Joint Venture

Like most things in life, two or more people working towards a goal working together to accomplish one or more goals ends up being much more efficient then one person going at it alone. Cooking thanks giving dinner, pushing a car, picking up a box of spilled paper clips, capturing a flag and Slaying a dragon and or Robeast. Multiple minds, multiplied will, multiple hands and a singular goal. People at every level can benefit from forming workout partnerships. I use the term partnership, because this relationship is based on work. Now you may be really good friends with someone, but that doesn't automatically qualify them as a grade a workout partner. just like any business partnership, if your partner isn't pulling their own weight and adding to the overall success of the project then you may be forced to cut ties and either find a new partner or partners, or go into business on your own. You gotta remember what your trying to accomplish. You if your trying to get something done, then your in the business of working out. If your spending time with a friend ie workout date, then by all means enjoy each others company. There are several types of partnerships. Workout Partner, community, and trainer. I can't go into and discus work partners without giving you a little back ground on me. I'll be quick. I've been lifting weights since 95. I had a couple of really good strength coaches before I went to the University of Arizona on a football scholarship. I was fortunate enough to have two great strength coaches there. I was exposed to alot of different philosophies before I became a trainer as a profession and began formulating my own theories on strength training and body shaping. I'm pretty particular about my workouts. Mainly the pace. I keep a pretty high tempo, and chain exercises together. Not all that much time for chit chat. When I train people, I'm pretty particular about the weights they use as well as the form they keep. I chain exercises together, I may chit chat a little more as far as explaining why I do certain things, where they should feel the contraction, and how well my Steelers doing, and such. I stumbled upon the perfect training partner. He allowed me to lead the workouts, he was able to keep up in most exercises, and in some cases I was forced to raise my level to match the his intensity. We didn't even have to take out or head phones to communicate. Every now and then we'd log out and compare notes, Then we'd log back on an commence wrecking shop. Now in this situation, I was the alpha. The advantage of this is that you get to work on all the things that you wish to address with little to no deviation from the blueprint in your mind. Another advantage is that since you in a leadership position, you psychologically want to lead by example. Form and intensity. Now if you are in the apprentice position, that's not a bad place either. Little to no energy is used in creating a sequence, it can all be diverted to working. There is a third tier in the workout partner scenario. The equal partnership. This is when you and your workout partner are on the same level. If you both beginners there can be some lag time between exercises and sets,do to figuring out whats next up and better ways to do the same thing. Not a problem in most cases because you both probably needed the rest anyway. It's good to have a buddy there when you want to go heavier for the first time. Experienced partnerships also have a little lag time due to arguments about what should happen next. I generally solve this but going exercise for exercises. You, me in other words. Or me then you I should say. Each Situation has its advantages, and it's important to maximize them. Now the community partnership is different. With the workout partner, you have direct accountability. Meaning if you don't show up that is a personal foul on you. Penalty will be thrown in your face from now until forever. Now with the community depending on how entrenched you get in it that level of perceived accountability grows. The more you show up, and become a regular participant the more you will be missed if you are absent. Make no mistake, the show will go on with out you, but they'll let you know that your absence was felt when you return. You'll already know, because the feeling would be mutual. Now community can be a overall gym environment or it can be the 6:30am kick boxing class. ally yourself up with other like minded individuals united by their availability. Let your powers combine and vanquish that early rising monster. The last situation is the trainer. Now this is a probably the truest form of a partnership. Two people are united by the same goal, but their responsibilities are different. The person in the role of the client is responsible for funding the project as well as owning the project. Meaning taking it home and doing the homework. The person in the trainer position is responsible for engineering the success. Manipulating the hour so that energy stays high, the check list gets done. Things get accomplished, and that the seeds are planted so that project continues to flourish. A key phrase or word or encouragement on the way out, or simply leading by example and sharing a little bit of yourself by discussing your free time with them. Now you and your trainer may have know each other for many years and be great friends, but you must remember what your there for. This isn't a workout date. It's a timed paid for session. So you better be there on time, and be ready to work. All of these partnerships have some real strong points, but like most things in this arena, reep what you sow. The energy that you put into each hour at your project is what your going to get out of it, and your project is most important to you, so if you are going to partner up with someone to get your goals accomplished make sure to keep those goals at the forefront an choose the situation that fits you best.