The benefits of having a friend join you when you exercise go beyond the moral support you need to go the distance. Just having the company may also soothe you. Research at Santa Clara and Stanford Universities have found that exercising with a partner enhances a workout's stress-reducing effects-a boon for body and mind. Subjects who sweated it out with a partner felt calmer than solo exercisers did immediately following their workout and later that night. Huffing and puffing through an uphill ride? You don't have to worry about talking. Whether or not the subjects chatted during the activity did not change the results.

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