BeastieGuides · Challenges and games
Long-Distance Workout Challenge With Friends: What Works
How to work out with a friend in another city: video calls, group-chat scoreboards, ring and step contests, and camera-counted challenge links, plus fair rules.
A long-distance workout with a friend works when you agree one exercise, one rule for what counts, and one deadline. You can go live over a video call, keep an honor-system scoreboard in a group chat, compete on steps or rings, or send a camera-counted challenge your friend answers on their own time. Pick whichever settles the score.
Distance kills most workout partnerships for two reasons. You stop being awake at the same time, and you stop trusting each other's numbers. "Did 40 this morning" in a group chat is a nice message, but it isn't a result. Every option below handles those two problems differently.
What are the options for working out with a friend far away?
| Option | Same time needed? | Who counts | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Video call workout | Yes | Each of you, squinting at a video tile | Company and accountability |
| Group chat or shared sheet | No | Each person counts their own | Low effort, lots of trust |
| Step and ring competitions | No | Your watch or phone | Walkers, runners, riders |
| Camera-counted challenge link | No (or yes, for a live duel) | The phone camera, same rule on both sides | Rep battles you want settled |
Video call workouts
The obvious move: open a video call, prop the phones up, go. It's the closest thing to being in the same room, and it's great for keeping each other company through a set.
The problem is the count. On a small video tile you can't see whether your friend's chest got near the floor, and they can't see yours. Most calls end with both of you reporting your own number. That's fine for a casual session and useless for a rivalry, because "most reps wins" becomes "most generous counter wins."
If you go this way, frame each camera so it sees the other person's whole body side-on, agree the rep rule out loud first, and start on one countdown.
The group chat or shared spreadsheet
A shared note, a spreadsheet, or a pinned message where everyone posts their number. Zero setup and it works across any time zone. It's also pure honor system: nobody sees anyone else's reps, so it only holds while everyone trusts everyone. The first time someone posts a suspiciously big jump, it starts to wobble.
It works best as the scoreboard, not the referee. Keep the running tally here, and get the actual counts from something neutral.
Step, ring and distance competitions
If your thing is walking, running or riding, use the tools built for it.
- Apple Watch Activity competitions. Apple's guide says a competition lasts 7 days, you get a point for every percent you add to your Activity Rings each day, and you can earn up to 600 points a day. You need to already share Activity with your friend, and the competition starts when they accept.
- Strava group challenges. Strava's help center says subscribers (including people on a free trial) can create one and invite up to 199 athletes who follow them. Goals include most time, distance or elevation, fastest average pace, longest single activity, or a shared group goal. Invited athletes must be subscribers or have a free trial.
These are counted by a device, so the numbers are hard to fudge. Their goals are built around rings, time, distance and elevation, so if you want to settle who can do more push-ups, you need something else. We compare more of these in the best apps to challenge friends.
Camera-counted challenges by link
For rep exercises, the honest version is a phone camera on each side, applying the same rule. One person does a set, sends the number, and the friend answers on camera whenever suits them before the deadline. No shared time slot, no "trust me." That's the format Beastie is built for (details below).
How do you handle time zones and deadlines?
Time zones break live formats first. Two fixes:
- Windows, not clock times. A round opens when the first person posts a number and closes 24 hours later. Nobody has to set an alarm for 5 a.m.
- One deadline, written twice. For a weekly round, "Sunday 9 p.m. New York / Monday 9 a.m. Singapore" in the chat leaves nothing to argue about.
Save live head-to-heads for when your days overlap, like a weekend morning for one of you and evening for the other. Do the rest async.
How do you keep it fair when one of you is much fitter?
Distance often means you're not training together anymore, so the gap between you can grow. If one of you does 50 push-ups and the other does 15, raw reps decide the challenge before it starts. Pick one of these:
- Beat your best. Each person races their own record. Whoever adds more to their own best wins the round.
- Handicap. Cut the stronger person's count by an agreed percentage at the end of the round. Adjust it after a few rounds if it's lopsided.
- Split exercises. Rotate push-ups, squats and jumping jacks so nobody's best exercise decides everything.
Whatever you pick, write down what counts as a rep. Our push-up competition rules give a definition you can copy.
How do you keep a long-distance challenge going?
- Short rounds. A 60-second set fits into any day. A 45-minute session doesn't, and it's the first thing that gets skipped.
- A loser's rematch. The loser of each round picks the next exercise or sends the next challenge. It keeps both people coming back.
- Missed days pause, not reset. A missed round is a round you didn't win. Resetting someone to zero is how long-distance challenges die.
- A running score. Rounds won, kept somewhere you both see. Agree a small stake for the season, like the loser buying the first round next time you're in the same city.
Running it in Beastie
Beastie is a rep duel app for iPhone and Android, made for exactly this: rivals who aren't in the same room. You prop your phone with your whole body in frame, and the camera counts only clean push-ups, squats or jumping jacks. 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. More on how the counting works.
- Different time zones: 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, so your own 24-hour rule is a house rule on top.
- When your days overlap: 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 fitness: pick "beat your best" when you send, or the handicap rule that cuts the sender's count by 5% to 50% at the verdict.
- The verdict: win or loss with a receipt (reps, form score, best clean streak) and a shareable card for the group chat. Rematch is one tap, roles reversed.
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, so it won't track your runs or steps. Each phone needs a spot where your whole body fits in frame. It doesn't run leagues or season tables, so keep the overall score in your shared note.
Your move, beastie.
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.
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
your phone
One set takes about a minute. If the number disappoints you, nobody else ever sees it.
Questions people ask
How can I work out with a friend who lives in another city?
Pick one format you can both do at home, agree what counts as a rep, and keep a shared scoreboard. Do it live over a video call when your schedules overlap, or take turns: one person posts a number and the other has a deadline to beat it. A neutral counter, like a phone camera, keeps both sides honest.
Is there an app for a long-distance workout buddy?
It depends what you do. Strava group challenges and Apple Watch Activity competitions suit runners, riders and ring-closers. For push-ups, squats or jumping jacks, Beastie counts clean reps on each phone's camera, sends a challenge as a link, and runs 60-second live duels with both counts on screen.
How do you work out with a friend over video call?
Prop both phones or laptops so each camera sees the other person's whole body, agree the exercise and the rep rule, and start on a shared countdown. The hard part is counting: you can't see the other person's depth well on a small video tile, so decide who counts before you start.
How do we handle different time zones in a workout challenge?
Give each round a window instead of a clock time. A 24-hour window from when the first set is posted works well, or one shared deadline written in both time zones. Async formats, where one person posts a number and the other answers later, remove the need to be awake at the same time.
How do you keep a long-distance challenge fair when one friend is much fitter?
Score improvement instead of raw reps, so each person races their own best, or give the stronger friend a handicap that cuts their count by an agreed percentage. Agree the rule before the first round and keep it for the whole challenge so earlier results still mean something.
Your move, beastie.
Push-ups, squats and jumping jacks, counted on your phone. Video is never uploaded or stored.
your phone