Meeting and dating the right person is always the goal when looking for a meaningful relationship. It all starts with physical attraction, which then leads to creating a mental bond and the molding of separate lives into one workable union. Working out with your significant other can do more than get you both into shape, it could lead to a stronger verbal and non-verbal connection.
According to Psychology Today, working out with your partner — running at the same pace, lifting weights in rhythm, or tossing a medicine ball back and forth — creates “nonverbal matching.” Nonverbal matching helps you feel “emotionally attuned with one another.” Nonverbal matching creates a higher level of communication with your partner that increases the attraction between the two of you.
Research, conducted by Sackett-Fox and colleagues, was published in the November 2021 issue of the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. It found that individuals who work out together with their romantic partner experience better mood during exercise, better mood during the day, and higher levels of relationship satisfaction.
That is exactly what Mike Brown and Camille Phillips had in mind when the couple started working out together in January.
“We hold each other accountable, and we make sure we push each other to work out as hard as we can,” Brown said.
From Shaker Heights, the couple is also building a strong mental bond with one another. As their nonverbal communication develops, it continuously increases their level of trust for each other and their combined commitment.
Exercising together with a romantic partner was associated with a greater positive mood during exercise — beyond the happiness boost that results from the exercise itself — and it correlated with a higher positive mood (but not reduced negative mood) during the day. Lastly, it was related to greater relationship satisfaction.
Why relationship satisfaction? Perhaps because couples who work out together are engaging in activities both enjoy and value. For example, exercise helps them make progress toward health goals, such as maintaining an active lifestyle.
“For us, it’s a lot of fun until one of us doesn’t want to do a workout,” Philips said. “Then we must push each other to complete the work we set out to do for the day. This keeps us in tune with our goals and we get to support each other.”
Because couples spend so much time together, the merging of two goals into one helps create a deeper connection with your partner as well. Often, the goals that are set for the weight room continue to be life goals.
“We cut out fast food completely,” Brown explained. “We hardly ever eat sweets. We added more vegetables and protein to our diet, and we also started cooking meals at home.”
Couples who work out together often feel happier in their relationships and carry that feeling forward long after the workout is over. That feeling also translates to their relationship and leads to more committed and happier outcomes in other aspects of their lives.
And that is the goal for any couple looking to build on the success they already have. So, if you want to create nonverbal matching for you and your lover, hop on a couple of treadmills and go to work.
