Those who exercise with a friend burn more calories than who works alone, new study results reveal. Brandon Irwin (Assistant Professor of Kinesiology at the Kansas State University) and his colleagues tested whether individuals engage in more intense physical activity when alone, or with a virtual partner or while competing against a team mate.

"People like to exercise with others and make it a social activity," Irwin said.
We found that when you're performing with someone who you perceive as little better than you, you tend to give more effort than you normally would alone."For the first part of the study, college−age females exercised on a stationary bike over a four−week period. On average, each participant rode for 10 minutes, according to a Kansas university statement.Next, the same group returned to the lab for more exercise but was told they were working out with a partner in another lab whom they could see on a screen."In this group, participants rode an average of nine minutes longer than (when) exercising alone."The increase in motivation was further enhanced by telling the trial subjects that they were on team with the virtual partners working together to achieve a team score

The results were astonishing according to Irwin. "In the beginning, the participants were exercising about a minute longer than the partner group. By the last session, participants in the team group were exercising almost 160 percent longer than those in the partner group, and nearly 200 percent longer than those exercising as individuals." Read More