{"id":211931,"date":"2025-12-30T20:15:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T20:15:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/211931\/"},"modified":"2025-12-30T20:15:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T20:15:13","slug":"what-ohio-state-university-football-taught-me-about-workouts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/211931\/","title":{"rendered":"What Ohio State University Football Taught Me About Workouts"},"content":{"rendered":"

WHEN I WAS growing up in Ohio, football was a foundational pillar of my identity. I played for 15 years in the state, starting at age 7, through high school, and at Kenyon College (and later I played pro football in Germany). The sport is essential to the region\u2019s social fabric, from towns rallying on Friday nights to tailgating on Saturdays and Sundays\u2014and there\u2019s no team more important than THE Ohio State University Buckeyes. When I visited Columbus to experience the defending champs\u2019 offseason training earlier this summer<\/a>, I was reminded of a crucial aspect of football culture: building bonds through shared sweat.<\/p>\n

I watched the Buckeyes run and lift across two days in June and witnessed a group of guys focused on getting better, together, in ways that went beyond the sport. Yes, the players depended on each other practically, for spots on their heavy squats, but also for a deep level of support. It\u2019s a team rule: \u201cIf you\u2019re training in the weight room, you\u2019re required to motivate and inspire whoever you\u2019re working out with\u2014and if you\u2019re not, it\u2019s an unsuccessful day,\u201d senior linebacker Sonny Styles told me after a particularly intense Air Bike competition.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s science to back up the benefits of bonding through fitness<\/a>, from fostering \u201csocial support\u201d (the feeling that you can depend on others) to strengthening \u201cexercise identity\u201d (how you think of yourself within a fitness setting) to boosting adherence (the likelihood you\u2019ll keep doing an activity).<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also the K\u00f6hler effect<\/a>, a phenomenon that indicates that weaker members of a group will try harder and perform better while they\u2019re working together with stronger teammates. But there\u2019s also the satisfaction and fulfillment that come from genuinely helping a buddy out.<\/p>\n

When I think back to how I developed my own workout habits, the strongest memories\u2014in terms of both pounds lifted and the potency of my recollections\u2014are filled with my teammates and friends straining alongside me. Waking up before dawn to catch a ride from someone\u2019s older brother for offseason training in middle school. Blasting the first Taylor Swift album and bench pressing with a buddy in our high school\u2019s weight room. Small squads of my teammates conquering hills surrounding my college\u2019s campus. My solo training sessions, no matter how well I perform according to my fitness tracker\u2019s data, never quite feel as fulfilling as when I work out with other people.<\/p>\n

Aside from the Buckeyes\u2019 top-tier facilities, sophisticated sports science, and All-American athletes, that togetherness was my biggest takeaway from my time in Columbus. And it\u2019s the approach that I (and you too!) can apply to build a winning fitness routine. I\u2019ve spent the past few years training mostly by myself\u2014but I\u2019m ready to find new teammates I can rely on to gain the mood-boosting, performance-enhancing benefits that come as part of not only a team, but a fellowship. Whether I\u2019m heading to a run-group meetup or texting a buddy to join me at the gym for a lift, I know I\u2019ll feel more accomplished and connected after I sweat. (And, sure, physically stronger too.)<\/p>\n

This story originally appears in the November\/December 2025 issue of Men’s Health. <\/p>\n

Exclusive Men’s Health Digital Issues\"Chevron\"Chevron\"Headshot<\/p>\n

Brett Williams, NASM-CPT, PES, a senior editor at Men’s Health, is a certified trainer and former pro football player and tech reporter. You can find his work elsewhere at Mashable, Thrillist, and other outlets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WHEN I WAS growing up in Ohio, football was a foundational pillar of my identity. I played for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":211932,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[10217,589,163,85,46],"class_list":{"0":"post-211931","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-carousel","9":"tag-fitness","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-il","12":"tag-israel"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/211932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}