I only work out alone-do you have a group or partners

[dijos]

I've had a few folks offer to work out with me in the last few weeks, like a social thing. While I'm not exactly antisocial.....I never work out with a partner/ group. never. like never ever. For me, Riding my bike, skateboarding, or lifting is me time, and I put on my headphones and tune everyone out. Is is just me? my wife said it's because I'm a loner, but I just go and get my work done, and I don't hang out or talk to anyone(with rare exception), as I assume other folks are in the same time of time crunch as I am. She loves to go with other people, and I don't get it. 

[Taijibum]

I prefer alone. The only time I workout with others is to run with my best friend. He is the ONLY exception. Well if my sister wanted to run I would run with her too.

[Oramac]

I usually work out alone, though I would like to have a lifting buddy for those days when I want to really push myself and need a spotter.  Naturally, I'd spot the buddy too.  

 

Thankfully my gym usually has plenty of people willing to spot me floating around.  

[EliteGreatness]

It varies from time to time. Every now and then I'll workout with friends but I definitely prefer to workout alone with no distractions

[Eleanorsbee]

definitely alone .... as you said, its "me" time ..... its the 1 hour of the day I can be on my own, no kids, no wife, no colleagues, no conversation, no politeness, no stress 

 

Just me

 

my headphones

 

my workout

 

the upside is I am getting fitter and leaner at the same time as chilling out ... where as me time in the past involved 1000 extra calories and a sofa

[SpecialSundae]

I work out alone but not by choice. I haven't been able to find a lifting buddy at my gym and can't afford another so I have to suck it up even when it means benching alone and sinking into a stress pit at the end of a two and a half hour volume session with no one but disinterested Nerds on IRC to keep me company.

I love Saturdays in the gym with my coach and others because it's the only occasion I get to lift with other people.

[Silo]

I work out alone. I'm a loner too. The only person I'd probably work out with would be my husband and that's because he's very quiet and wouldn't talk the whole time. I like to be able to concentrate on what I'm doing and it seems like having other people there would distract me.

[Silo]

Double post

[Snohomie]

I work out alone too. My best bud used to come with me occasionally, but even though I love hanging with him, I enjoyed working out solo more.

 

Admittedly, I'm an introvert who spends 50hrs a week working with people, so I need my "me time".

[redimagination]

I work out alone. I like to just get into the gym, music on and do my thing. I don't see it as a group activity. I see it as me time too. It is time I take out of my being lazy time to improve on myself. The only person I'd probably go to the gym with is my partner but I don't see that happening any time soon.

[Dleffe]

I worked out alone or years, but since I got a liftingbuddy my lifts have improved by leaps and bounds. I find it so much easier to go all out when I got a spotter, not just for bench but also to correct me if my form deteriorates. We also push eachother and especially for bench having a buddy that knows when to help and when not to is great. When I have to work out alone and ask someone to spot me they usually help to fast.

[Machete]

Maybe if you find a group that shares your goals and pushes you to be better you would change your mind. We can label yourselves as introverts all we want, but we have to accept the fact that we are not breaking any world records (or even coming close to reaching our genetic potentials) alone--it takes collective effort and experience to do that. That's why every how to get stronger article in T-Nation includes the step "train with stronger people". Actually getting along with your group is a big bonus. Communities are a big influence and may be one of the reasons why so many people join CrossFit gyms. It definitely helps with accountability and when you're starting to inch too far towards the "smart" side in the Training Hard vs. Training Smart scale (which we, as nerds, tend to do a lot). I remember rationalizing taking a rest day once because it was like -20 out and I was a little tired / dehydrated / blah blah blah excuses. My training partner then, who is one of those people who trains way too hard, started banging on my door and yelling "Let's go, bitch. Stop being a pussy." We actually balanced each other out. I sacked-up more, he got injured less. Win-Win.

[Eleanorsbee]

I agree with Machete

 

when I think of everything I have ever done, snowboarding, mountain biking, climbing etc etc ... the most gains I have ever made are when you are with a group of people that push you.

