Fitness7 years ago

Doing The One Thing Will Get You In Shape, According to MIT Scientist

by Madeline Ottilie

We’ve all been there: stuck with the difficult decision of cozying up on our couches or dragging ourselves to the gym. For the best of us, the hardest part of working out is resisting the urge to hitting the snooze button—So how do you get out of this rut: “I’ll workout tomorrow mentality.”? According to scientists at the MIT Sloan School of Management, the secret to motivating yourself to workout is as easy as sharing your fitness results with friends.

You read that right. The study analyzed the geographic locations, daily exercise patterns, and social media networks of more than 1 million people over the course of five years, and found that exercise truly is socially contagious. Whether it’s through actually exercising with friends or sharing results on a specific app — we are motivated to workout even harder when we’re sharing our workout results.

Ready to further commit to your fitness? Scroll down for 5 ways to amp kick up your workout motivation by sharing with your friends.

USE A FITNESS TRACKING APPLICATION

One of the best ways to compare results with your friends is to link up with a fitness tracking application, such as a Fitbit or Apple Watch. If you and your friends on the same device, it’s easy to hop online and compare steps or calories burned in your latest workouts. If you don’t wear a fitness tracker, you can still track your progress and stack it up against your pals. Download a mobile application like MyFitnessPal. You can set goals, as well as log your nutrition and workouts and send the information around to your friends.

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JOIN A WORKOUT CLUB

If you’re looking for some accountability, try joining a fitness group. These will usually revolve around a specific activity, such as running or cycling. Join the club with friends or make friends when you get there. Either way, you’ll have a reason to keep showing up. Plus, they’ll be stoked when you have results to share since they saw your hard work from the very start.

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TRY A WALKING DATE

If you’re not interested in joining a workout group, try making your workouts social in other ways. Instead of grabbing a meal or drink with a pal, go for a walk or try a new fitness class. You’re more likely to cancel a workout when there’s no one else relying on you to show. Plus, you’ll be more excited in the first place.

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MAKE A SOCIAL PROFILE FOR YOUR PROGRESS

It feels good to share your accomplishments, so make a profile on Instagram or Snapchat where that’s all you have to do: share! Create a page where you can show yourself off each time you find a new healthy meal or fun cardio circuit. Encourage your friends to do the same so you can follow each other and swap tips.

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START A COMPETITION

Once you’ve found a way to compare results with friends, make it a competition and offer a reward.Maybe whoever walks the most steps this week will get a free lunch. An incentive will encourage everyone to push a little harder and stay on their A-game.