How to Meet People in Fitness

The people you spend the most time with often have a massive influence on your lifestyle and goals. It’s a popular belief that you are the average of the five people with whom you associate most. Take a moment to consider who this would be for you. For most people this will include some combination of coworkers, family, and friends. If none of them prioritize health/fitness, it can make prioritizing it yourself quite the struggle. Maybe your friends are constantly eating junk and it’s undermining your diet, or you want to hit the gym, but that’d mean skipping the oh-so-important movie marathon. Whatever the case, your progress can become limited when the people you spend the most time with are pulling you back. 

Here’s the good news: you don’t have to be the only person interested in health. You don’t have to ditch your lazy friends or disown your family if they’re the ones making fitness hard, but it is a really good idea to invest in additional relationships that will push you in the direction you want to go. 

Community is Powerful

A 2010 report in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior noted that “social relationships — both quantity and quality — affect mental health, health behavior, physical health, and mortality risk.” Humans are social animals, and meeting some that support and enhance your ideal lifestyle is enough to change the trajectory of your life. There is absolutely nothing like meeting someone who shares your love for both video games and bench press. There are people just like you out there, and connecting with them will bring all of you closer to staying motivated and hitting your goals.

How to meet people

The first step to meeting like-minded people is to identify the genres of health/fitness that you enjoy or that interest you. 

Ex: Weight lifting, hiking, karate, live action role play, keto dieting, veganism, etc.

After you figure out what you like or want to try, it’s time to track down the other people doing it. 

The simplest option is to start with Google. Search “[activity of your choice] + [your town]”. Most larger towns will have countless options to choose from. There are an infinite number of running clubs and local basketball leagues. You can probably even find one more personal like a walking club for women over 50 or an ultimate frisbee team that does wine tasting on the side. 

Another great resource is MeetUp.com. This is perfect for anyone who isn’t sure what type of activity they want to be a part of yet. You can find a list of all the clubs within a specified radius of your location and see what looks cool. There’s everything from mixed martial arts to hacky sacking. 

Lastly, use the fit people in your life as a foot in the door. If you have a co-worker that looks super fit, ask for some fitness advice or start eating lunch with them. Often, the fittest people are part of a fitness community already and are happy to invite people in. Sometimes it’s as simple as asking “hey man, I’m trying to get stronger, how do you stay in shape?” For them to respond with “I go to CrossFit everyday after work” or “a group of us go biking on Saturdays."

If you’re looking for more resources for finding community, check out our article on Types of Group Fitness known for Awesome Community.