Getting fit can be difficult, especially if you struggle with self-motivation. For many people, changing their habits and routine to schedule in time for exercise is one of the hardest things about getting healthy. However, including your friends, family or colleagues in your fitness journey can help you achieve your goals, whether these are about weight loss, completing a fitness challenge, or just improving your own health.

Once your friends are onboard; there are plenty of options for how you can get fit together, with what you choose to do often depending on what you all enjoy. The best way to make a healthy lifestyle a long-term commitment is to find some form of exercise you like, and doing this with company can make getting fit all the more enjoyable.

But how can you and your friends get fit together? We’ve listed some of the most popular ways groups of people can encourage each other to stick to their fitness goals.

Join the same app

If you are your friends are all very different, you may struggle to find one activity you all enjoy. If you love running but your colleague hates it, it’s unlikely they will commit to it like you will. This can mean that you end up working out on your own, or could even result in you both giving up exercise. By joining a health fitness app, such as Well One, together you can do your own activities but still get the support and encourage from each other.

Health and fitness apps allow you to input your own data to keep track of how much exercise you have done, you and your friend can then compare this and help support one another through your fitness journeys. The great thing about this is that there is no limit to the numbers of people you can connect with; meaning that entire offices, families or friendship groups can supports and encourage each other to achieve their goals.

Join classes

If you are trying to get healthy for the first time, then classes are a brilliant way for you and your friends to increase your levels of fitness. These are easy to track on health and fitness apps as you know exactly how long you have been working out for, and they have a great social aspect too. By doing a class with your friends, you are more likely to go as you won’t want to be left out of the group. This means you can also support each other as you go through struggles or obstacles.

Another advantage to taking classes is that there is such a wide variety to choose from. Most gyms offer dozens of classes from yoga to kickboxing to zumba, making it easy for you to find something that suits everyone.

Start a running group

For friends or families that all share a passion, or want to achieve the same long-term goal, starting a running group together can be a quick and easy solution for getting fit. This is also a very cheap option, meaning anyone can get involved. The benefit of starting your own running group also offers you far more flexibility than an organised class as you can fit it around you and your friends‘ work schedules.

Lunchtime gym sessions

If you are lucky enough to work near a gym you can use your lunchtime to fit in your workout. This may sound like hard work and the last thing you want to be doing in the middle of the day but it can be welcomed relief to get away from the office for half an hour. Getting away from your desk during your lunch break can improve your health and wellbeing, as well as helping you reach your fitness goals.

It also means you can use your time when you get home for socialising, eating out or just being with your family, instead of having to squeeze in time to work out in your busy schedule.

Cycle to work

Another way to fit exercise into your working day is to cycle to work with your friends. Once you have bought a bike, it is a fairly cheap option and, if you live in a busy city, you can significantly reduce the time it takes you to get to work. Cycling is a low-impact sport but is an excellent workout for your whole body so is a good solution for people of all fitness levels.