Eight Ways Couple Workout Goals Help Relationships

Working out with your significant other has a variety of benefits. Setting goals for those couple workouts have just as many, if not more, advantages! Imagine all of the goals that an individual might set for working out. When you apply those and additional goals to your couple workouts, you can improve communication as a couple, among other improved factors.

Research has proven that working out with your significant other helps you to stay in a happy and committed relationship with them. In fact, relationship counselors often encourage couples to work out together to become one another’s motivators, carve out bonding time, practice accountability, and more. While setting workout goals can accomplish these things, it is important to speak to a professional if you are experiencing significant troubles in your relationship. Let’s explore some of the beneficial ways working out with your partner can improve your relationship.

Building motivation and drive

Have you ever set out to get fit and lost your drive a quarter of the way to your goal? Or maybe you had planned to start working out but never quite made it to the gym? These are things that a lot of individuals experience. 

However, having a workout buddy to keep you going is a great way to stay motivated; according to one study, participants had a 65% chance of completing a goal if they told someone about it, and those chances increased to a whopping 95% if they committed to meeting up with their workout partner in real life. Sometimes, all it takes is someone you trust telling you that you can do it to help you accomplish your goal.

Not only is it good for your workout, but it can carry over into other aspects of your life. You might encourage your significant other to keep going on the treadmill, just as you would motivate them to keep working on a tough problem at work. Motivating one another in the gym and at home can add to both relationship and fitness success.

Creating meaningful experiences

It is incredibly important to spend time with your partner regularly. Setting workout goals as a couple means spending time together when you’re working to reach those goals and discussing your goals and how to meet them. Although couples should have a date night at least one night a month, setting workout goals with your significant other likely means that you plan to work out together at least a couple of times weekly.

Some couples plan to work out together twice a week and separately a couple of times each week. Doing so allows you to check in on your couple’s goals while maintaining your sense of self. If you prefer to work out together every time, that can also increase your bonding experience!

Cultivating trust

A workout buddy must be someone that you find trustworthy one you can truly count on. When you set workout goals with your significant other, you are likely entrusting them as your workout buddy. They may be there to spot you when you attempt to bench-press heavy weights, show up on time and as planned, and put real effort into reaching the goals that have been set.

Building trust in a relationship is necessary and imperative for success. By spending more time together and leaning on one another when things get tough, the level of trust can reach new levels. Setting workout goals that develop team skills and improve is a great way to encourage trust-building.

Improving health

Having improved health has a hugely positive impact on relationships because of the decrease in stress. Poor health can be emotionally taxing, financially difficult, and time-consuming. When one partner falls ill, it likely becomes the responsibility of the other to pick up the slack. Even if the illness is naturally occurring, it can be hard to avoid feeling resentment toward the situation.

By setting workout goals as a couple, you are making an effort to improve your health. Understanding your health’s impact on your relationship is a good way to ensure that you both take the goals seriously. Meet your goals and have a better chance of living a long life together! Making an effort to reach that particular goal says a lot about the importance of the relationship to both parties.

Increasing happiness

Exercising, in general, makes individuals happier because of the endorphins released during the workout. As a couple, working out can make relationships happier because of the additional time each person contributes to the relationship.

Relationships may also be happier because of the communication that occurs while discussing the goals. Setting workout goals as a couple means discussing all of the intricacies of each goal: why you want to reach the goal, how you’ll do it, and the date by which you want to achieve it. It is a good exercise in communication that can extend across all topics of conversation.

Boosting relationship satisfaction

Quantifying relationship satisfaction requires considering the level of positivity for several categories. Happiness is one of the generalizations for having a satisfying relationship, but it also requires effective communication, teamwork, and fun. A person who is highly satisfied in their relationship experiences all of these aspects, to some degree.

When you and your partner set workout goals together, you communicate your desires for your future together. You are working together as a team to achieve those goals. Plus, although working out is not always fun, but it can be much more enjoyable with the right person. Each of these aspects adds to the overall relationship satisfaction.

Assisting with individual goals

Setting goals as a couple can have a great influence on personal goals. As mentioned previously, goals are more likely to be met if you tell another person that you are working towards them. That person can then hold you accountable.

While helping your partner with their individual goals is a benefit in itself, improving oneself is a great way to improve your relationship as well. It makes sense to believe that a relationship is only as good as the people in it. If a person lacks communication skills, working on getting better at it can only improve the relationship. Focusing on continued self-improvement and personal growth is crucial to sustaining a long-term relationship.

