{"id":118289,"date":"2026-10-07T14:08:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T18:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/?p=118289"},"modified":"2026-10-07T14:08:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T18:08:08","slug":"couples-who-exercise-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/index.php\/health-and-wellness\/couples-who-exercise-together\/","title":{"rendered":"Couples Who Exercise Together Talk Better. A Walk Counts"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='booster-block booster-read-block'>\n                <div class=\"twp-read-time\">\n                \t<i class=\"booster-icon twp-clock\"><\/i> <span>Read Time:<\/span>8 Minute, 48 Second                <\/div>\n\n            <\/div><p>It&#8217;s the end of a long day. You&#8217;re both home. You&#8217;re both tired. You finally sit down together, and somehow the only things you talk about are bills, who&#8217;s picking up what, and whose turn it is to deal with the leaking tap.<\/p>\n\n<p>You were in the same room for an hour. You didn&#8217;t really talk.<\/p>\n\n<p>If that sounds familiar, a recent study about <strong>couples who exercise together<\/strong> is worth a few minutes of your time. Not because it says you need a gym, a plan, or matching trainers. The most common way the couples in it moved together was much simpler than that. They went for a walk.<\/p>\n\n<h2>What the Study of Couples Who Exercise Together Found<\/h2>\n\n<p>Researchers at Brigham Young University looked at survey answers from 1,693 young married couples. The couples were part of a long-running project called CREATE, which has followed newly married couples across the United States for more than a decade. The results appeared in the journal <em>Family Relations<\/em> and were reported in August 2026.<\/p>\n\n<p>On average, the wives were about 28 years old and the husbands about 30. A little under half had children.<\/p>\n\n<p>Here is what the team found:<\/p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Most people exercised, but few did it together.<\/strong> About 60 percent of the husbands and wives said they exercised. Only about a third exercised with their spouse.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Any exercise was linked to a calmer marriage.<\/strong> Even people who exercised on their own tended to report better relationships.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Exercising together was linked to the most.<\/strong> Couples who moved together reported better communication, better conflict resolution, and less conflict in their marriage.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Talking got the biggest boost.<\/strong> Of the three things the researchers measured, communication had the strongest link to shared exercise.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Walking came first.<\/strong> It was the most common thing couples did together, ahead of running, cycling, swimming, hiking, sports, and the gym.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>Jeremy Yorgason, the professor who led the study, put it carefully: &#8220;Our findings suggest that conjoint exercise facilitates, in a small but significant way, the ability to resolve conflict peacefully.&#8221; (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.discovermagazine.com\/exercising-with-your-spouse-may-improve-communication-and-reduce-conflict-49537\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Discover<\/a> has a good summary of the research.)<\/p>\n\n<p>Notice the words &#8220;small but significant.&#8221; He isn&#8217;t promising a new marriage. He&#8217;s saying there&#8217;s a real, modest link. That honesty matters, and it leads to the part most headlines skipped.<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"convertkit-form wp-block-convertkit-form\" style=\"\"><script async data-uid=\"6491fb8269\" src=\"https:\/\/bgodinspired.kit.com\/6491fb8269\/index.js\" data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" data-no-defer=\"1\" data-no-optimize=\"1\" nowprocket><\/script><\/div>\n\n\n<h2>The Catch: This Study Can&#8217;t Tell You Which Came First<\/h2>\n\n<p>The couples answered questions at one point in time. Nobody was split into groups and told to go walking. That means the study can show that two things go together. It can&#8217;t show that one thing caused the other.<\/p>\n\n<p>Think about it the other way round. Couples who already get along well might simply be more likely to want to spend an hour together on a trail. Couples who are fighting might not want to share a walk at all. Both stories fit the same numbers.<\/p>\n\n<p>The researchers themselves point out other limits:<\/p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Everything was self-reported. People described their own marriages and their own exercise.<\/li>\n<li>The links were modest, not dramatic.<\/li>\n<li>The study didn&#8217;t track how often, how long, or how hard people exercised.<\/li>\n<li>The couples were young, newly married, and living in the United States. Most had moderate to high incomes and at least some college education.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>So if you live somewhere very different, have been married for thirty years, or aren&#8217;t married at all, this study doesn&#8217;t speak for you directly. But the idea underneath it is old, cheap, and easy to test in your own life.