How I used the buddy system to build a free exercise routine that works

We all know the benefits of exercising regularly, but why is it so hard to actually do it? I found Orangetheory Fitness a couple of years ago, and it was the first time in my adult life that I managed to work out on a regular basis. I finally felt like a real adult — at least in the fitness category. But when it became clear that gyms were going to be off-limits for me until the pandemic got under control, I started looking for an alternative exercise routine.

I learned from my experience with Orangetheory that an exercise routine has to have three components for me to stick with it:

Variety: if I have to do the same thing every time, I won’t do it.
Schedule: if it’s not on my calendar, I won’t do it.
Accountability: there has to be a consequence if I don’t do it.

Fast forward three months and I’ve managed to consistently work out three to four days every week, at home, for free. Here’s how I did it.

1. Find a buddy.

My first step was to find a friend in a similar boat — stuck working out at home and finding their motivation lacking. My qualifications were:

We wanted to do the same types of exercises.
We wanted to work out at the same time.
We were both willing to hold each other accountable.

Since this was during the time of hardcore quarantining, I knew we’d have to workout together via FaceTime regardless of where we lived, so proximity wasn’t an issue.

Finding a buddy could have potentially been the hardest part, but I found one pretty quickly and we agreed to create a plan and commit to it together.

2. Set a schedule and stick to it.

My buddy and I decided to start off with three days a week that we’d work out together at 5:15pm on weekdays and 10am on weekends. We created recurring calendar invites so neither of us could use this classic excuse: “Oh no! It wasn’t on my calendar. Can we reschedule?”

3. Build a workout video playlist.

A simple Youtube search for “exercise video” will bring up an overwhelming number of options from yoga to HIIT to strength training. We quickly learned to be very specific in our search terms to find what we were looking for and then save each video to a playlist.

At that point, our goal was 10 minutes of exercise three times a week so we could focus on building the habit. Here are some of the search phrases we used:

4. Actually do the workout.

Since we already laid the groundwork by deciding on a schedule and finding videos we wanted to try, actually doing the workouts turned out to be the easiest part. Here’s how we made it work virtually:

First, we got on FaceTime and pulled up Youtube on our respective laptops or televisions. Then, we each loaded the video and got through the initial ads.

For most videos, I muted my laptop and listened to the audio through FaceTime. We counted down and hit play at the same time so the audio and video were in sync (for the most part).

This doesn’t work so well with dance workouts (imagine trying to follow a dance workout routine where the video is ever so slightly off from the audio). So when we do dance workouts, both of us mute our phones and use our own audio.

This system ended up working so well that after a couple of weeks, we increased the intensity and length of our workouts and decided to add a fourth day each week. Now, three months in, we genuinely look forward to (virtually) sweating together. I’m starting to think I may never go back to Orangetheory again.

Here are the workout routines we tried, loved, and keep going back to:

MadFit: 15 Minute Dance Party Workout

This is our all-time favorite dance workout. You’ll feel cute while you’re doing it and be dripping sweat when you finish. If you like this one, you’ll also enjoy MadFit’s other dance workouts.

Emi Wong: Standing Arms Workout

We love this workout because it doesn’t require any equipment, no exercises are repeated, and it’s effective for beginners.

Yoga With Kassandra: 30 Minute Beginner Yoga

This is the best yoga flow we’ve found for those particularly stressful workdays.