Heading to the gym? Well, don’t forget to take along your friend, for a new study has claimed that exercising with a partner boosts weight loss.

To reach the conclusion, Professor Shiriki Kumanyika and colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, conducted the two-year trial. The study included 344 men and women.

The volunteers’ goal was to achieve and maintain a 5 per cent to 10 per cent weight loss. They were educated on a healthy diet and physical activity, given pedometers and enrolled in exercise sessions, reports The Telegraph .

A total of 63 people enrolled in the programme alone and 281 enrolled with a friend or family member.

The groups were split into three sections, those who trained alone, those who had a partner that received little coaching and those who were with a friend who also had a high level of coaching.

Their progress was then measured at intervals of six, 12, 18 and 24 months, according to the research, published in the latest issue of Archives of Internal Medicine journal.

After analyses, researchers found that the participants with a partner in the high support group lost the most weight at all the measurement periods.Kumanyika said: "We evaluated family and friend social support as a specific cultural adaptation strategy.

"Beneficial effects on weight loss were linked to actual rather than assigned partner participation and to partner success in losing weight.

"Further studies may elucidate ways to facilitate effective family or friend participation and to improve absolute weight losses."