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Why a Walk Might Help Couples Talk<\/h2>\n\n<p>The study measured <em>whether<\/em> shared exercise and better communication go together. It didn&#8217;t measure <em>why<\/em>. Still, the first author, Ashlyn Mildenhall, made a simple point about walking: it &#8220;naturally provides opportunities to communicate.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n<p>Here are a few reasons that may be true. These are reasonable guesses, not findings:<\/p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Side by side is easier than face to face.<\/strong> Some conversations feel like an interview across a table. Walking next to someone takes the pressure off. You can look at the road instead of at each other.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Your hands are busy and your phone is away.<\/strong> Fewer screens means more room for the actual person beside you.<\/li>\n<li><strong>You&#8217;re on the same team for a while.<\/strong> You&#8217;re both going the same way, at the same pace, toward the same corner. That&#8217;s a small break from feeling like opponents.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Moving can take the edge off.<\/strong> A hard topic can feel lighter when your body isn&#8217;t stuck in a chair.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>If you&#8217;ve read about <a href=\"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/index.php\/relationships-and-family\/shared-awe-couples\/\">couples who feel awe together<\/a>, you&#8217;ll notice a pattern. Again and again, the shared thing seems to matter more than the fancy thing.<\/p>\n\n<h2>How to Exercise Together as a Couple, for Free<\/h2>\n\n<p>You don&#8217;t need money, equipment, or a lot of spare time. Try one of these this week:<\/p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><strong>The ten-minute walk.<\/strong> After a meal, walk to the end of the street and back. That&#8217;s it. Short counts.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The five-minute rule.<\/strong> For the first five minutes, no logistics. No bills, no schedules, no to-do lists. Ask one real question instead, like &#8220;What was the best part of your day?&#8221;<\/li>\n<li><strong>The slower one sets the pace.<\/strong> If one of you is fitter, sore, older, or more tired, match the slower speed. The goal is to stay together, not to win.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Walk to something you already have to do.<\/strong> The shop, the bus stop, the school gate. Turn an errand into ten minutes side by side.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n<p>Not in a couple? The same idea works with a friend, a parent, a flatmate, or a grown child. If you want a gentle way to check in on how the two of you are doing, our free <a href=\"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/index.php\/my-couple-compatibility-quiz\/\">couple compatibility check<\/a> is a good conversation starter for the walk. And if you notice that one of you needs a lot of reassurance during hard talks, this piece on <a href=\"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/index.php\/relationships-and-family\/what-is-anxious-attachment\/\">anxious attachment<\/a> may help you understand why.<\/p>\n\n<p><em>A good place to start:<\/em><br>\n<strong>The Beginner&#8217;s Guide to Feeling God&#8217;s Presence Every Day<\/strong><br>\nA short video guide for noticing that you&#8217;re not alone in the ordinary moments of your day, including a quiet walk at the end of a long one.<br>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/index.php\/free-video-course-feeling-gods-presence\/?utm_source=wordpress&amp;utm_medium=article-inline&amp;utm_content=hero\">Get the free guide<\/a><br>\nFree.<\/p>\n\n<h2>An Old Question About Walking Together<\/h2>\n\n<p>There&#8217;s a question that&#8217;s been around for thousands of years: &#8220;Can two walk together, except they be agreed?&#8221;<\/p>\n\n<p>Most of us hear that as a rule. Sort out your differences first, then you can walk side by side. It was first asked by an ancient prophet about people walking with God.<\/p>\n\n<p>But anyone who has loved someone for a while knows agreement rarely shows up all at once, in one conversation. It gets found slowly, a bit at a time, often on the way somewhere. This study can&#8217;t tell us which comes first, the walking or the agreeing. Maybe they grow together. And maybe that&#8217;s true of walking with God too. You don&#8217;t have to have everything settled before you take the first step. You just have to be willing to go the same way for a while, and keep talking.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Tonight, Leave the Shoes by the Door<\/h2>\n\n<p>You don&#8217;t need to fix your marriage this week. You don&#8217;t need a fitness plan. You just need ten minutes and somewhere to walk.<\/p>\n\n<p>Leave your shoes by the door tonight. Tomorrow, when the day is done and the talk starts drifting toward bills, try saying, &#8220;Want to go round the block?&#8221; The study suggests it&#8217;s a small step. Small steps, taken side by side, have a way of adding up.<\/p>\n\n<h2>What Do You Think?