Get involved with Women’s Sports Week

Get involved with Women’s Sports Week by working out with a friend!

Women’s Sports Week is starting today and runs until the 25 June. It’s such an exciting initiative, celebrating women who play sport, women who lead and work in sport and increasing the visibility of women’s sports in the media and everyday life.

A brilliant way to ensure that you stay on track is to find a friend who you can workout with. Exercising with a friend has many proven benefits, as highlighted by a study published by scientific journal Nature Communications and then in the Independent.

The research found that exercise is ‘socially contagious’ – that seeing our friends being active inspires us to follow suit. With that fact in mind, ACTIV8aFriend has been launched to coincide with Women’s Sports Week.

ACTIV8aFriend supports both women who want to become more active and small, independent #FemaleFriendly fitness businesses. ACTIV8aFriend offers women running small businesses the opportunity to offer discounts and promotions geared towards women and their friends. This ideas is that this will encourage more women to not only exercise, but to also bring a friend along to join in the fun.

(If you own a small, independent business and would like to take part in #ACTIV8 when they run the scheme around the 8th of every month, visit wsnet.co.uk/activ8 for more information.)

Exercising with a friend is a great fun, but there are many other subtle benefits, too. Check out our top reasons for working out with a friend below!

IT KEEPS YOU CONSISTENT

Consistency is key when you’re working out with a friend. There’s no way you can let them down, and they similarly wouldn’t want to leave you hanging. When you arrange to meet up with a mate to exercise at a specific time, you’re more likely to stick to it than you would if you were working out alone.

IT HELPS YOU AIM HIGH

Working out with someone who’s the same level of fitness as you, if not slightly higher, is a fantastic way to stay motivated. You’ll both continually push each other to reach your full potential, which is always a plus. However, if you work out with someone who’s far fitter than you are, you’ll run the risk of either losing heart or injuring yourself. Make sure you find the right balance between your abilities.

THE RIGHT PERSON CAN HELP YOU FLY

Just because someone is one of your best friends doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re also the ideal gym companion. However, the right person can be an inspiration, a motivation and great fun! So it’s important to make sure that you and your workout buddy are a compatible match. Consider things like the types of exercise they enjoy, whether they have a positive attitude and how busy their schedule may be.

A LITTLE COMPETITION GOES ALONG WAY

There’s nothing wrong with a healthy dose of competition, especially among friends. It’s a great driver and can make even the dullest workout session a lot more fun! Just be careful that neither of you take it too seriously. You’re there to exercise, boost your fitness and have a great time. At the end of the day, meeting up with a friend to work on your fitness automatically makes you a winner in our books!

BUT GET SOME RULES IN PLACE!

Heading to the gym with a friend is a lot of fun and you’re bound to share many laughs as you drop it like a squat. However, it’s up to you to decide how sociable your exercise sessions are going to be. Otherwise, if you’re anything like us, that mid-week sweat sesh is in danger of becoming a mid-week cocktail hour!

Visit womeninsport.org to find out more about Women’s Sports Week.