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Finding someone who shares your fitness goals can be motivating, but that does not mean every workout needs to become a social activity.

Some people enjoy accountability from a distance, so if your coworker wanted to coordinate every gym visit, would you join her routine or protect the solitude that keeps you consistent?

That preference leaves one woman defending her headphones-and-focus approach while colleagues insist she is being unnecessarily difficult.

See why this workout partnership may not get off the ground.

AITA (42f) if I refuse to become the gym buddy of my coworker(38f)?

After each of my kids, I took a break from my workout schedule and picked up where I left off later. This round started back in March.

Through the years, I learned one thing about myself: I love talking about workouts, hearing about workouts, and debating workouts. But I don’t like to work out “together.” I simply enjoy solitude while working out.

My coworker was never active before, but she got hooked this year. She has a plan in place and a solid schedule.

We started talking and motivating each other, and that was great. I loved sending and receiving reminders for workouts and having someone I would have to report to if I failed to meet my schedule.

Even though the lady is understanding, she still wants no part of it.

She now wants us to join our workouts, as we are both on a Monday / Wednesday/ Friday schedule. She said it would help her stay on track. She said she wouldn’t bug me; we would just get there together and congratulate each other after the workout.

I am switching gyms anyway; she said I should join hers.

I don’t want to.

Here’s her reasoning.

She isn’t annoying or anything like that. It’s just that I like to be by myself from start to finish, get my headphones on, and mind my own business.

My coworkers called me difficult and said there is no difference if I have ANC headphones anyway.

The only problem is that I don’t like the thought of not being able to decide when I want what I want and how I want to work out—even if it’s on repeat every week.

AITA?

Wow! It’s easy to see where she’s coming from, but she may like it.

Let’s see what advice the people over at Reddit have to offer.

According to this reader, she should at least give it a try.

This person is very understanding.

Here’s a reader who feels the same way.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a woman who received a work email from a place she never even applied.

Yet another person who agrees that adding someone else complicates things.

The coworker’s invitation was perfectly reasonable, but declining it was just as reasonable when exercising alone is part of what makes the routine enjoyable.

They were already motivating each other through messages, and nothing required that successful arrangement to become a shared commute and scheduled meetup.

Noise-canceling headphones can block conversation, but they cannot cancel out the knowledge that someone is waiting beside the treadmill.