Guides · Challenges and games

How to Get Friends to Work Out With You (and Keep Them)

How to get friends to work out with you: make the ask one minute, turn it into a game with a score, send a link they can answer, and keep it fair and going.

By the Beastie team · 18 October 2026

Don't invite friends to "work out." Dare them to beat one number. Keep it to a minute, make it a game with a clear score, and send it in a form they can answer from their own living room. Use a handicap or beat-your-best rule if you're far apart, and give the loser an instant rematch.

Most invitations to work out together fail before anyone moves. "Want to come to the gym with me?" asks for an hour, a schedule, a membership and a willingness to look bad in public. "I did 27 push-ups in a minute. Beat me by tonight" asks for one minute and a bit of pride. That second one is the whole idea of this guide.

Why won't my friends work out with me?

Usually because the ask is too big. Here's what you're really asking for, and what to swap it for:

None of this needs your friend to care about fitness. It needs them to care about losing to you, which is a much easier sell.

Start with one minute, not one hour

The first ask should be something your friend can say yes to without checking their calendar. A 60-second set is ideal: short enough to try right now, long enough to produce a real number, and over before anyone has time to feel self-conscious.

Pick an exercise anyone can do in a small space. Push-ups are the classic. Squats and jumping jacks work for friends who would rather not get on the floor. One exercise, one minute, one number. Anything more elaborate can come later, once they're hooked.

Make it a game with a score

"Let's both work out more" has no finish line. A game does. Before the first round, settle three things:

1. What counts. For push-ups: straight arms at the top, chest low at the bottom, body in one line. A rep that doesn't reach depth doesn't count. Our push-up competition rules handle the arguments in advance.
2. Who counts. Never the person doing the reps. A friend watching or a camera, the same for both of you.
3. What the loser owes. Picking next round's exercise, posting the result in the group chat, buying the coffee. Small stakes keep it fun.

Keep a running tally of rounds won. That's the only score you need.

How do you get them to actually start?

Remove every step between "sure" and the first rep. The best invite is one message they can act on immediately. Something like:

27 push-ups in 60 seconds. Beat me by tonight, beastie.

Send your number, not a plan. Your friend now has a target, a deadline and a reason, and they don't need to coordinate a time with you. If they lose, they'll ask for another go. If they win, you will.

Group chats work the same way: post a number and let whoever's around answer it. One person answering is enough to get the next round going.

What if your friend is way stronger (or way weaker)?

This is where most friendly contests die. If one of you does 50 and the other does 12, the result is decided before anyone starts, and the weaker friend quietly stops replying.

There's research behind this. In a study of a partnered exercise game, people held an exercise longest next to a partner who was moderately better than them, and less long next to one who was far better (more on the studies). So close the gap on purpose:

• Handicap. Cut the stronger person's count by an agreed share. Adjust it after a few rounds until results go both ways.
• Beat your best. Each of you races your own record. Whoever adds more reps to their own best wins the round. The raw gap stops mattering.
• Split the exercises. The stronger one does push-ups, the other does squats, and you compare improvement rather than reps.

If knee push-ups come up, use beat-your-best: knee and full push-ups aren't comparable rep for rep.

Can you work out with a friend who lives far away?

Yes, and it's arguably easier than in person, because nobody has to show up anywhere. Each of you does the same set in front of your own phone, at whatever time suits you, and you compare scores.

Two things keep a long-distance contest honest:

• A deadline. The challenge closes at a set time, so nobody waits for a perfect day.
• The same referee. If you count your own reps, every round turns into "did you really go all the way down?" The rule has to be applied the same way on both ends.

Time zones help, too: whoever is awake first sets the number, and the other has the rest of their day to answer.

Accountability partner or rival?

