Iron Brothers: Who to Work Out With, and How to Exercise On Co-op Mode

Iron Brothers: Who to Work Out With, and How to Exercise On Co-op Mode

This article was originally posted on www.fitnessgeared.com



When you have yourself a great lifting partner, you’ll have a very valuable asset to your exercise goals. When done correctly, you can create a great partnership that will push you to go above and beyond in the gym. Unfortunately though, like any other relationship there can be problems as well. Big relief though with this relationship, “cheating” probably just refers to eating some pizza.


What to Look For With Your Gym Buddy

Don’t be shallow! You can gather a lot of knowledge and insight from someone who has a different style of exercise than you do. Not to mention the whole idea of “tricking” your body can very well be accomplished by having an exercise partner run the show for a change.


What you probably do though want is someone who ultimately has the same or similar goals as you do. A bodybuilder or a powerlifter may learn a thing or two from each other. Pairing up a power lifter with a long distance sprinter on the other hand may not be a perfect fit.


Try to find someone in a close enough bracket of strength as you are. A lot of times, you can find the competitive edge by trying to out lift your partner with different exercises. What is great about this is, he or she is doing the exact same thing! So what this ultimately does, is progressively makes each of you stronger and stronger. We are here to progressively get better and better anyway aren’t we?


But, this isn’t to say that someone can be significantly stronger than the other person involved. Just remember that you should always push each other to do better each and every day.


The Do’s and Don’ts

Do remember that you are human just like your partner. So be flexible with some things. Maybe they need to work out at a different time due to work, school, family, or whatever. Don’t give them a hard time if they need to go stag for a day. On the other hand, don’t make this a reason to skip your own workout! You need to keep yourself accountable first.


Do remember that you are at the gym for a reason; to exercise. It’s okay to talk about only 3 things:



•Did they help you get that weight up?
•What exercise to do next?
•Has the pre-workout kicked in yet?



Okay, that is a bit overemphasizing, but what you don’t want to do, is waste the hour or two you have talking about chicks, sports, video games, or whatever. Again, you are at the gym to exercise, so do it.


Do make sure that the other person is safe when they are exercising. Many exercises are dangerous, and people do get too comfortable sometimes while working out. A simple slip, trip, or miscommunication can create a hazardous situation where someone gets hurt. So if you are there to spot the person, do pay attention. Another great aspect to build on this idea is that usually the best gains, and the best repetitions come from the ones that you couldn’t get without someone helping you. Truly pushing yourself past your boundaries is obviously something that a lifting partner can help you out with, so make good use. Don’t help your partner out though when it is unneccesary or you will prevent them from making any real progress. There is no need to help lift whatever weight they are working on if they got it on their own. Also don’t let your partner try weight that they cannot simply get a single repetition on their own. If you are helping them with every single repetition on a bench press, they would benefit much more simply by lowering the amount of weight they have on there.


Accountability With a Partner

One of the best benefits that you all can get from one another is the presence of accountability. First of all, in exercise you need to be accountable to yourself. You put your time and energy in to get something good out of your exercise habits. You do the day to day and show up and that is great. But, too often do people take a rest day, or two, or 6 days out of the week. You working out with a gym buddy will prevent that from happening. From day 1, set your goals of days per week that you all need to show up. Chances are both of you will make that happen, because it is one thing to stay accountable for yourself. But, it is a sad sad thing when you skip out on someone elses terms. The accountability might be the single most important aspect of working out with a gym buddy.


Now you and your gym buddy should go out there and get some gains!