Getting Healthy With Your Honey!

Two couples in Singapore share their fitness journeys and how getting in shape together has benefited their relationships.

Studies have shown that couples that sweat together are likely to stay together; working out as a twosome has been shown to benefit romantic relationships by increasing couples’ emotional bonds and creating some healthy competition. Even exercising separately but sharing the common goal of getting healthy and in shape can be a plus for a couple’s connection. Here’s how.

Afshan and Dhanya ThakkarCanadian expats Afshan and Dhanya started working out with Ultimate Performance (UP) Singapore as a couple two years ago, after realising they wanted more consistency with their workouts and diets. Though Dhanya was exercising a few times a week, he found himself getting injured quite frequently and not eating as healthily as possible due to his work travel schedule; meanwhile, Afshan’s fitness regime was too “on and off” and she craved more constancy.

After turning to UP for help with strength training without getting injured and managing their diets, the couple began seeing major results.

“We focus on weight training for most of the sessions and end with metabolic exercises like intervals on a spinning bike, pushing a sled loaded with weight on a track or using battle ropes,” says Afshan. “The goal is always to make sure our form and posture are correct and that we are working on all body parts to ensure the weaker parts, especially stabiliser muscles, are also strengthened in the process. The weight training has had many benefits – it has helped us get better at climbing mountains, and I just did a half marathon with almost no training!”

Getting fit together means they have constant cheerleaders in one another, say Afshan and Dhanya. In fact, Afshan credits her husband for inspiring her fitness journey long before they began training with professionals; she in turn inspires Dhanya to stay motivated and focused on his goals.