Bring a mate

Training with someone makes you more likely to turn up, and less likely to give up when it rains.

Why it works

A review of the research found that support from other people, whether family, friends or a group, was linked to people sticking with exercise and enjoying it more.¹ It's much harder to bail on a walk when someone's waiting at the end of your road in a woolly hat.

How to start

• Home first. Do the week one session together, in the same room or over a video call.
• Then a weekly walk. Same time, same place. Make it a fixture, like bin day.
• Check in. Text each other when you've done a session. A thumbs up is plenty.
• Share the jobs. One plans the route, one brings the coffee. Morning coffee only. See chapter 13.

Confidence

Going outside, or into a gym, for the first time is easier with someone next to you. Nobody's looking at you, by the way. They're all looking at themselves. But it still helps to have someone to not be looked at with. If nerves are the big thing for you, the building confidence starting point is written for you.

Picking your mate

• Someone reliable. A mate who cancels is worse than no mate.
• Someone roughly your pace, or patient enough to match it.
• Not someone who turns every walk into a race, unless you like that sort of thing.
• Dogs count. They're poor at encouragement and stop to sniff everything, but they never cancel.

All 18 chapters of Basic Training