<\/h2>\n\n<p>Which do you think comes first for most couples: getting along, and then wanting to spend time together, or spending time together, and then getting along better? Tell us in the comments. We read every one.<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"convertkit-form wp-block-convertkit-form\" style=\"\"><script async data-uid=\"6491fb8269\" src=\"https:\/\/bgodinspired.kit.com\/6491fb8269\/index.js\" data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" data-no-defer=\"1\" data-no-optimize=\"1\" nowprocket><\/script><\/div>\n\n\n<h2>Share This<\/h2>\n\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;Couples who exercise together reported better communication and less conflict in a study of 1,693 newlyweds. The most common shared exercise? Walking. Ten minutes round the block might be the cheapest date there is.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Read something today that stuck with me: talking side by side on a walk can be easier than talking face to face across a table. Going to test that tonight.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;The honest part of this marriage study: it can&#8217;t prove exercise causes better communication. Happy couples might just walk more. But a walk costs nothing, so why not try it?&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<h2>Questions People Ask About Couples Who Exercise Together<\/h2>\n\n<h3>Do couples who exercise together have better relationships?<\/h3>\n<p>A 2026 Brigham Young University study of 1,693 young married couples, published in the journal Family Relations, found that couples who exercised together reported better communication, better conflict resolution, and less marital conflict than couples who exercised separately. The researchers described the link as small but significant. Because the data came from one point in time, the study cannot prove that exercising together causes a better relationship.<\/p>\n\n<h3>What kind of exercise did couples do together most often?<\/h3>\n<p>Walking was the most commonly reported shared exercise among the young married couples in the 2026 Brigham Young University study on conjoint exercise. Other shared activities included running, cycling, swimming, hiking, team sports, gym workouts, and strength training. Walking is free and needs no equipment, which makes it easy for most couples to try.<\/p>\n\n<h3>How many couples in the study exercised together?<\/h3>\n<p>In the Brigham Young University study of 1,693 newly married couples, about 60 percent of husbands and wives said they exercised, but only about one third exercised together with their spouse. The research team found that any exercise was linked to more positive relationship outcomes, and exercising together was linked to the strongest ones.<\/p>\n\n<h3>Does exercising together cause couples to argue less?<\/h3>\n<p>Nobody knows yet. The 2026 study published in Family Relations found that couples who exercised together reported less marital conflict, but the couples were surveyed at a single point in time and described their own behaviour. It is possible that couples who already get along are simply more likely to exercise together. Proving cause and effect would need a study that follows couples over time or assigns some of them to exercise together.<\/p>\n\n<h3>What is an easy way for couples to start exercising together?<\/h3>\n<p>A simple way for couples to start exercising together is a ten-minute walk after a meal, at the pace of the slower person. Walking side by side can make conversation feel easier than sitting face to face. Agreeing to avoid talking about bills and schedules for the first few minutes can turn the walk into real time together rather than another planning meeting.<\/p>        <div class=\"booster-block booster-reactions-block\">\n            <div class=\"twp-reactions-icons\">\n                \n                <div class=\"twp-reacts-wrap\">\n                    <a react-data=\"be-react-1\" post-id=\"118289\" class=\"be-face-icons un-reacted\" href=\"javascript:void(0)\">\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/booster-extension\/\/assets\/icon\/happy.svg\" alt=\"Happy\" title=\"\">\n                    <\/a>\n                    <div class=\"twp-reaction-title\">\n                        Happy                    <\/div>\n                    <div class=\"twp-count-percent\">\n                                                    <span style=\"display: none;\" class=\"twp-react-count\">0<\/span>\n                        \n        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The catch, why a walk counts, and free ways to start tonight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":118288,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_wp_convertkit_post_meta":{"form":"-1","landing_page":"0","tag":"0","restrict_content":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[3711,3718],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-118289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-and-wellness","category-relationships-and-family"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118289"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":118290,"href":"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118289\/revisions\/118290"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}