For a long time I have trained alone. Even before I knew that Street Workout was a competitive sport I used to go down the park and do sets of 25 pull ups and 50 press ups. I didn’t need the motivation from anyone else and I just wanted to be as fit and strong as I could be. And actually, even though I now know much more about this sport, I still don’t need motivation from others – I will train multiple times per week without fail. But, what I have realised by going down the park and training with others occasionally is that I can learn new moves, new techniques and enjoy meeting people with the same passion and drive as me.

For example, years ago I quickly learned how to do my first muscle ups as a result of meeting a small street workout group who taught me the technique. These days, by most standards my muscle ups are strong, but some of my static moves still need work. I still have things I can learn, and by meeting new people who have different strengths I’m able to learn new tips and techniques while also returning the favour by helping those people with things they are not so strong at.

I’ve also noticed though that not everyone is like me. I like my alone time to switch off and train hard but many people prefer to be in big groups, need the motivation and encouragement from others, and succeed best in this environment. There is no right way but maybe the best answer is to do both. If you can only ever find the motivation to train in groups then chances are you will give up when training partners aren’t available and as I’ve already written, a lack of consistency can be fatal to meeting goals. If on the other hand you only ever train alone then you risk missing out on learning new techniques and meeting some great people along the way.

So my advice is to have a training plan and stick to it and if you have training partners willing to join you then great. If not, do your own thing and occasionally turn up and train with a group when you get the chance.