Does your significant other...

[Kiwi Stoker]

6 Years ago I realised we needed to lose weight and get fit. I was nudging 90kg and DH was well and truly "blown" out. His Dad had 2 heart attacks so it was kind of a real problem.

I asked him what kind of exercise would he like to do- dancing, gym, swimming and we both settled on cycling- he cycled before he got a car as a teenager and I rode to school for many years. I wanted something we could both do so we would motivate each other. It's taken off since then.

He is a stronger and faster rider, and I am happy to let him go off with his bunch and me, mine and meet for coffee at the end. We also ride our tandem quite a bit and it makes events so much fun. We suffer/enjoy ourselves together and egg each other on.

I also have meet couples who one rides and other doesn't. You do have to manage expectations, some people will get peeved off with the amount of time cycling eats up, especially if you are training for an event. Either the other person is participating too or that they have something they like to do while the other is cycling- otherwise resentment sets in.

[Crankin]

I am with my DH almost all of the time... we do almost everything together, including cycling. Yea, I know some think this is weird or even bad, but we don't have any issues. Even though he is faster than me, he does his fast rides on his commutes;it's been many years since he went out and rode with groups, besides the ones we lead.
That said, I do a lot more of a variety of physical things.... while DH and I also x country ski and snow shoe together, with a little hiking, he does not run or do any lifting, core work. For years, I went to the gym and he played tennis. But other than that, he was a slug.
I am one of those people who "could never be with a______." Fill in the blank. I need to be around people who have similar interests and values, not just DH.

[Becky]

You do have to manage expectations, some people will get peeved off with the amount of time cycling eats up, especially if you are training for an event. Either the other person is participating too or that they have something they like to do while the other is cycling- otherwise resentment sets in.

This is true, regardless of the activity and regardless of whether it's shared or solo. DH and I have gone through stages where one person's hobby takes up more time than the other thinks it should. Sometimes it's him, sometimes it's me, but the net effect is that feelings are hurt.

Right now, I think we're doing alright with balancing everything. Communicating about plans and expectations has been key. I can't be mad at him for not meeting my expectations if I never told him what they were.

[Susan]

Some years ago, I tried to convince DH that we would need to do some kind of sport. I couldn't get him off the couch, so some day, I started to go running on my own. (The truth is, I would have wanted someone who pushes me because it was hard to push myself. But finally I realized that I had to do this for me and could not expect someone else to do it.)

After a few month, he joined in. I think in the end it wasn't very funny to sit on the couch alone, and it isn't that easy to watch someone else being active and convince yourself that being lazy is all that great. In the end it was him who convinced me to buy a bike after a little while.

I'm really happy that he did. Being active has become a big part of our life and we spend a lot of our time cycling or running. I don't know how this would work out if he still wouldn't want to join me, because there wouldn't be much time left for doing something together and there would be a lot of happy moments that I couldn't share with him.

[Cataboo]

I tend to spend almost all my free time biking or kayaking or skiing or hiking or... Dating or being involved with someone who doesn't do those activities wouldn't make a lot of sense, basically because I'd never see them. If it's a rainy evening, I do tend to call friends who don't bike or kayak to see if they want to get together for dinner..

I'm perfectly fine doing all those activities on my own, but it's nice having someone to do it with