The 20-minute relationship rescue: why exercising with your partner will improve your marriage, according to scientists

With an ever-growing to-do list and the demands of domestic life, it can be hard to make time for your partner without a squabble. But according to a new American study, couples who exercise together have a higher chance of staying together. The best news of all: it doesn’t have to be a sweaty gym workout – a 20-minute walk in the woods will suffice.

Researchers at Brigham Young University in Utah studied 1,700 married couples enrolled in a long-running project called the Couple Relationships and Transition Experiences (CREATE) study. They found that there are positive benefits to a relationship if either partner exercises solo – but this is multiplied if the couples get their steps in together.

Natural harmony

‘Our findings suggest that couples who exercise together report better communication, healthier conflict resolution, and lower marital stress than those who work out alone,’ says Professor Jeremy Yorgason, lead author of the study.

Scientists have long known that getting out and about ‘in nature’ is good for our mental health, as well as our physical fitness. A study from the University of Michigan published in Frontiers In Psychology in 2019 specifically looked at how long people needed to spend walking or sitting outside to drop their stress levels. The researchers measured saliva samples and discovered that spending just 20 to 30 minutes in a setting that provided a sense of nature caused the greatest, most efficient drop in cortisol, the body's primary stress hormone.

Professor Yorgason and his team agree with this approach: even something as simple as taking a stroll together may create valuable opportunities to talk, listen and feel more connected, they say.

Walk and talk

‘About 60% of husbands and wives in the sample said they exercised, but only about a third exercised together,’ says Professor Yorgason said. ‘That 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.’

Researchers suggest that exercising together may naturally create more opportunities for conversation and positive interactions. Repeated moments of connection like these could help strengthen a relationship over time. ‘Out of all three outcomes, exercise had the biggest impact on communication,’ co-author Ashlyn Hiatt Mildenhall says. ‘That's why it was interesting that walking was the number one reported exercise. It naturally provides opportunities to communicate.’