 

when you are with your buddies, especially if they are better than you, you tend to push yourself and them harder, ride faster, climb harder routes, hit bigger jumps

 

 

I still work out alone ... I like the solitude and me time ... but no doubt if I have a buddy with me I would lift heavier ! and row longer

[Shortgorilla]

I've only had two workout partners in my life that I liked working out with.  I've tried working out in groups and with other friends before and usually it's disasterous (in my mind).  Everyone wants to hang out on the benches rather than actually work out.  There is little that aggravates me more than someone slowing my heart rate down and making me wait to get my next set in because they want to tell me some long winded story without any provocation from me.

[Rookiebeotch]

I lift alone. I am envious of the competitive and high intensity environment in group workouts like crossfit. My knee-jerk is a yearning to invite people to work out sessions. But when I think about it, what this tells me is that I need to develope my own high intensity environment. I need to fix my own issues without depending on the company of others.

[SpecialSundae]

Having someone watching over you helps weed out form issues that you might not spot yourself (even on video).

[Dradis]

I'd like to have a buddy if i could find one that:
1 - i actually thought/knew they knew what they were doing

2 - would be consistent

3 - i liked

4 - i didn't have to pay

 

Even then i think the only benefit i'd gain from it would be the spotting, but seeing as i've never done maxes i don't think i've missed having a buddy at all. I got stuck under the bar on the 4th rep of 5 doing bench once, but i don't put the collars on. I don't mind looking like an idiot so it was all good tipping the plates off.

That was before i discovered the "roll of shame" which i will try next time

[Oramac]

Having someone watching over you helps weed out form issues that you might not spot yourself (even on video).

 

This is the main reason I wish I had a buddy to lift with.  I don't mind lifting alone, but I also know I don't push myself quite as hard when I'm alone.  

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

Maybe if you find a group that shares your goals and pushes you to be better you would change your mind. We can label yourselves as introverts all we want, but we have to accept the fact that we are not breaking any world records (or even coming close to reaching our genetic potentials) alone--it takes collective effort and experience to do that. That's why every how to get stronger article in T-Nation includes the step "train with stronger people". Actually getting along with your group is a big bonus. Communities are a big influence and may be one of the reasons why so many people join CrossFit gyms. It definitely helps with accountability and when you're starting to inch too far towards the "smart" side in the Training Hard vs. Training Smart scale (which we, as nerds, tend to do a lot). I remember rationalizing taking a rest day once because it was like -20 out and I was a little tired / dehydrated / blah blah blah excuses. My training partner then, who is one of those people who trains way too hard, started banging on my door and yelling "Let's go, bitch. Stop being a pussy." We actually balanced each other out. I sacked-up more, he got injured less. Win-Win.

 

This is pretty good, but there's additional parts to it as well. I am an introvert, but I'm finding more and more than I'm not as far down that introvert scale as I think. It's not that "I'm a complete loner and need me time" to the extreme that I've perceived  in the past, it's more and more that "I have certain interests and am bored/lonely most of the time and need time doing them". Social situations don't suck the energy out of me, it's social situations that don't involve things that I'm interested in that drain me. Because almost all of my interests fall into either the nerd culture or powerlifting culture bins, and my friends and wife have almost no interests that fall in them, I end up lonely and depressed. It's not that I'm an introvert, it's that I'm bored and lonely.

 

There's two recent events that have really highlighted this for me. The most recent is that I went to the Boston nerd meetup this past weekend and like the other 3 that I've been a part of, it was an absolute blast, I was a social butterfly that wouldn't shut up, and I wasn't drained afterward. It's because the entire time I was either lifting with nerds, or hanging out drinking with nerds talking about nerdy ass things. It was all things that interested and excited me.

 

This was the one that really showed me that I like lifting with other people. Friday night we hung out at Crossfit for a solid 2-3 hours, lifting and helping each other improve. Didn't matter if you were a newbie or vet, I was chiming in to teach people how to squat that had never squatted before, as well as helping Spezzy and knightwatch with things they had issues with. It was great.

 

The other big thing is that my wife and I recently started hanging out with some parenting groups she made after having our daughter, and I've really hit it off at the parties with a few of the guys, one especially, and she's compleely floored by how I'm acting. Instead of being someone standing by a conversation and making little comments here and there like usual, apparently since I'm such an introvert in my eyes and hers, I'm animatedly leading conversations, laughing, and smiling the whole time. Why? Because I'm finding common interests with these guys that my main group of friends don't share with me, mainly video games and magic cards in this case. I'm going over one guy's house tonght while the girls go out and breaking out MTG cards that I haven't touched in 12 years. Once again, not really an introvert, just don't have things in common with my main group of friends other than we've been friends for 15 years and are Philly sports fans.

