Exercise motivation: “I never thought of myself as a runner, but seeing my older sister recently inspired me to start jogging in my late 30s”

Although fitness is a central part of my life, I'm definitely not a runner. Aside from brief training for a 5k run in 2014 (for work, not pleasure) I've never felt compelled to take up running - thanks in part to my really bad knees (first tendonitis, then meniscus tear, which is undergoing surgery had to become).

At least until last month, when a voice in my head unexpectedly started urging me to jog. During the Christmas holidays I was again with my older half-sister Katrin who lives in another country.

Katrin has been a runner for years, but a new Garmin fitness watch motivated her to take the hobby more seriously. She told me about her training plan, how she pushes herself to go faster and further, and felt more motivated and stronger than ever. Her enthusiasm for running was contagious.

My subconscious must have been listening, because the next morning I found a playlist, unraveled my headphones, and set off on my first run in almost a decade. Phone in hand, I pushed myself out the door for a 20-minute run.

It was wonderful. I felt more alive than I had in years. It was confusing too; Of course, I had told myself I hated running, but was this sudden change due to the exercise itself, or was it something to do with an extra sense of connection with my sister?

It is worth explaining that our relationship is complicated. Katrin and I may feel like best friends... but we're also almost total strangers. Our bizarre family circumstances meant we didn't meet until I was in my early 30s; Katrin in her 40s.

Our IRL time together feels precious. It's a rush of emotions as we try to catch up on memories we never shared and create lasting new ones for the future.

How fitness can unite siblings

There is much love between us as sisters, but our unique circumstances also mean much pain. Some topics are taboo. Movement is neutral territory, so it's a good thing we both love it.

Although I haven't been a runner before, I'm heavily involved in fitness, so I get a real kick out of passing on any tidbits of knowledge to my big sister - it's not always her teaching me. In fact, during our last reunion, Katrin asked me many yoga-related questions. After we took some classes together a few years ago, she really got into it, and one evening she pulled me aside, hugged me and whispered, "Yoga was the best gift you could ever give me. ”

I'm not the only little sister showing my older sibling new fitness directions. Lisa Miller credits her younger sister Emily — "my big little sister and go-to man" — for introducing her to a variety of fitness adventures, like a Tribe 5k Maverick race (although Lisa insists she's not a runner) and freezing December swims in Cornish Sea pools.

"The fact that she's doing things always makes me want to try them," says Miller. “We motivate each other. And there is no competition, but we want to do it together because it's more fun."

The pair boldly embarked on a stand-up paddleboarding adventure around Burgh Island in Devon last year that Miller doesn't think she ever considered alone or with anyone else - not even her husband . The energy would feel different; the light-hearted stupidity would become competitive.

"We would have ended up arguing, I would have had a hissing fit and he would have stormed off and paddled away without me. Although Em and I always look out for each other when it comes to things like this. We were really proud of ourselves. We end up just laughing, doing abs by getting hysterical.”

Exercise as a bonding experience works just as well with siblings, who aren't necessarily best friends. Lotti Maddox, leader of the BLOK London movement, describes her relationship with her older sister Lauren as "chalk and cheese in almost every way". As adults, they discovered Kayla Itsines' workouts before Maddox became a trainer herself.

"We used it to update each other on progress and hold each other accountable," says Maddox, who has since coached her older sister before their marriage and through two pregnancies. The experience "really brought us closer together," she says.

Siblings and sport: accountability, support and motivation

For some siblings, fitness is more than just a fun hobby. It's a job. Extensive scientific research has been conducted on siblings in sport, covering a range of topics such as: B. how a sibling relationship affects an individual's decision to focus on a particular sport, or how positive role modeling can encourage continued involvement in a sport.

With a combined 30 Grand Slam singles titles, the Williams sisters are often seen as a prime example of sibling love triumphing over rivalry. Team GB sent eight sets of siblings to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, a record number, in a variety of sports including gymnastics, track and field and boxing.

Where you stand in the sibling chain can determine your chances of athletic success. This subject is covered in the book Best of all: How top athletes are made by Tim Wigmore and sports scientist Professor Mark Williams, who examines data from various studies showing that younger siblings have a statistically higher chance of becoming elite athletes, whether they play women's soccer, baseball, tennis or some other sport (this is independent of which consistently the sex of the siblings).

"In general, the older siblings are larger, stronger, more physically developed, more emotionally developed, so trying to compete against the older siblings presents a stimulating challenge for the younger siblings, potentially providing a greater incentive for learning and development." Co-author Professor Williams narrates stylist.

According to Williams, other factors also play a role. Younger siblings are exposed to sports earlier, they benefit from the more relaxed attitude of their parents and they acquire psychological skills such as motivation, mental resilience and learning to deal with failure by observing and measuring themselves against older siblings.

Twin sisters Kristina and Sadé Alleyne, founders of contemporary dance company Alleyne Dance, have taken a collaborative and non-combatative approach to athletics and later dance. They categorized track and field events based on who was more likely to do better in a given race. Using the same logic, they would decide who should audition for a particular dance group.

"We haven't seen many people who resemble us in terms of body, skin color and physicality, so we had to coach each other. We thought, 'We have to blaze our own trail,'" says Kristina, noting how the sisters motivated each other through exercise and diet when they decided to pursue dance professionally. The twins began doing daily strength and flexibility training, which Kristina calls her "ritual."

"I think it's important to have something that stays the same because every day is a little different. My heart is pumping and I feel alive. My sister motivates me, so it's nice to hear my sister's voice," she says.

I think I understand what she means. Katrin and I are both back in our respective houses, but every time I go for a run I can almost see her smiling.

I still enjoy that feeling of running: the freedom, the fresh air, the strength in my body that I didn't know I had. But I think what I love most is how no matter where in the world when I run now I feel connected to the sister I adore.

By: Exercise motivation: “I never thought of myself as a runner, but seeing my older sister recently inspired me to start jogging in my late 30s”