I have found this to be true.
Having a buddy working out with you makes a huge difference in how much effort you put in and then affects how much you get out of your weight-loss journey. I know there are all kinds of statistics to prove that having a buddy increases your success by 4 times the success someone sees when working out alone, but my story and success proved it to me.
1. A buddy made me do the work
I remember starting my weight loss journey with my brother-in-law about 28 months ago. Back then, even though I wanted to lose weight and was committed to weight loss, I did not have much desire to actually work out. However, I did not want waste his time. So, when I would schedule a time to work out with him, I would actually go in and do the work.
I would not have been as successful as I have been, losing about one hundred fifty one pounds and about one hundred forty five inches, if it hadn’t been for that commitment to him in those early weeks. I think that’s true for most people. If they don’t have an accountability partner, they might not make it to the gym at all.
2. A workout partner with similar goals helps us relate and keep interest
I think it was about eighty pounds into my journey that I met another man. He had completed his transformation by losing well over one hundred pounds. He then took me under his wing and we became work-out buddies. This became a huge help to my success.
It was about this time that my brother-in-law was reaching his goal, which changed our workout dynamic. What I mean by this is, he was at his goal and was not in need of the intense gym time that I still needed to reach my goals. I needed someone with similar goals, someone I could relate to, who wanted the same amount of intensity that I did, to keep us both interested and moving forward.
3. Competition… we achieve more when someone else is counting too
My new workout buddy brought out the competitor in both of us. Turns out, we both worked harder when the other one was watching, and we even wanted to set higher goals! After I reached my first goal of one hundred twenty pounds lost, I decided that this was not enough weight loss.
4. Set Higher Goals, push each other to do bigger things
We decided together to reach the goal of one hundred fifty pounds lost. Shortly thereafter, we reached that goal together, and today we continue to push each other to be the best we can be. We challenge each other so much that he became my training coach for my first Triathlon!
Having a buddy to work out with can push you to go bigger than you would ever go on your own. I thank God for all the people who have helped me through this journey, but I know that without my buddies in the gym, I could not and would not be what I am today.