Hit the gym and encourage your spouse to follow suit

Your exercise regimen isn't just good for you, it may also be beneficial for your spouse, suggests a new research.

"When it comes to physical fitness, the best peer pressure to get moving could be coming from the person who sits across from you at the breakfast table," said study co-author Laura Cobb, a Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health doctoral student.

The findings suggest that a better approach to helping people boost their physical activity to improve health might be to counsel married couples together instead of individually.

"We should harness the power of the couple to ensure people are getting a healthy amount of physical activity," Cobb added.

Cobb and her colleagues analysed data from two medical visits conducted roughly six years apart, beginning between 1987 and 1989. At each visit, the researchers asked 3,261 spouse pairs about their physical activity levels.

They found that when a wife met recommended levels of exercise at the first visit, her husband was 70 percent more likely to meet those levels at subsequent visits than those whose wives were less physically active.

When a husband met recommended exercise levels, his wife was 40 percent more likely to meet the levels at follow-up visits.

"This study tells us that one spouse could have a really positive impact on the other when it comes to staying fit and healthy for the long haul," Cobb said.

The findings were presented recently at the American Heart Association's EPI/Lifestyle 2015 Scientific Sessions in Baltimore.