5 Benefits of Couples Working Out Together

Become the power couple you always dreamed about by improving your physical strength together. Exercising with your partner is one of the best things you can do for your relationship. Elevating your heart rate and sweating together has a number of positive benefits for you and your partner. 

Fostering a shared goal of healthy living can improve connection and attraction in your day-to-day life. Along with healthy eating habits, regular exercise has been shown to improve quality of life and longevity. Building these habits with a romantic partner can help support a long, happy, and healthy lifestyle. We’ve outlined five reasons below why you should start exercising with your partner today.

• Improve your emotional connection
• Build routines together
• Magnify attraction
• Expand your workout options
• Release tension and stress

Improve your emotional connection

Working out with your partner not only improves your physical health but also your emotional connection. Whether it’s going for a run, lifting weights, playing tennis, etc., these activities foster opportunities for growth and connection. Working out together gives you the opportunity to spend quality time together while you improve your individual health. Research has shown that couples who workout together are more satisfied in their relationships.

A relationship expert at The Eternity Rose explains, “Exercise has been proven to make us happier as individuals thanks to the endorphins it produces. When you work out with your partner, you’ll experience that happiness together. When you push and motivate each other and then experience the results, you’ll bond over your joint positivity.”

The pursuit of a similar goal can help couples feel more united. As you support each other in your exercise goals, you will feel an added measure of support in other areas of your relationship. Overcoming mental blocks or physical challenges together helps establish a pattern of resilience as you encounter future hardships. 

Dr. Dan Sneider-Cotter, a writer for choosingtherapy.com, further explains the connection between emotional closeness and exercising together. He says, “You also get the added benefit of seeing each other working hard, sweating, breathing heavily, and working towards a shared goal. These are powerful primal signals that cue attachment, intimacy, and desire.”

However gross it may seem at first, sweating together connects you emotionally to your partner. When you exercise together, you have the opportunity to bond over shared experiences and work towards a common goal. Over time, your relationship will become stronger and more resilient to outside influences. 

Build routines together

Fitting in time to exercise can feel like an impossible task. Some couples have children they need to look after. Long hours at work or school can also interfere with your plans to exercise. However, when you make a goal to exercise with your partner, you can plan together weekly to figure out a time that works best for both of you. This may mean working out at home some nights if you still need to watch the kids, or waking up early before the workday starts. These sacrifices will become easier as you build a consistent schedule. 

Working out with your partner also helps you stay accountable to your fitness goals. Whether your goals include weight loss, increased physical strength, increased endurance, etc, you can encourage and motivate each other to stick to your workout routine. If you work out together in the morning, you won’t have to struggle to get out of bed before your partner. Working out can be an activity where you look forward to spending time together and improving your health. 

A reviewer for P90x highlighted her positive experience while working out with her husband. She found that the home workout series P90x was the perfect solution to their busy schedules. 

Customer Review: Alyssa

“Great purchase. You see results especially if you stay committed. My husband and I love working out together doing P90x. We can fit it into our crazy schedules and we actually look forward to doing it because we know it works.”

A consistent pattern of regular exercise has long-term benefits on your physical and mental health. You may experience improved sleep and increased daily energy levels. Having an accountability partner can help you follow through on your long-term fitness goals resulting in lasting health benefits. 

Magnify attraction

Attraction is a key ingredient to a happy and healthy relationship. Couples can keep the passion alive by working on their physical and emotional attractiveness. Intense cardio and strength training exercise releases endorphins that improve your overall mood and happiness. Sharing this time with your partner helps your brain associate your significant other with positive experiences. These endorphins continue to support positive emotions even hours after your workout. Exercising with your partner will help you to be a happier and more attractive person. 

Joe Hargraves, co-founder of Spouzal, comments on the benefit of observing your partner in settings outside of the home: “Attraction is something that needs to be nurtured, and there are several ways to help strengthen this throughout a relationship. Both backed by research, working out together and hanging out with other couples enhances attraction. In both situations, you’re able to see your spouse outside of how you normally interact with them helping to boost attraction for you both.” 

The increased attraction you feel will also improve your sexual relationship. Women who feel emotionally close to their partner are more likely to initiate and participate in sexual intimacy. Men can also feel increased attraction from observing their partner work to become physically fit. 

Expand your workout options

Recruiting a workout buddy expands your exercise options. Partner workouts are a great way to change up your exercise routine. You can increase your weight at the gym with a partner to spot you. You might even want to think of your significant other as your personal trainer. He or she holds you responsible for finishing a tough workout further motivating you to reach your goals. 

Take time to watch, spot, and provide feedback to one another as you improve your athletic abilities. Don't get discouraged if you are on different fitness levels. You can still workout together while accomplishing different goals.

Seek to find shared hobbies that get you up and moving. You don’t have to go to the gym and lift weights to start working out together. You might try new sports like tennis, racketball, pickleball, basketball, yoga, etc. A little bit of healthy competition may be the perfect solution to get your mind off of daily stressors. 

Matt Kite, Director of Education and CPT at D1 Training, offers some fun partner workout suggestions to try with your significant other:

Partner Ab Exercises

• Plank Claps — Planks are one of the best ab exercises you can do. For the starting position, get in a straight arm plank position facing your partner (who is doing the same). Make sure you’re an arms width apart and your feet are in a wide stance. Then, simply alternate hand claps with each other.
• Sit Up & Pass — Sit in front of one another with the front of your feet touching in sit-up position. One partner grabs a medicine ball. Both partners lower, both partners crunch up. At the top, pass the medicine ball to the other partner.

Partner Leg Exercises

• Lunge Battles (each leg) —This can be done side to side or facing each other since all that really matters is that you have space to stationary lunge. One of you will start out with doing five lunges while the other holds the down lunge position. Once the lunger has completed five reps, they will now be the one to hold the down lunge position while the other partner does their set of five lunges. Repeat until you’ve both completed 20 lunges, then do the same thing on the other leg.
• Double Crab Walk — With your backs against each other, both partners lower into a wide squat position. Crab walk from one wall to the other all while keeping your back together.

Partner Cardio Exercises:

• Guided Pace Run — A fun way to shake up your traditional run, pace runs guide you through a run with varying speeds from jogging to short sprints. The challenge will get your heart rate up and partners can help push one another to keep going. It’s always fun to end on a high note and race for the last stretch. 

Release tension and stress

Most people deal with stress on a daily basis. Whether that stress stems from work, health, family, relationships, world events, politics, etc., prolonged physiological arousal can take a heavy toll on your mental health and relationships. Unresolved stress can lead to tension in your romantic relationships that hinders the happiness and fulfillment you feel with your partner. This year has been especially difficult for those dealing with the widespread effects of the pandemic. 

The increased dopamine after exercising is scientifically proven to reduce stress and lower depression. Staci Hargraves, co-founder of Spouzal, suggests that you should, “Do yourself and your partner a favor and blow off some steam in a productive way. Exercise is a great way to improve your fitness and mood while keeping the stresses of everyday life from impacting your relationship.” 

We are often inclined to put off exercising in fear that we don’t have enough time to accomplish our other tasks. However, we don’t have time to go without exercise. Consistent exercise positively impacts our mental and physical stamina. Practicing these self-care routines with your significant other will help you prioritize your well-being. Even if your workout can’t always be as long as you want it to be, simply taking 30 minutes a day to get your heart rate up will improve your performance in all areas of your life. 

Find your workout partner

Are you in search of the perfect workout companion? For singles seeking a relationship, check out our list of the top online dating sites. Find the perfect online dating app based on your interests, budget, and time.