By Sarah Ribeiro
This weekend, forget the cold weather and get active indoors with your sweetheart. Head to the gym with your love for a little one-on-one — and some March Madness of your own.
Before you play, do some warm-ups in the gym to get your heart pumping and your muscles loosened. You and your partner can jog a few laps while discussing your favorite sports. Share some stories about your sport experiences as a kid — everyone has that one embarrassing sports story that will be sure to get your sweetheart laughing.
Go for an all-out basketball workout: do a couple “suicide” drills – the childhood favorite where you run from the baseline to the free throw line closest to you and back, continuing to run to the next furthest court line and back until you run the full court. Race against your partner and kickstart your competitive drive before you even play. While you’re warming up, work with each other to improve your skills — it’s an excuse to touch each other and to teach each other something new, which keeps the date intimate. If you’ve got a great lay-up, you can show your date how to position themselves in the right spot to get that perfect shot. Or you can ask them for advice on footwork to gain a better defense against them.
Then, the real fun starts. Play a simple game of one-on-one with your partner. You can vary what type of game you want to play: try HORSE, a trick/skill game where you mimic your opponents previous shot and gain letters when you can’t mimic the skill — five points spells HORSE and you’re out! Or just pick a maximum number of points and try to outshoot each other.
After you’ve tired yourselves out, hit the showers and get ready for the night. Keep with the hoops theme and check which teams are playing near you. You may even be able to head to a college game for March Madness. You can grab cheap tickets online, where you and your beau can cheer on from the sidelines.
If you’re on a budget, hit up your local sports bar and check out the game there. For a more romantic night alone, crack open a couple beers at home and snack on the junk food you’d only reserve for sports events: hot wings, nachos, chips and more. Be sure to ice your muscles after playing hard all day!
How do you celebrate March Madness with your partner? Leave your date ideas in the comments below.
