A great way to kick off a random Tuesday?
Begin the day with pancakes!
These pancakes were made with a basic mix (Krusteaz Heart Healthy pancake mix), but I added almond butter to the batter to give them a little more staying power.
Topped with maple syrup!
A few of you have asked whether or not I top my protein pancakes with syrup and the answer is sometimes. I feel like a lot of times protein pancakes aren’t as dry as traditional pancakes and don’t need syrup, but occasionally they could use a little extra help!
Workout
Before breakfast it was workout time.
Ryan and I headed to the gym and warmed up together for 10 minutes before I completed the Nike Training Club 30 minute Razor Sharp workout. Sweat city!
I rounded out my workout with lots of stretching.
Working Out Together
While I was warming up, I flipped through an old issue of Ocala Style magazine and stumbled upon an article about exercise encouragement.
The article began by stating that the exercise habits of people you know have a direct impact on your personal exercise habits. It then went on to specifically address married couples.
(Me and Ryan before we ran the Savannah Rock ‘n’ Roll half marathon together!)
According to a study by Indiana University’s Department of Kinesiology, couples who joined a health club together but worked out separately had a 43 percent drop out rate over the course of a year. Couples who went to the gym together, even if they completed different workouts, had only a 6.3 percent drop out rate.
Though I assumed couples who went to the gym together would’ve had a higher success rate when it came to keeping a gym membership, I did not expect the statistics to vary so much depending on whether or not couples went to the gym at the same time.
But then I thought about me and Ryan.
When I go out of town, he’s much more likely to sleep in and skip a workout. When Ryan rolls over and says he wants to sleep in and skip the gym in the morning, I am 10 times more likely to agree to extra time in bed. We definitely motivate each other and I feel very fortunate that my husband is so consistent in his workouts because it helps keep me consistent.
Now I ask you…
Questions of the Morning
- In your (current or past) relationship, does your partner impact how often you work out? Do you work out at the same time?
- Is having a physically active partner important to you?
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Thanks for answering my burning “protein pancake syrup” question! lol.
My husband and I are both very active, but in some different ways. He loves soccer, baseball and hockey…I like running, strength training and yoga. But some of this crosses over…we’ll go for runs or go to the gym together. Or our favorite – a 1-hour loop around our neighborhood.
However! I pulled a muscle in my back this week and he just tore his Achilles tendon playing soccer! So this week we’ve been crippled together. :0( Thank God for friends who have picked up some groceries for us!!
I am so thankful that my husband and I both like to workout and for the most part workout together. It would be hard if we weren’t both into it! My bestie does bootcamp with me too and I feel that helps a lot too 🙂
My husband is in the army. But he’s a doctor, so he’s not one of those that has to do PT three times a week. He must work out on his own reconesance because he must still pass the PT test twice a year (running, push ups and sit ups for the army). Because of this, he rarely works out. He does it when/because he has to. And he’s good at it. But I continuously work out, am a member of a gym by myself, etc. I continue to go because my daughter must go and get socialized ;). So, I guess to answer your question, his inactivity doesn’t affect me.
My husband and I both work at home and workout at home so I usually enjoy working out by myself to get some time alone with my thoughts and my girly music. 😉
However, my husband definitely needs the motivation to workout so I have been trying to find ways to get him to take a break from his computer and workout out with me. I find that workouts that involve actual partner exercises are working best. It is important to me that he be active because I love him and want him to be around a very long time!
IT is SO helpful to have a workout/gym buddy…. even if you do different things. My fiancé and I always go to the gym at the same time, and sometimes we work out together, sometimes we do different things. I am the motivator in the relationship. If I want to skip the gym, that’s usually the decision made. More often than not I am the one convincing my fiancé to lace up his shoes and go running or to the gym…. but he’s an excellent sport about it and usually keeps me motivated through the workout…. so really, it’s a team effort, and i love it.
DH is physically fit, which is important…I want him healthy, for myself and for our girls. So in that way he’s motivating. I want to stay healthy, myself. But we never work out together so he doesn’t motivate me to do my workouts (he’s not home at the time…I work out after everyone has left for the day) or to keep going during a workout. That’s all on me!
It is definitely more motivating when my husband and I work out at the same time. It is easy to talk yourself out of it when the other is at home. However, we have a 2 year old so sometimes we have to switch off. We do manage to get to the gym 3 times a week together. Thank God for grandparents 🙂
I read this post at the perfect time! I’m presenting at a fitness conference this weekend about social support and it’s importance in exercise adherence (the fitness conference attendees are primary collegiate group fitness instructors and personal trainers). I’m going to have to take a look for this study and see if I can add anything to our presentation!
My fiance and I currently are long-distance, but when we are together I always get so excited to run or lift together. We may be on different levels, but it’s great camaraderie and I absolutely love having a partner who takes his health seriously!
PS – you and Ryan are adorable!
My husband and I are both quite active, but my motivation just comes from myself. We live in a very very small apartment, so I am often motivated to go to the gym to have a change of scenery and to have my own space for a bit…it works for both of us.
My husband is amazing and definitely does fun and active things with me, but he is NOT about the gym…which bums me out a bit! I just know it would be such a fun thing to share with him — and talk about inspiration!