Becoming more attractive to one another

Some people stay in an unhealthy relationship and accept their partner’s unhealthy habits because they feel as though others will not find them attractive. When one (or both) of the partners don’t have to worry about their significant other attracting other people, they may feel stable in their relationship. While this is an unhealthy view on things, it is commonly joked about.

However, they are not necessarily more attractive in the stereotypical sense but because exercise creates the same symptoms as arousal. Those symptoms can make the brain think that your partner is more attractive than before.

Potential couple workout goals

If you are interested in setting some couple workout goals with your significant other but are unsure where to start, consider both halves of the relationship and their current fitness statuses. Also, consider that men and women have different body compositions, including water weight, body fat percentages, bone density, and muscle mass. 

A great way to set goals is to focus on what you want to attain (versus what you want to lose). For example, if one partner currently benches 40 pounds and the other benches 60, the couple benches a total of 100 pounds. Set a couple of workout goals of benching a total of 150 pounds within the next three months, for instance. This means that they will rely on one another to reach the goal within the set timeframe.

Another great example is to set a frequency-based goal, i.e., working out together three times per week for at least 30 minutes per session for the next six months. This goal requires both halves of the couple to be present and put in the effort to succeed.

When setting goals as a couple, remember to consider your current fitness levels. Goals should be challenging but not impossible. The best couple goals are those that require effort from both partners to succeed. They also need not be 50/50. 

In an example scenario, one partner might desire to increase their muscle mass while the other may want to reduce body fat. It is important to keep in mind that a regular scale may not break down body composition in this manner, and a number on the scale in and of itself is not the best indicator of someone’s overall physical health.

Meeting your goals with the help of therapy

Meeting your goals as a couple deserves a couple of rewards. Give yourself an extra date night or order an extravagant dessert next time you eat out together. When you have met your goal, remember to set new ones! It is important to continue to improve so that you and your partner are continually working towards your joint future. Having constant goals reminds us that working for your relationship doesn’t end. You and your partner must always make an effort for your relationship to succeed.

In some cases, you may find that attaining your goals is not as easy as you thought it would be. You might encounter unforeseen obstacles, such as scheduling childcare during workouts, feeling insecure with performing certain exercises, or resenting your partner for making more progress than you are. In whichever circumstance, know that you are not alone, and an online therapist may be a surprisingly useful resource to consult.

Through online therapy platforms like Regain, couples can meet virtually with a licensed counselor to work through various challenges within their relationship, including fitness goal progress. 

Is there a component of your accountability plan that is working for your partner, but not for you? Is your partner aware of how you may have been teased as a child for being overweight? Did your former partner spend all of their time at the gym instead of with you? All of these issues and more can be explored by a compassionate, qualified online counselor. You can even text your Regain counselor during a workout, should you feel so compelled!

You may be wondering if online therapy is even appropriate for setting or tracking fitness goals, to which the response is certainly, “Yes!” In fact, various people in relationships have sought therapy for major depressive disorder which involved guided physical exercise. In one study, 48 participants diagnosed with mild to moderate depression were split into a waitlist control group and experimental treatment group, where the latter cohort engaged in weekly therapeutic guidance and physical exercise. Results showed noticeable decreases in symptoms of depression compared to the control group. 

That said, you don’t need to have a mental health diagnosis in order to reap the benefits of therapy. In a systematic review and meta-analysis of nine studies involving internet-based therapy for couples, researchers concluded that the 2000+ participating couples experienced improvements in relationship satisfaction, confidence, and commitment by the end of the internet treatment window. If you’re interested in hearing about people’s experiences with online couples’ therapy, you can read some of the counselor reviews below.

Counselor reviews

“With Cassandra’s help, we’ve been able to bring our relationship to a new, healthier, and much happier level, working through painful situations, growing as individuals and as a couple, and with tools to stay on this path. She’s very responsive, and it has been great to have her facilitate our messaging through the app all week. I highly recommend Cassandra. She’s skilled, supportive, and down-to-earth. We feel totally comfortable with her.”

“Sessions with Natalie are very insightful and give practical advice on implementing new habits and changes. Be prepared to engage and be challenged to think in a different way. I know that my partner and I can already see improvements in our relationship and feel more positive about working through our issues together.”

Takeaway

For some people, working out alone can be boring and unfulfilling. Having an accountability partner can increase your desire to follow through on your goals and make the process more fun! When you and your partner can overcome obstacles together, it makes reaping the benefits of your hard work all the sweeter. If you feel like you would benefit from having a licensed relationship therapist in your corner, you can reach out to one of the professional counselors at Regain today.