Why are workouts with a partner more effective??

Author: Timko Ilya - master of the whole project and fitness trainer.
2013-08-21

I will begin by describing an experiment that was presented to us in a physiology lecture at the university. This experiment was conducted with several teams of construction workers. The essence of it is as follows:

One team of workers was working while another team was simply observing their work. At the same time, their metabolic rate was measured based on several indicators (such as HR, RR, SV, etc.). So, if we take the difference between the resting metabolic level and the level during work as 100%, then for those who were observing, this level increased by 20%. In other words, for the working team, the metabolic rate increased by 100%, while for the observing team, it was 1/5 of that 100%.

This is known as the empathy effect.

Scientists went further. They took one team, whose workers were doing the same task together, and split this team in half. Again, one half worked while the other half observed. However, the significant difference from the first experiment was that these were workers from the same team, who were doing the same job and knew each other well.

Now, for those who were observing, the metabolic rate increased by 35% - 40%! Although they were just standing and watching. In other words, the empathy effect was doubled!

It's not hard to guess that the model of this experiment can be transferred to any field of activity, including the gym.

Roughly speaking, training becomes 35% - 40% more effective if you know your partner well. And it is 20% more effective even if the person with whom you are working on the same barbell is unfamiliar or only slightly known to you.

This effect is purely psychological and operates at a subconscious level. But it works! I constantly apply it in my training practice. For instance, even if there are free barbells in the gym, if two people are doing squats with a barbell on their shoulders, I ask them to train on one barbell. I come up with various excuses for this. The ideal scenario is when people know each other well and do the same exercises together. Then the empathy effect is maximized.

There are also "weaker" variants where people do the same exercises but on different equipment. I often try to do an exercise with someone on the same equipment, as I know it will be more effective than working alone.

Conclusion

The empathy effect is a very powerful thing and can greatly assist you in terms of the effectiveness of your training. Therefore, try to train with someone on the same barbell or machine in the gym. "Share" the equipment with another person if you see that it is also needed by them. You will only benefit from it!