Posted on November 15, 2016 by Jenny Cromack

At motive8 we are super proud of the results we achieve with our clients but I’m often astounded by the other non-health related benefits which joining a gym, coming to classes or having pt sessions bring. I’m not talking about the mental health benefits, which are as beneficial as the physical benefits of exercise, but I’m talking about the social benefits and mainly the friendships which are formed.

friends who train together stay together
When I first opened motive8 personal training in Leeds I was not only focused on getting results with our personal training clients but also in creating an exercise community. Now, that might sound a bit ‘wishy washy’ or ‘peace man’ but I wanted to create a gym where people felt like they ‘belonged’, where they enjoyed exercising and felt part of the ‘motive8 family’. ..one in which people felt like they belong and enjoted to exercise. In fact our part of our company vision states….‘We will create exercise communicates where people enjoy exercise, are educated about being health and active and feel like they belong’.
I think we do a pretty good job in achieving this.
I often look around the gym and see people exercising with a smile on their face (I promise), lots of friendly banter in the background and it makes me smile. This is why I got into the fitness industry…not just to kick people’s ass and get results but to make people see that exercise doesn’t have to be a chore…they can enjoy it!
We have many clients who didn’t know each other from Adam before they started training with motive8 and now they meet each other for a run, join in the social events we organise, go for a coffee, or dare I say it, go for a beer together.  Seeing these friendships grow warms the cockles of my heart (it’s not as black as you think) it makes you realise that there’s more to exercise than just the physical benefits.
And you know what they say….friends who train together stay together.