Hayley, Ireena, & Sarah’s Story
There are multiple benefits of working out with a friend, including making gym sessions more fun, and increased motivation – but what if you don’t have friends who enjoy the same exercise as you? Starting a conversation with fellow gym goers is a great way to make like-minded friends, and while it can seem scary, most people are in the same position as you!
In light of the Mental Health Awareness Week 2022 theme, ‘loneliness’, we’re encouraging PureGym members to strike up conversations and make gym buddies. Think it won’t happen to you? Three of our members have become best friends through the gym – read their story to find out how.
Hi, we’re Hayley, Ireena, and Sarah! We all were solo gym goers until we met at the gym and became friends. From strangers to gym buddies, our group now feels like a little family, and training together helps us feel mentally and physically stronger!
It all started because we were all clients of our Personal Trainer, Matty, and we started to say Hi to each other around the gym.
Then Matty suggested ‘Small-Group Personal Training’ because he thought we would all get on great and he was right - we’ve not looked back since! The workouts are still tailored to each of our goals and abilities, but it’s meant as well as working on our fitness goals, we’ve also formed such a tight friendship group.
We were all relatively nervous and self-conscious in the gym at first, but working with Matty, and finding our gym buddies helped us to build our confidence in the gym and lifting weights.
Without a doubt, the best thing about training together is the banter we have. We have SUCH a good time during our workouts. Even if one of us is not feeling it that day, we know that the others will make us laugh and cheer us on. We often get people coming over to ask what it is we’re doing because we look like we’re having so much fun.
Our gym buddy group is also the best support system. We motivate each other to hit PBs and try things we didn’t think were possible. When we’re feeling like we can’t do it, or mentally aren’t in the right frame of mind, we cheer each other on. We all have our individual strengths, and we use that to help each other. Plus, it’s a great bit of friendly competition and we push ourselves more than we would training alone.
And it goes much further than just supporting each other in the gym. We are all there to listen and help each other outside the gym too. We have a WhatsApp group for all things gym (with plenty of memes thrown in too!) and we go out socially too which is lovely. We have climbed mountains, had meals, and been out drinking together!
Training together has helped our mental health so much. Everybody knows the benefits of exercise on physical health, but it’s hard to sometimes understand the benefits of exercise on mental health until you actually experience it. We’ve found that the gym is an escape, a way to clear our minds and relieve stress. We always feel better - supercharged if you will - after going to the gym.
If we could give advice to anyone wanting to make friends in the gym, it would be to try Small-Group Personal Training or classes. They are a great way to meet new people, and all you need to do is say hello to the person next to you! Everyone is very friendly and no matter what you think, everyone in that gym has been in your position.
We’d also recommend speaking to a Personal Trainer. They are part of your gym community so know lots of other like-minded people and can introduce you to members who they think you would get on well with.
