There are many things that are best done as a couple. But fitness and exercise are not among them, at least for middle-aged couples. In fact, new research from the Nanyang Technological University of Singapore analyzed the performance of 240 people between 54 and 72 years of age during their daily training, demonstrating on the pages of the International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction that for couples who If they exercise together, the results tend to be lower than those who choose to do it alone.
The topic is actually quite debated among experts. With a global population that continues to age, and preventable diseases such as obesity, diabetes and hypertension that are reaching epidemic proportions in all developed countries, studying the best strategies to promote physical activity is evidently an important and current issue. Especially if you consider that WHO estimates speak of just 30% of the adult population reaching the levels of weekly physical exercise recommended by international guidelines (equal to 150-300 minutes per week of moderate intensity aerobic exercise).
For couples, exercising in the company of your partner may seem like an obvious way to support each other. And in fact, some research in recent years seemed to indicate that training in pairs makes the activity more fun, and increases the motivation and rigor with which one undergoes physical exercises. The new study, however, raises the doubt that, when proven by the facts, those who decide to do physical activity alone end up obtaining much more important results.
The research was carried out using data collected by fitness trackers (such as smartwatches and fitbits), with which it was possible to keep track of the steps taken and calories burned by the 240 participants over a 12-week period. “Those who participated in the research in the company of their partner – we read in the study – obtained worse results in terms of total steps and average daily steps, and less often reached the goal of 10 or 15 thousand steps per day, compared to who participated on their own”.
Why couple exercise is less effective is unclear, but researchers suspect that the explanation has to do with the difficulty of changing deeply rooted habits and routines in couples who, in adulthood, have been living together for a long time . In fact, for anyone, suddenly adding 10 or 15 thousand steps to their days requires radical changes. And for a couple, the resistance to overcome and the problems to overcome are twice as much.
“For these couples, changing their daily habits may require a huge reorganization of the habits and routines that are now an integral part of their family life after years of marriage,” explains Sapphire Lin, a researcher at Nanyang Technological University who participated in the study. ” This makes it difficult to find time for exercise, and can therefore have a demotivating effect on both of you.”