Exerdating: How Fit Singles Are Finding Love

Couples who sweat together stay together

With the wellness revolution in full swing, would-be couples of all fitness levels are embracing the opportunity to pick up a potential mate while working out. The latest romance trend has been dubbed exerdating – a workout date minus the mascara and martini – and it appears to be a successful move for many time-poor professionals striving to keep fit while searching for a like-minded lover.

Exerdating started getting hearts pumping in New York last year, igniting a slew of dating sites dedicated to the toned and terrific looking for love. Fitness Singles caters to those seeking a significant other who enjoys an active lifestyle whether it be rollerskating or mountaineering. And for the HIIT crowd, there’s the CrossFit social group aptly named Team Dangerous that doubles as a dating mixer.

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Closer to home the workout dating trend is heating up, helping active Aussie singles find their fit mate with many relationships extending beyond the local boot camp class.

Leah met her now fiancé, Jamie, at a barbecue, but as he travels regularly for work it was out of practicality that he asked her to join him for a morning run when he was next in town. “He texted me from interstate and said he’d be back at the weekend and asked if I’d like to go for a coastal run with him. I was more a yoga and Pilates girl but I was up for the challenge,” says Leah adding that she really had to let her guard down for the no make-up, messy hair situation. “Having nothing to hide behind actually took the pressure off because the real me was revealed right from the start.”

Since Leah took that first date in her, ehem, stride, the couple progressed to spin classes, rock climbing and have just booked a hiking trip in Tasmania.

Erica French, Head Fitness Flirt at dating site Fit2Date – a group training club for singles only – met her husband through the site she founded and the couple recently welcomed a baby. “Worse case you get a great workout, meet new people and best case you find someone special you can really sweat with,” she says of the club. With eight babies born to couples who met through Fit2Date, no doubt the formula is working.

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Relationship experts say science supports this healthy romantic trend too.

“Couples that exercise together are happier, more in love and are generally more satisfied,” says relationship expert and matchmaker Samantha Jayne. “Exercise induces the same feelings of falling in love, as it mirrors romantic attraction with sweaty palms, a racing pulse and shortness of breath.”

It also allows two people to encourage and inspire each other to be the best they can be. After all, no one wants to date a man who’s happy to reveal his inner couch potato before you’ve even put a label on your love affair.

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Not ready to dive into the deep end? The [https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/fit-fling/id873407799?mt=8
|Fit Fling dating app |target="_blank"] (free on iTunes) will assist shyer types take the plunge. “The idea is that people can validate themselves when they say they’re into health and fitness,” says developer Nic Monteforte of Fitness Business Experts. Fit Fling allows users to create a profile and browse for dates with certain wellbeing attributes and qualities before ‘liking’ them with a dumbbell icon, inviting them for a sweat sesh or sending a private message.

If you do meet someone who charms you out of cyberspace and into the great outdoors, the added bonus of bonding while muscle burning is that your endorphins kick into gear as you smile all the way to the green juice bar for a cool down.