Guides · Challenges and games

Does Competition Make You Exercise More? What Studies Say

Does competing with friends make you exercise more? What three randomized studies found, where the evidence stops, and how to keep a rivalry fair enough to last

By the Beastie team · 18 October 2026

Often, yes, as long as the contest stays close. In a 602-person randomized trial, a competition group raised daily steps more than support or teamwork groups, and was the only one still ahead of the control group after the game ended. Other studies agree, with one catch: a rival far ahead can make you quit sooner.

That's the short answer. The longer one matters, because "competition works" is easy to say and easy to get wrong. Here is what three studies actually measured, what they found, and where the evidence stops.

What the studies found

Study	Who took part	What was measured	What happened
STEP UP trial, JAMA Internal Medicine, 2019	602 adults from 40 US states	Daily steps over a 24-week game, then 12 weeks without it	Competition raised steps the most, and was the only arm still clearly above control afterwards
Zhang et al., Preventive Medicine Reports, 2016	790 university students	Exercise classes attended	Groups that could compare themselves with others attended about 90% more
Feltz et al., J Diabetes Sci Technol, 2012	135 undergraduates	Seconds holding an abdominal exercise	Longest hold next to a partner who was moderately better, not far better

The STEP UP trial: competition beat support and teamwork

This is the strongest of the three. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania gave 602 adults a wearable step tracker and split them into four groups: a control group that only got feedback from the device, and three groups that played a 24-week step-goal game with a social twist. In the support group, a friend or family member was sent a weekly report on the player's progress. In the collaboration group, players were put in teams of three, and each day one of them was picked at random to represent the team. In the competition group, players were put in groups of three and got a weekly email with a leaderboard ranking them against each other. The participants were adults with a body mass index of 25 or higher.

Compared with the control group, average daily steps went up by about:

920 a day in the competition group
689 a day in the support group
637 a day in the collaboration group

All three beat doing nothing. Competition did the most. Then the game stopped, and the researchers kept watching for 12 more weeks. Activity dropped in every group. But only the competition group stayed significantly above the control group, still about 569 steps a day ahead. The authors' conclusion: "competition was the most effective."

The class attendance study: comparison beat support

A second Penn team ran a 4-arm trial with 790 students and their attendance at exercise classes. Some students were put in small online networks where they could see how peers were doing (social comparison). Others were put in teams that supported each other. Others got both, and a control group got neither.

The groups that could compare themselves with others attended classes about 90% more than the groups that couldn't. The support-only teams did not do better: on weekly attendance they came in slightly below the control group (16.8 against 20.3). The authors wrote that social comparison "was more effective for increasing physical activity than social support."

The partner study: the gap matters

The third study tested something called the Köhler effect, a boost in effort from working alongside a stronger partner. Students held a series of abdominal exercises in a video game, first alone, then (for most of them) next to an on-screen partner who was always better. The team's success depended on the weaker player, so there was nowhere to hide. How much better the partner was made up the experiment.

On average, people with a partner held on longer than the people who stayed alone. But the best result came from the middle: next to a moderately better partner, people held on about 51 seconds longer than in their solo round, against about 23 seconds with a slightly better partner and 27 seconds with a much better one. The authors called it an inverted U, and concluded that partners who are "moderately more capable" work best.

One honest note: this was a team task, not a head-to-head, and the partner was virtual. It tells you about the size of the gap, not about rivalry itself.

Why does competing with friends work?

The studies measure outcomes, not reasons, so treat this part as our reading of them. A rival gives you three things a workout on your own doesn't:

A reason to start today. Someone else's number is sitting there, waiting to be answered.
A clear target. Not "do some push-ups," but "beat 27."
Someone who notices. Comparison only works if the score is visible, which is exactly what the class study tested.

When does competition backfire?

Competition isn't for everyone, and the evidence above has limits worth saying out loud.

A big gap kills it. The partner study is the clearest sign: someone far ahead produced less effort than someone just ahead. A rivalry you lose every single time stops being a rivalry.
It fades without the game. In STEP UP, steps fell in every group once the game ended. Competition held up best, but nobody stayed at their peak by default.
These weren't push-ups. The studies measured steps, class attendance and how long people held a position. None tested a push-up duel. The pattern is encouraging; it isn't proof for any one exercise.
Some people hate it. If losing makes you want to quit, skip head-to-head and race your own record. That's still a scoreboard, with one name on it.

