{"id":633024,"date":"2026-08-12T10:19:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T10:19:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/633024\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T10:19:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T10:19:21","slug":"why-walking-together-could-be-the-secret-to-a-stronger-relationship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/633024\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Walking Together Could Be The Secret To A Stronger Relationship"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are a plethora of benefits associated with walking<\/a>, so it\u2019s no wonder the NHS previously called<\/a> the activity \u201coverlooked\u201d as a form of exercise.<\/a><\/p>\n

As little as 2,337 steps a day<\/a> can lower your risk of dying from heart-related health conditions. The activity can also help to manage<\/a> blood pressure and cholesterol, and has been linked to stronger bones, better sleep quality<\/a> and even a reduction in dementia risk.<\/p>\n

But while we know it\u2019s important for our health,<\/a> less is said about how it can benefit our relationships<\/a>, too.<\/p>\n

In fact, a new study suggests that couples who exercise together \u2013 mostly, through walking<\/a> \u2013 report better communication, stronger conflict resolution and lower levels of marital stress than couples who don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

For the study, published in Family Relations<\/a>, researchers from Brigham Young University (BYU) looked at survey data from nearly 1,700 newly-married couples.<\/p>\n

The team compared the effects of individual workouts and physical activity performed together as a couple on three outcomes: communication, conflict resolution and marital stress.<\/p>\n

Walking was the most commonly reported form of shared exercise among couples in the study.<\/p>\n

Both individual workouts and couple workouts were associated with healthier marriages, but exercising together consistently showed stronger associations with positive relationship outcomes than exercising solo.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout 60% of husbands and wives in the sample said they exercised, but only about a third exercised together,\u201d said BYU professor Jeremy Yorgason.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat means about half the people who exercise are not exercising with their spouse. While the impact is not necessarily large, it is very consistent, which gives me confidence that it is influencing relationships in some meaningful way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Researchers said exercising together creates opportunities for positive interactions and conversation, which can strengthen relationships over time.<\/p>\n

\u201cOut of all three outcomes, exercise had the biggest impact on communication,\u201d said study co-author Ashlyn Hiatt Mildenhall, who began the project as an undergraduate researcher.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why it was interesting that walking was the number one reported exercise. It naturally provides opportunities to communicate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Walking can give you the space to have deep and meaningful chats, free from distraction. <\/p>\n

The research also found that couples who exercised together reported better listening and greater feelings of being heard and supported by their spouse.<\/p>\n

Prof Yorgason said these interactions may help explain why shared exercise was associated with healthier communication and conflict resolution.<\/p>\n

The authors did warn that shared exercise isn\u2019t a cure for relationship challenges, but it can create regular opportunities for connection amid the demands of school, life and parenting.<\/p>\n

As for what Prof Yorgason wants people to take away from the study, he told HuffPost UK: \u201cIt\u2019s my hope that couples will make time in their busy lives to exercise together regularly. Not only will this benefit their physical and mental health, but our research suggests it will also strengthen their relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There are a plethora of benefits associated with walking, so it\u2019s no wonder the NHS previously called the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":633025,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[278],"tags":[18,539,525,135,19,17,2955,437,544],"class_list":["post-633024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-eire","tag-exercise","tag-fitness","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-marriage","tag-sex-and-relationships","tag-walking"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117082034144601436","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=633024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633024\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/633025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=633024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=633024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=633024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}