The classic advice is to find an accountability partner: someone who checks in and encourages you. That can help, but the evidence leans toward comparison. In a 790-student trial, the groups that could see how peers were doing attended about 90% more exercise classes than groups that couldn't, while support-only teams did not do better than the control group. In the 602-person STEP UP trial, a competition group raised daily steps the most of three social designs, and only competition stayed clearly above the control group after the game ended.

Those studies measured steps and class attendance, not push-up duels, so treat them as a good sign rather than proof. But a rival who posts a number is accountability with a score attached. They don't have to nag you; their number does it.

How do you keep it going after the first week?

The first round is the easy one. Keeping it going is about removing reasons to stop:

• Rematch fast. The loser should be able to ask for another round immediately, with roles reversed. A loss with a rematch is fuel; a loss without one is a reason to quit.
• Pause, don't break. Someone will miss a day. Make a missed day a round they didn't win, not a reset to zero. Nobody restarts a contest they've already "failed."
• Rotate the exercise. Let the loser pick the next one. It keeps things fresh and gives the weaker friend a shot at their best event.
• Raise the stakes slowly. Once it's a habit, try a longer format, such as a 30-day push-up challenge with a friend.

Running it in Beastie

Beastie is a rep duel app for iPhone and Android, built for exactly this: a one-minute contest you can send to a friend. 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.

• Send a link: do a set and send it as a challenge link. Your friend opens it, sees your number and answers on camera. A sent challenge stays open seven days.
• Same time: a live duel is 60 seconds, both of you at once, each in front of your own phone, with both counts on screen.
• Far apart in ability: choose "beat your best" when you send, or the handicap rule that cuts the sender's count by 5% to 50% at the verdict.
• Settle it: every verdict is a win or loss 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, so the friend you're recruiting never has to pay to answer you. No ads.

Honest limits. Beastie counts push-ups, squats and jumping jacks only, and each of you needs a spot where your whole body fits in frame. It doesn't run leagues or brackets, so keep the overall score yourselves. Beastie is for people 13 and over.

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.

Questions people ask

How do I get my friends to work out with me?

Make the ask tiny and specific. Instead of inviting someone to the gym, dare them to beat one number, such as your push-ups in 60 seconds. A one-minute contest with a clear score is easy to say yes to, and a loss gives them a reason to ask for a rematch.

What if my friends are not into fitness?

Don't sell them fitness. Sell them a contest they can win. Pick something anyone can do in a living room, like squats or jumping jacks, keep it to a minute, and use a fair scoring rule such as beat-your-best so the less active friend has a real chance of winning.

How do you work out with a friend who is much stronger?

Change what is scored. Either give the stronger friend a handicap, cutting their count by an agreed share, or have each of you race your own record so the bigger improvement wins. Research on exercise partners suggests effort peaks when the other person is only moderately ahead, not far ahead.

How can I work out with a friend who lives far away?

Do the same short set at different times and compare. One of you does a set, sends the number, and the other answers within an agreed deadline. It only stays fair if both sets are counted by the same rule, so agree what counts as a rep or use a referee that applies the same rule on both phones.

Is an accountability partner or a rival better for working out?

It depends on you, but the research leans toward comparison. In a university study, students who could see how peers were doing attended about 90 percent more exercise classes than those who could not, while support-only teams did not do better. A friendly rival who posts a number is a form of accountability with a score attached.

Sources

• Patel MS et al. STEP UP randomized clinical trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2019;179(12):1624-1632. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2019.3505
• Zhang J et al. Support or competition? How online social networks increase physical activity. Prev Med Rep. 2016;4:453-458. doi:10.1016/j.pmedr.2016.08.008
• Feltz DL, Irwin B, Kerr N. Two-player partnered exergame: discrepancy in players' abilities. J Diabetes Sci Technol. 2012;6(4):820-827. doi:10.1177/193229681200600413

Keep reading

• 15 Push-Up Challenge Ideas to Do With Friends
• 30-Day Push-Up Challenge With a Friend: Rules That Hold
• Best Apps to Challenge Friends to a Workout (2026)