I went to the Chik-Fil-A Leadercast several weeks ago and got a lot of interesting insights into leadership. One of the most interesting things I learned though, had to do with monkeys.
Dr. Henry Cloud, a clinical psychologist and author of the best selling book Boundaries, talked about a study done on monkeys. This must have been a pre-PETA era study because I'm not sure it would fly today.
A monkey was put in a cage and subjected to loud noises and flashing lights. As you can guess, the monkey completely freaked out. The scientists measured the monkey's stress hormone (cortisol) and the levels were off the charts. The scientists then added the monkey's friend in there with him and did the exact same thing with the loud noises flashing lights.
This time the monkey's cortisol level was HALF of what is was when he was by himself. The only thing that changed was adding in his friend.
I wanted to tell you that story, to ask you this question. Who is your workout monkey buddy? Are you doing it all by yourself? Maybe that is why you dread exercise and don't find yourself getting results.
Exercising with a friend will:
-increase your results (people who exercise with friends lose an average of 10 pounds more than those who workout alone)
-improve your mood while working out and you might actually look forward to your workouts
-makes tough workouts seem easier so you will increase your intensity
-makes you accountable to someone so you will show up more often
-you will become closer to your friend (going through something challenging together creates a strong bond)
In a nutshell you will get better results, enjoy your workouts more, work out harder, more often, AND become better friends with that person. Pretty awesome right? So your mission is to find your workout monkey buddy!
If you need a workout monkey buddy, we have a bunch of awesome ones to choose from at boot camp. Come meet them some time.
