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Couples who met while working out: meeting your mate at the local gym or while exercising can be a great relationship starter because it means you instantly have something in common - Body talk: black health and fitness
Ebony, Feb, 2003
HE first saw her on a Sunday night across a crowded skating rink. He asked her to couples skate and they hit the rink floor. "After the skating was over, she was gone--didn't leave a skate, a glass slipper, nothing," remembers Will Creighton Jr. of Chicago, recalling his first meeting with girlfriend Darya Rashid. "I had to wait two weeks to see her again. I skated off the floor, went right up to her and said, `Are you going to disappear on me again?'"
It's a relationship tableau that plays itself out in gyms, fitness centers, pools, tennis courts, running trails and, yes, skating rinks all across the country. Men and women meet and even fall in love while working out or exercising.
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After Creighton, an engineer at Chicago's Midway Airport, met hair stylist Rashid the second time, he didn't let her get away. They've been together for about a year now, and continue to roller skate two or three times a week, for fun, relaxation and for exercise.
Creighton, 36, started roller skating again in 1996 after a friend told him that it was still very popular among young African-Americans in the city. Rashid, 31, has been going to the skating rink for about three years. Both were there to have a good time, but soon realized how physically demanding roller skating can be.
"You work your leg muscles skating in a way that you won't work them doing anything else," says Creighton. "You'll really notice the difference, particularly if you haven't been skating in a while."
During Creighton and Rashid's regular skating outings, he teaches her how to skate in the JB ("James Brown") style. It also means the couple can share more aspects of their lives.
"Health-wise, it's just good to make sure you're in shape as far as diet and exercise," says Rashid. "We're spending a lot of time together doing things that we enjoy doing--we're killing two birds with one stone."
Health experts say that motivation is the key to sticking to a fitness plan, and working out as a couple can be a built-in motivator.
"In our society, now, there's pervasive obesity and lots of kids are overweight," says Dr. Rudy Byron, a family physician in Racine, Wis., who met his wife while bicycling. "Being physically fit is very important for both the individual, and for the couple."
Before deciding to work out together, here are several points to consider. Laying the foundation for a fitness plan and for a relationship before you get started can make the way to a healthier lifestyle much smoother.
1. Check with your doctor before beginning any exercise routine or workout. Make sure that you are physically equipped to handle the stress the workout--no matter how small it seems--may cause to your body. Make sure that when you start working out together, you continue to work at your own pace and not push yourself to go faster, harder or longer than you normally would. Avoid injuries by knowing your body.
2. Consider consulting a licensed nutritionist or dietician before starting any workout program, especially if you're adding another element--particularly the man or woman in your life. You and your new partner may want to consider a total life makeover, not just by exercising together, but also improving your eating habits.
3. If you decide to continue exercising together, you may want to have one or two sessions with a licensed fitness expert to help you set reasonable goals and keep your workout and your personal lives in perspective. A professional can also help you with form and technique when doing the exercises and can advise you about the exercises that are right for you.
4. Make sure that both of you are committed to exercising together. That commitment can help to defuse any arguments. If you are committed, you may want to try various forms of exercise. Rashid and Creighton not only roller skate together several times a week, they also engage in a more traditional workout at Bally Sports Club in Chicago.
"It helps us to be physically active [as we get older]," Creighton says. "I want to live a long time and enjoy life physically for a long time. And I want to do that with my mate."
5. Realize that men and women have different exercise needs. Their bodies are different, and studies have shown that men and women have different approaches to physical fitness.
6. Fitness experts suggest that couples keep a journal with plans for the day's exercise or workout, along with daily food and caloric intake. If your workout or exercise routine takes place at different locations each week, you may want to track that as well. The journal can serve a dual purpose, with sections on what you've learned about your body, and what you've learned about your relationship.
7. You don't have to exercise together all the time. Try mixing it up a time or two each week, meaning each of you should go your separate ways and work out. Whether he decides to go roller skating or inline skating with friends, or she decides to head to the basketball courts, some time apart can be helpful in keeping things fresh.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Johnson Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group
