Workout for lovers

Ebony, Feb, 1998 by Nicole Walker

Shaping up with your soulmate can turn a ho-hum workout into an exciting, playful, even sensual experience for both of you. Exercising with that person who catches your fancy is a good way to start a new relationship or put new life into an old one. If fitness isn't your strong suit, your partner in romance may prove an excellent exercise buddy and motivator, especially on those chilly mornings when you'd rather snooze an extra 30 minutes than jog a few laps around the block. Or if you already feel that fitness is fantastic, combining the two loves of your life only makes a good thing even better.

Working out with your sweetheart not only provides an automatic support system, but also gives you both something more Precious than fit physiques.

"It brings you closer together," says Carroll Roberts, a certified personal trainer and owner of Signature Fitness and Personal Training Inc. in the Woodlawn section of Baltimore. Roberts says that exercising tete-a-tete provides couples who are bogged down by work and family pressures with valuable quality time to strengthen not only their bodies, but also the bonds of their union.

Couples like Wendelyn L. Mitchell and Harris E. Miller of Chicago, a duet in fitness and love for nearly six years and engaged to wed in May, find that training together grants harmony to their hectic lives.

"With our schedules, it's really tough to spend time together," says Wendy, 29, who juggles the demands of her job as a senior associate for the National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse with the workload of her fiance, Harris, a 31-year-old sales and leasing consultant for Grossinger City Toyota in Chicago.

For them, quality time is when and where they can find it, and that often means during weekly workout sessions. Avid athletes, both Harris, a former marathon runner who races for charities, and Wendy, who grew up in a sports-involved family and competed in high-school tennis, say that sharing their mutual fondness for physical fitness adds another dimension to their relationship.

"I get to see a different side of him -- his stamina and competitiveness," Wendy says. Harris adds that their workouts give them time to work out their bodies and their problems. "Walking around the track gives us a chance to talk about relationship issues outside of the apartment," he says. "It helps us work through things."

Burning calories together also can help keep those fires burning in your relationship. "A workout, just by you and your mate being close, can turn into something sensual," says Roberts of Signature Fitness.

Because working out together allows you to experience physical and emotional intimacy, reach your fitness goals together and improve your self-esteem, experts say that exercise can have benefits that carry over into your love life.

When the two of you feel good about your bodies, you both can let your passion for each other flow unbridled without worrying if your lover thinks your gut is too big or your butt is too wide. In addition to improving the way you look and feel, exercise enhances the quality of your love life by boosting your energy and stamina.

Wendy and Harris attest that their weekly fitness sessions definitely improve their relationship.

"When you work out together, you touch, you focus on the other with no distractions," Harris says. "You have a level of intimacy that you don't have when you're working together on the computer."

While walking, jogging, cycling or rollerblading remain great ways for couples to shape up together, almost any physical activity can become an exercise for lovers only -- all it takes is a bit of imagination. For example, Roberts of Signature Fitness says a grueling sit-up becomes a pleasant kiss-up when your mate kneels in front of you and plants a peck on your lips each time you complete a crunch -- a very effective incentive!

Roberts says another good way to squeeze in a little fitness and a lot of fun is to turn your home into an indoor-fitness course. As soon as you get home from work, strip down to your skivvies and do some push-ups in the hallway. Then enter the living room and do some sit-ups. Go to the kitchen and do some squats. If you have stairs, run up and down them a few times. While exercising, have your mate coach you, then switch places. End your routines by thinking of creative ways to congratulate each other on a well-done workout.

Even a sport or game you both like to play, such as bowling, can get a titillating twist -- that's right, bowling. For instance, each pin knocked down might equal one kiss and each spare one hug, while each strike guarantees a lovemaking session. Roberts says although kisses and hugs can be redeemed after each frame, you probably should hold off on anything else until you get home. Of course, you can alter these rules.

Whatever exercise you and that special someone in your life choose to do, have fun doing it. Remember to praise each other's efforts and shower your love with compliments and adorations when possible. And by all means, get "physical" together every chance you get.