Running with a group of friends or workout partners is one of the best ways to maximize the benefits of the workout while minimizing the downsides.  Running is fantastic for the body.  It helps you to build endurance, improves cardiovascular health, gets you up and moving, and also helps you to burn extra calories so that you can get down to (and stay at) a healthy body weight. These are all good things! And to a point, we should all be committed to these types of health and wellness goals.  With that being said, it’s also true that running isn’t always the easiest thing to do on your own.

Quite frankly, it can be difficult to get motivated to do it. In fact, a lot of people struggle with motivation when it comes to running because they’re trying to do it aloneBut one little-known hack to helping you overcome the problem of struggling with a running habit is to start running with your friendsAnd in this post, you’re going to learn 4 benefits of running with a group.  Equipped with these tips, you’ll be ready to hit those workouts harder than ever—and you’ll be even more motivated to do it. 

Let’s break it down. 

1. You’ll Push Yourself Harder

Running with a group has a way of motivating you even beyond your normal levels of motivation. You’ll tend to push yourself harder, go further, and run for longer than you otherwise would have.  On one hand, this is an awesome way to crank up your own levels of motivation.  But even beside that point, this is also a great way to push yourself even further than you normally would so that you get better health and wellness returns for your time and effort. 

2. You’ll Build Better Relationships

When humans engage in important tasks together, they tend to build stronger bonds with one another.  And running definitely qualifies as an important taskWhen you and your group of friends commit yourselves to the common purpose of getting into shape through running, you’ll build some camaraderie and a common bond that will help you to build better relationships and get closer as people.  Simply put—it’s a win/win scenario!

3. You Can Encourage Each Other

Sometimes, in the middle of a run, your motivation and your energy are just going to wane.  You’re going to struggle to push yourself and keep up with those ever-important fitness goals. With that being said, one often underutilized tactic to help overcome this type of thing is to run with a group—so that you can encourage and motivate one another.  Nothing will inspire you to keep pushing yourself better than a group of friends telling you that you’re capable and that you can do it. When other people believe in you and support you, sometimes this makes all the difference. It makes it easier to stick with the goal, and makes those better, harder workouts more attainable. 

4. You’ll Stay Safer

Unfortunately, running can be a dangerous ordeal. This is even true of running as a group.  For example, car accidents can happen.  Running injuries can also happen (and they’re definitely not fun).  You could twist your ankle, injure your knee, or push too hard and end up collapsing on the ground.  Even worse, you could trip and fall over something that wasn’t even supposed to be in your way! In fact, JT Legal Group talks about this exact issue in the beautiful Beverly Hills area where they work and live: “Personal Injuries in Beverly Hills are common. Do you have a trustworthy attorney by your side?”

When you run with other people and you engage in it as a group activity, you’ll find that there’s definitely safety in numbers—and this is always good, even in a place as beautiful as Beverly Hills.  Pushing yourself to run, and doing it with other people, is always safer. And safety is always really the most important thing.  After all—getting into better shape isn’t going to help you much if you just get hurt while trying to accomplish it! 

Conclusion

Getting adequate exercise is a foundational pillar of health and wellness.  So make sure that you engage in it and get it done every single day.  With that being said, it’s also true that it’s in your best self-interest to continue to run with other people–to get that teamwork spirit going to help you meet your goals.  There are just so many benefits to doing it. You definitely won’t regret it.

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