No Pain, No Gain: Togetherness Counts

Tai chi players take note! Researchers are finding that athletes do better when training with others. Emma Cohen at Oxford University found that rowers' pain thresholds were higher when working out in a group, as opposed to in isolation. "Data in other studies suggest that co-ordinated physical exercise can heighten social bonds....As the rowers had been teammates for nearly a year it is possible that the mere presence of friends explains the observed effect." (Reported in The Economist, 9/19/09).