The hashtag #fitfam is very popular across Instagram accounts dedicated to health and fitness but what does it mean?
When I googled the definition of ‘FitFam,’ the first explanation that popped up was: “Fitness lovers who support one another to reach their ideal fitness goals.”
Whether you think the term FitFam is cheesy or not, there’s no denying that the people closest to us often have the biggest influence on our decisions and their encouragement is a powerful motivator. If the people around you are working on their fitness, you will want to work on yours too. When it comes to exercise and healthy living a bit of peer pressure is brilliant!
This is why you need to surround yourself with like-minded fitness friends if you want to get into exercise. Here’s why you need to find a FitFam!
Instant accountability!
A friend saying ‘Come on let’s try this new fitness class, I really want to get into shape for summer,” can be very persuasive. Before you know it you are signed up and the chances of you bailing on your friend at the last minute are very slim. How bad would you feel if you didn’t go?
Telling someone you are going to do something gives you instant accountability as you won’t want to let them down.
It’s very easy to justify skipping a workout when you are having a conversation with yourself.
If you have a friend to answer to it becomes trickier to make up excuses.
Having a support network of people with similar aims makes everyone in the network stronger.
Push it real good!
With the encouragement of motivational fitness friends your confidence will start to grow. As you get into your exercise groove you will find yourself up for a challenge or a bit of friendly competition! Trying to beat each other’s personal bests can build determination and helps keep your routine fresh and fun. You are more likely to push yourself to your limits with someone at your side.
“In England, women were surveyed on their exercise behavior. The study found that 64% of women who train with their best friends were more likely to push their workouts to the limit than those who exercised on their own.” https://www.runtastic.com/blog/en/sports-fitness/training-with-friends/
And that’s what really matters, improvement rather than numbers.
Girls just wanna have fun!
The best thing about working out with someone else? It’s more fun!
When I head out to my classes every day it’s not just about going to do a workout, it’s a social occasion. It’s about catching up with friends, interacting with others and having a laugh.
It’s much more than just going to a class which means you go because you want to, not just because you have to!
I look forward to seeing everyone and it makes the hard work part of exercise much more bearable. In fact, it makes it more than bearable, it makes it enjoyable!
We’re all in this together
The feeling of community is one of the main pros of having fitness friends. When embarking on a mission to get fitter or get in shape we only need one thing – encouragement.
But how many times have we all heard comments like:
“You look fine the way you are!”
“You’ve got nothing to worry about!”
“Wait till you get to my age!”
“Wait till you have kids!”
“Oh, I’ve already tried that and it doesn’t work!”
“Getting it off is the easy bit, it’s keeping it off that’s the hard part!”
These comments can be very unhelpful and unsupportive, even those that are said out of kindness. What we really hear is “it’s too hard,” “you won’t do it,” “don’t bother,” or “forget about it, it’s pointless!”
It’s very easy for someone to pass their negative experience down to you when you are likely to have a very different experience to them! What hasn’t worked for one person might work for someone else.
Ultimately, we shouldn’t try to steer someone away from a decision to better their health.
A Fitfam will tell us what we NEED to hear:
“Good for you!”
“You can do it!”
“Well done!”
“Keep it up!”
“You’re doing great!”
