Benefits of Getting Fit with a Buddy!
Exercising with a friend 'helps to lose more weight' Exercising with a friend is better than going to the gym alone because the competition helps people lose weight, according to a new study.
Researchers found participants with a partner in the high support group lost the most weight.
Researchers compared the weight loss of a group of men and women who joined a fitness program on their own with a group who invited one or more friends to join in.
They found that if the friend attended keep fit sessions frequently and also lost weight it spurred their partner to do the same.
Professor Shiriki Kumanyika and colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, conducted the two-year trial with the help of 344 men and women.
The goal was to achieve and maintain a 5 per cent to 10 per cent weight loss and volunteers were educated on a healthy diet and physical activity, given pedometers and enrolled in exercise sessions.
A total of 63 people enrolled in the programme alone and 281 enrolled with a friend or family member.
The groups were split into three sections, those who trained alone, those who had a partner that received little coaching and those who were with a friend who also had a high level of coaching.
Their progress was then measured at intervals of six, 12, 18 and 24 months.
According to the research, published in the latest issue of Archives of Internal Medicine journal, the participants with a partner in the high support group lost the most weight at all the measurement periods.
In addition, the people who had partners that shed at least 5 per cent of their body weight experienced a greater weight loss than those whose partner shifted less that 5 per cent.
Prof Kumanyika said: "We evaluated family and friend social support as a specific cultural adaptation strategy.
"Beneficial effects on weight loss were linked to actual rather than assigned partner participation and to partner success in losing weight.
"Further studies may elucidate ways to facilitate effective family or friend participation and to improve absolute weight losses."
The study was carried out on African-American volunteers to discover weight loss incentives as research suggests that standard behavioural treatments for obesity appear to be less successful in that ethnic group.
"Cultural modifications to these standard programs-such as the inclusion of family members and support networks-may enhance their effectiveness," the report author said.
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