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What is a good workout partner
Posted by: Ron
What Makes An Ideal Training Partner?
Your training partner can make the biggest difference in your bodybuilding success. It can be both positive or negative.
Choose your training partner well
Your training partner can literally halt and even reverse your bodybuilding progress, yet he or she can also take you beyond your wildest expectations of yourself. If you want to be the best that you can be, you’ll train with the latter.
You can easily fall into the trap of training with your friend, jut out of convenience and safety. If he/she meets the criteria, the more reason to train together.
You might be asking:
What makes a great training partner?
There are a few things you want to look for:
1) Understands your goals and your reasons for them and wants you to achieve them as much as you do (or more)
Whether you want to get stronger, bigger, leaner, healthier or increase your energy, your training partner should know it, understand it and be able to support you with it. This is a critical trait to have. He/she may have the same goals, which would be fantastic, yet it would be ok if your training partner had different goals yet had yours as a priority for you.
2) Has the same training schedule as you
This is a definite must. If you found the perfect training partner who happened to work out in the middle of the day when you could only train in the morning or evening, you’d have a problem. The good news is, you would generally meet people in the gym who train the same time as you anyway.
3) Someone you respect to whom you’ll be accountable
It’s important to respect your training partner. If they have an impeccable work ethic or physique, you know you can learn from them. Respecting him/her will also ensure that you show up to your scheduled workouts and you’ll want to avoid letting them down. He/she should also be able to read you and take no unwarranted excuses.
4) Has the same philosophy as you or at least understands and respects yours
You know you’re in trouble when you follow Vince Gironda’s methods and the perspective training partner raves about an hour cardio and doing one set to failure.
5) Is willing to push you when you need it and back off and listen when you’re running on empty
Your new training partner needs to know your limits and at times take you beyond them. On the other hand, understand when you had a rough day/night and hold you back from injuring yourself.
6) Has the knowledge or the experience to help take you where you want to be
An appetite to learn, explore and experiment is a massive asset in a training partner. If he/she’s a perpetual learner, you know you’re in good hands. There’s no one who knows everything so having the desire to learn and implement is key. If your training partner already has months or years of experience, you can avoid the mistakes they’ve already made.
7) Has a positive outlook on life
Ideally you want to train with someone who sees that glass as half full rather than half empty. This somewhat goes without saying as you want someone pulling you up when you feel down rather than keep you there or pull you lower.
When you look in the mirror, do you see someone who has all of the above qualities? What kind of a training partner would you make? You should be able to offer the exact same qualities back to your training partner. That would be the ideal training partnership.
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