BORP offers Buddy System for great collaborative workouts

Read any article talking about the reasons people don’t exercise and chances are, you can always find “it’s boring to exercise by yourself” as one of the top reasons. With that in mind, the folks at Bay Area Outreach & Recreation Program (BORP) have developed a new Fitness Buddy Program for people with spinal cord injuries and you’re invited to participate. This program will pair participants together to establish a workout regimen and to help motivate each other to achieve their fitness goals.

How does the Fitness Buddy program work?  All interested participants will need to fill out the Fitness Buddy Application after which BORP will assign everyone an exercise buddy based on proximity to each other, level of spinal cord injury and stated gender preference for a partner. Of course, they’ll do their best to match people according to their criteria, however, meeting everyone’s needs will be dependent on how many and who signs up.

An orientation meeting will be held at the BORP fitness studio in Berkeley on Sat., April 13th from 2-3:30 p.m. Attendance in person is highly encouraged but if you are unable to attend, they will follow up with you individually. At this orientation, you will learn about stretching, strengthening and resources that will help you to create a workout plan with your buddy.

You and your buddy will then decide to work out together, independently, or both. It will be up to you to decide what activities to participate in. Examples of an exercise activity may include cycling, wheelchair basketball, quad rugby, weight-training, swimming, dancing, hiking, yoga and more.

If you choose to work out independently, you will have a weekly check in with your buddy to share how you met your exercise goals for the week and to make a plan for the following week. This can be done by email, phone, Skype-type programs or whatever works best. Being accountable to someone else will help motivate participants to exercise regularly.

There will also be two group check-ins via a conference call. BORP staff will facilitate this Fitness Buddy program for six months after which the hope is that participants will continue with their fitness program long afterwards. If you have questions or are interested in participating, please contact by e-mail Cynthia@borp.org.