The Social Aspects of Exercise

I think there’s a tendency, at least by a part of the population, to think that people who go to the gym and workout on a regular basis are a bunch of narcissist, obsessed with themselves and their appearance. This is probably bolstered by the bodybuilding scene, which has infiltrated popular culture enough such that there is awareness that these muscle bound guys and gals stand in front of the mirror and look at themselves flexing their muscles for long periods on end.

To the layman, unacquainted with the details of the sport, they just don’t know that bodybuilding contestants are judged - that is they win or lose - based not just on the size and shape of their muscles but also on how they strike a pose such as a bicep flex or how they flow in one fluid movement from one pose to the next. At any rate, I think there’s a perception out there that strength training or gym going, is a very isolated activity, meant for people focused only on themselves and having little or nothing to do with group sports like basketball or baseball, etc. Now for some gym goers, this can certainly be true. Many people enjoy plugging in the headphones, heading to the gym, and letting their mind sync up to the rhythms of the songs in the favorite playlists as they proceed to break a sweat, heave weights up and down or go for a light run.

However, this is by no means the nature of fitness or strength training in general. In fact, it can be a very social activity and I would argue by its nature its actually a group sport. There are few past-times more enjoyable and beneficial than meeting up with a group of friends to go through a workout. First, there are the training benefits - you have someone to spot you, to critique your technique, to push you to new heights, to load up the bar with while your are recovering for your next set. And then, there are the social aspects, the cutting up, joke telling, the stories and banter. This can liven up a process that for some might otherwise be far too boring and repetitive.

This social aspect can be much like golf in a way. Anyone can play golf on their own and many do. However, many people, prefer to meet up at the golf course with a bunch of friends and walk around chatting and laughing all in the background of the overarching goal of getting a little ball in the hole. Now, if I were national fitness dictator, I’d swap out golf for weight training as the national group activity, especially for the over 50 age group. This is because, even though walking has numerous benefits, lifting weights just has more, not only does it improve cardiovascular fitness, but it helps aging men and women, retain muscle mass, strength and bone density which leads to a much higher quality of life as they age. For instance, consistently deadlifting will make picking up that grandkid - let’s call him little Johnny - a piece of cake, something no amount of club swinging can do.

So I think for some people, if they’ve tried working out solo and the process wasn’t enjoyable or fulfilling, that doesn’t mean they don’t like weight lifting. How many people would enjoy basketball if they never played against anyone? Keep in mind too that there are tons of ways to bring in the social aspects to fitness. There are courses at virtually all gyms these days, there are specialized clubs, there are personal trainers, but at the most basic level, just having a group of friends or your partner to train with, can create a completely different experience and, in fact, I’d recommend that everyone give it a try at least once, even those hardcore fitness gurus who love nothing more than plugging in their earphones and grinding away in the squat rack to the sounds of Enter Sandman.