[Oramac]

This is pretty good, but there's additional parts to it as well. I am an introvert, but I'm finding more and more than I'm not as far down that introvert scale as I think. It's not that "I'm a complete loner and need me time" to the extreme that I've perceived  in the past, it's more and more that "I have certain interests and am bored/lonely most of the time and need time doing them". Social situations don't suck the energy out of me, it's social situations that don't involve things that I'm interested in that drain me. Because almost all of my interests fall into either the nerd culture or powerlifting culture bins, and my friends and wife have almost no interests that fall in them, I end up lonely and depressed. It's not that I'm an introvert, it's that I'm bored and lonely.

 

Ya know, I never really looked at it this way, but now that you mention it I think I might fall in the same category.  I've always been something of an outsider in most social groups that talk about [insert non-nerdy thing here].  I can sorta-kinda talk if the conversation is football or baseball, but other than that if it's not some kind of "nerdy" thing, I pretty much just hang back and don't talk.  About the only non-nerd thing I get super excited about is firearms, but it's damned hard to find a lot of people to talk about that with.  

[Storm_Ike]

I workout alone honestly. Even when I go with someone, he or she goes off and does their own thing and I do the same. 

[PMyrrh]

Well, personal experience is zilch, since I am a beginner with a cobbled together a home gym (Dads old bench, thrift store 70s sand in plastic weights, etc), but I like working out alone, lets me focus and have fun. From some of the earlier posts, I can see the benefits of group lifting though.

[Evicious]

I generally work out alone because I have to - very few people in my work/social group 1) Want to workout, or 2) Want to workout with a female. Also, I'm that person who is the opposite of whoever I'm working out with. Are you super-motivated? I'm going to whine the entire time (I still work my ass off - I just complain the entire time, for some reason). Are you the whiny type? I'm the super-motivated person who always has something uber-pumped to say before, during, and after every set. I don't know what it is about me that makes me the polar opposite of whoever I'm lifting with: it's just a natural (and often irritating, I imagine) reaction. I love working out with other people. Very few people like working out with me. X-D

[starsapart]

I'm an extreme extrovert and I always like working out with others.  In fact, I finally stuck to my fitness program only when I started going to group workout classes where I got to play off of the energy of the other people there... and use the fact that there were people who might be watching me to keep myself from slacking!

 

I've mostly moved away from classes now, but for lifting and circuits days, I generally go with my spouse (since we're lucky enough to work for the same company and thus both have access to the company gym at lunchtime).  If I have to go on my own for whatever reason, it still feels like a chore.  Lifting with a buddy is great for the reasons stated above as well - encouragement, pushing each other, camaraderie... etc.

[redtomato501]

I workout alone honestly. Even when I go with someone, he or she goes off and does their own thing and I do the same. 

 

This is what I do, actually - my friend does cardio stuff (is a runner with injuries ) although she's slowly getting interested in the weight stuff I'm doing, while I'm pure squat rack and bench location. We go together, chat it up as we walk there, go our separate ways, check in on each other once or twice, and then she'll sit with me for the last bit of mine because she's always done first! Then we walk back home (15 minutes from gym, same apartment building), and keep it moving! It actually works really well - motivation and encouragement, while being able to focus when I need to!

 

I generally work out alone because I have to - very few people in my work/social group 1) Want to workout, or 2) Want to workout with a female. Also, I'm that person who is the opposite of whoever I'm working out with. Are you super-motivated? I'm going to whine the entire time (I still work my ass off - I just complain the entire time, for some reason). Are you the whiny type? I'm the super-motivated person who always has something uber-pumped to say before, during, and after every set. I don't know what it is about me that makes me the polar opposite of whoever I'm lifting with: it's just a natural (and often irritating, I imagine) reaction. I love working out with other people. Very few people like working out with me. X-D

 

Ha ha, not when I'm working out, but I so do this too... When people are miserable and whiny is when I get inexplicably cheery. Love it.