Every couple has a unique dynamic and finds different ways to enjoy spending time with one another.
Though a healthy relationship probably involves enjoying quite a few activities together, there’s perhaps no better way to bond and improve your health and connection than by exercising together.
A couples workout can absolutely be a date night activity that you look forward to during the busy work week, or it can even be an everyday occurrence if you have a common time when you can exercise as a couple.
With that in mind, we’ve put together a fun, two-is-better-than-one couples workout just for you and your partner.
A couple’s workout can take on any form.
It might be both people in the relationship running side by side on two treadmills at the gym, each listening to their own music, barely interacting aside from giving one another periodic high-fives.
Or, a couple’s workout could be two partners going to a yoga class together before a dinner date.
Although there’s no right or wrong way to do it, we think the best couples workouts are those that promote bonding and intimacy through some amount of teamwork and physical interaction.
One of the main concerns people in a relationship have about exercising as a couple is meeting the fitness levels of both of the individuals in the partnership.
For example, if you try to run together and one partner is much fitter than the other, it can cause frustration for the faster runner and feel stressful, pressure-laden, or irritating to the slower runner.
In most cases, a couple’s workout needs to be adjusted to the less fit partner; however, if you’re strategic in the partner exercises you choose, you can each get a good workout by working at your level in parallel.
We have designed this couples workout to work in a gym, park, or home, but you will need various pieces of exercise equipment, such as dumbbells, resistance bands, and medicine balls if you want to be able to increase the intensity of each exercise.
Complete 2-3 sets of each of the following couples exercises, depending on your fitness level and what else you have in store for date night!
Face each other as you do 50 jumping jacks and count out loud together. Turn it into family therapy by getting the whole house involved!
Beginners can skip the medicine ball pass, but otherwise, it’s a great way to boost the intensity of the exercise and work your obliques.
This one combines physical touch and eye-contact, making push-ups a little more fun.
Get your heart rate back up with this cardio exercise.
This is a fun exercise for a couples workout because you get to practice effective communication and work as a team to find your flow.
The medicine ball also increases the difficulty of the core exercise because you are working against resistance and having to brace your core as you accept the weight.
Lunges with trunk rotations work your entire lower body and core, along with the shoulders.
One partner will start with a medicine ball (3-6 kg).
In this couple’s exercise, one partner will hold a forearm plank for 60 seconds. The other will gently rest his or her rear foot on the back of the planker, between the shoulder blades, and perform 30 seconds of rear foot-elevated split squats holding an appropriate weight or just doing body weight.
Work on your coordination and communication as you try to perform 20 burpees in unison. Alternatively, flex your competitive muscles by setting the timer for 60 seconds and see who can do more burpees.
Give this couples’ workout a try the next time date night rolls around, and enjoy the laughs, bonding, and teamwork.
If you want to add some more couples exercises to this workout, check out our complete list of compound exercises to work some more in!
Working out together can act as an unconventional form of couples therapy, strengthening both the physical and emotional aspects of a relationship. Couples therapy exercises can include a dumbbell!
By sharing a workout together that requires active listening, such as coordinating movements or setting shared fitness goals, partners can improve their communication skills and deepen their connection.
Integrating principles from couples counseling, such as the Gottman Method’s 1 The Gottman Institute. (2015, September 22). The Gottman Institute. https://www.gottman.com/ , focus on positive reinforcement and understanding each other’s love languages, into workout sessions enhances the experience.
For instance, knowing whether your partner appreciates verbal encouragement or physical signs of support can make the exercise more meaningful. Such activities not only contribute to physical well-being but also to mental health.
This approach to working out together encourages healthy communication, helps build trust, and offers a platform for conflict resolution by addressing any communication issues or differences in communication styles directly and constructively.
For example, at check-ins during a hard workout, if you ask how your partner feels, your partner may say, “Remember when we thought this was a good idea!”
It’s a powerful and less conventional way to work on relationship therapy goals while promoting individual and collective wellness.
Ultimately, exercising together can be a powerful way to foster a healthy relationship, marked by a deeper connection and emotional intimacy. 2 Schmidt, C. D., & Gelhert, N. C. (2016). Couples Therapy and Empathy. The Family Journal, 25(1), 23–30. https://doi.org/10.1177/1066480716678621
It’s an engaging way to tackle relationship issues, have better communication and reflective listening skills, and explore something new as a couple, all contributing to a stronger, more resilient partnership.
We hope you enjoyed our article. Remember, workouts can act as effective therapy sessions. However, we recommend a healthcare professional 3 Couples Therapy: Does It Really Work? (2017). Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/in-it-together/201712/couples-therapy-does-it-really-work , such as a family therapist, who offers marriage counseling.
They will be best suited to provoke positive change using therapy techniques.
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