Whether it is because one of you has moved across the country or because there's a global pandemic keeping you apart, you may miss gettin’ your sweat on with friends and fellow fitness enthusiasts. And while we all have access to a never-ending supply of online, virtual, or otherwise impersonal workouts, it’s just not the same without friends.
Even if we are on opposite sides of the planet, we're still able to connect virtually.
That's where video or audio conferencing technology comes in. Even if we are on opposite sides of the planet, we're still able to connect virtually via apps like Skype, Zoom, FaceTime, Hangouts, Meet, Team, GoToMeeting, Connect, and the list goes on.
Yes, I know many of us already spend too many hours on those platforms for work. But that's all the more reason to use them to enhance our physical health and mental wellbeing rather than just as a way for your boss to make sure you are being productive and not playing Kwazy Cupcakes all day.
Social benefits of exercise
A scientific study published in the International Journal of Stress Management attempted to determine if the stress-reducing benefits of exercise are improved by exercising with others rather than alone.
Participants in this study exercised on a laboratory stationary bicycle for 30 minutes at moderate intensity either alone or with another person. A series of ANOVA procedures (analysis of variance) revealed that participants generally felt more energetic, calm, and less tired after any type of exercise (alone or with someone else). When exercising with someone else, the participants reported more calmness but also more tiredness.
The explanation the researchers came up with for the “more tiredness” factor was that there was a competitive aspect introduced when another person was present during exercise which led the participants to work out harder. So, more calmness and a better workout—sign me up!
Another study from 2016 found that “among older Japanese adults, although exercising alone and exercising with others both seem to have health benefits, increased frequency of exercise with others has important health benefits regardless of the total frequency of exercise.”
How does exercising virtually with friends fit into all this? I couldn't find any studies on whether or not exercising with a friend via a virtual portal conveys the same benefits as exercising with them in person...
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