How do you make competition fair?

The fix for the big-gap problem is old and simple: change what's scored.

Rule	How it works	Use it when
Straight up	Most clean reps wins	You're within a few reps of each other
Handicap	Cut the stronger person's count by an agreed share	One of you is clearly ahead
Beat your best	Whoever beats their own record by more wins	You're far apart, or one of you hates losing

A handicap tries to recreate that "moderately better" middle ground from the partner study. Beat your best sidesteps the gap entirely. Either way, agree what counts as a rep before anyone starts, or the argument replaces the workout. Our push-up competition rules cover the edge cases, and 15 push-up challenge ideas has formats to rotate through.

Running it in Beastie

Beastie is a rep duel app for iPhone and Android, built around the kind of contest the studies point to: visible, close, and easy to answer. You prop your phone up with your whole body in frame, and the camera counts only clean reps. A skeleton is drawn over your body, and a rep that falls short is refused with the reason ("chest lower!"). Processing happens on the phone; video is never uploaded or stored. See how the counting works.

Keep it close: when you send a challenge, choose "beat your best" so each of you races your own record, or the handicap rule that cuts the sender's count by 5% to 50% at the verdict.
Head to head: a live duel is 60 seconds, both of you at once, each in front of your own phone, with both counts on screen.
Different times: do a set and send it as a link. Your friend opens it, sees your number and answers on camera. A sent challenge stays open seven days.
Make the score visible: every verdict comes with a receipt (reps, form score, best clean streak) and a card you can share.
Keep it going: rematch is one tap, roles reversed. Streaks pause on a missed day and never break.

Who pays. Your first counted set is free. Sending duels comes with Beastie Pro, which starts with a 7-day free trial. Answering a challenge a friend sends you is always free. No ads.

Honest limits. Beastie counts push-ups, squats and jumping jacks only, and the phone needs a spot where your whole body fits in frame. It doesn't run leagues or brackets, so keep an overall score yourselves. And no study has tested Beastie: the research above is about competition in general.

Want to get a friend in on it? Read how to get friends to work out with you.

Beastie is a general fitness product, not medical advice. Check with a professional before starting a new exercise routine, and stop if you feel pain.

Your move

Name the number. Send the link.

Do your set and Beastie turns it into a challenge link. Your friend opens it, sees your number and answers on camera. Only clean reps count, on both phones.

First set free, no card
No account needed to try it
Video never leaves your phone
Counts with no signal

QR code that opens Beastie in your phone’s app store — Scan with
your phone

One set takes about a minute. If the number disappoints you, nobody else ever sees it.

Questions people ask

Does competition increase exercise motivation?

In several randomized studies, yes. In a 602-person trial published in JAMA Internal Medicine, a competition group raised daily steps the most of three social designs and was the only one still clearly above the control group after the game ended. A university study found people who could compare themselves with peers attended far more exercise classes.

Is competing with friends good for working out?

For many people it helps, because a rival gives you a reason to show up and a number to beat. It works best when the contest is close. One lab study found people held an exercise longest next to a partner who was only moderately better than them, not far better. If losing makes you want to quit, race your own best instead.

Is competition better than support for exercise?

In the studies that compared them head to head, competition did better. In the STEP UP trial competition beat support and collaboration on daily steps. In a university study, groups that could compare themselves with others attended exercise classes about 90 percent more often than groups that could not. Support is still pleasant; it just moved the numbers less.

Why does competing with someone stronger sometimes make you give up?

When the gap is too big, the result feels decided before you start. In a study of a partnered exercise game, people persisted longest when their partner was moderately more capable, and less when the partner was far ahead. A handicap or a beat-your-best rule keeps the gap from deciding the contest.

Do these studies apply to push-ups?

Not directly. The studies measured daily steps, exercise class attendance and how long people held an abdominal exercise. None tested push-up duels. What carries over is the pattern: a visible comparison with someone else, kept close enough to be winnable, made people do more. Treat it as a good sign, not a promise.

Sources

Beastie, a small green monster, doing a push-up

Your move, beastie.

Push-ups, squats and jumping jacks, counted on your phone. Video is never uploaded or stored.