We're Better Together

by Chip Schrager

 

So you and your significant other have decided to take the plunge, decided to push all your chips to the center of the table, decided to…work out together! Mazel Tov!  You like running and biking. He likes basketball and lifting. You hate basketball and lifting and the last time he ran was after eating a questionable taco…so what do you do? You have to find a middle ground or else you’re going to both get frustrated and walk away from the entire deal.

Clearly there is at least one way to work up a sweat and burn calories that you both probably enjoy and by all means you should continue to enjoy that as frequently and vigorously as possible. It’s good for your heart, head and muscles. But what else can you do?  Try some of these activities:

• Doubles tennis is a fun way of meeting both his need for competition and your desire to run around. It’s also something you can do with friends and build regular group outings around.

• Rock climbing is very strenuous, great for building lean muscle in your arms and legs and, assuming you’re both starting out, you can design a vacation around it. Start training this summer and by December you’ll be ready to take a mountain climbing vacation together. Just please – get professional training.

•  Take some dance classes. Oh I hear the snickering, but seriously, some of those dances are as aerobic as spin could ever be. And again, it’s another fantastic way to meet other couples.

•  Skiing is fantastic, builds up the legs and is more of a work out than you would think. It’s not always great for conversation, but it is something you can do together.

The answer is that there are tons upon tons of fun activities that you and your partner can do together to get in shape and bring your relationship closer together. The key is finding the ones that work for you as a couple. As always, the morale is that if you’re having fun doing something you’ll probably get more out of it than if you think of it as a chore.