Buddy boost does it for you

In my last few columns I’ve been talking about how tough the exercises are and the dieting is. When I look at others in the gym I wonder how they train so rigorously. I mean, where do they get all that stamina from? I find it hard to do the simplest exercise, especially on days I go for my workouts without any company. But then you might remember that I have on a couple of occasions mentioned my friend ‘R’. Well Ranjani, also my colleague at work, happens to be my gym buddy and workout partner.

The point is I have been to two other gyms in the last five years but promptly quit going in a maximum of 45 days. But this time it is different. I’ve been going to the gym for the last three and a half months and have not quit yet. I may not be very regular, but there is this guilty conscience that prods me to go. Looking back, I realise that it was the lack of company that made me quit the previous gyms. I mean, how boring is it to work out by yourself. Here, Ranjani is one of the reasons I have stuck on. She helped me sustain the process of gymming and eating “healthy.”

When I first checked out my current gym, I was a little taken aback and didn’t feel confident enough to go by myself. That was when I got Ranjani to join the gym with me as well (she had already been going there earlier but had taken a long break). Every evening she comes to my desk and like a school principal tells me, “Finish your work by 5pm and we’ll leave for the gym by 5.30.” She even sends me reminders on chat.

Considering we both usually are given the same exercises, it helps in a great way because when I have company I am motivated. At times when she can’t make it to the gym, gosh it is so hard to make myself do all my exercises. It’s just boring.

For instance, I had to do just 75 crunches and it was extremely painful. I kept taking so many breaks, but the day Ranjani and I did crunches together, we did 500 crunches (in sets of course)! That is how important to have a gym buddy. A gym buddy helps you stay focussed and vice versa. When you diet, you both can push each other, you have someone to share your misery with.

A gym buddy will hang around waiting for you to finish work, just to ensure you don’t skip gym that day. They’ll help you complete your exercise routines and on occasion happily cheat and do fewer sets than asked. While you’re cycling or spending 20 minutes on the treadmill, you have your buddy to gossip with or discuss cute boys and once you finish your workout for the day, your buddy will sneak out to gorge on gol gappe with you. All said and done, having a gym buddy makes workouts more fun. And that’s how it is with me.

 

(The writer is determined to fight the flab. Readers can inspire her at sudeshna.k@postnoon.com)

Category: Health, Health News