Quick answer: I started the 12REPS City Guide because training is better with other people, and the coffee afterward is often what keeps you coming back. The City Guide is a free community map of independent coffee shops and coffee carts in London. You can find a spot near your gym, add your own favorite, and give gold stars to the places you love.

This article explains why I built it, what the research says about training with a friend, and how to add your coffee spot.

Why I started the City Guide

Here’s what I’ve noticed as a coach. The workout is only half of it. The other half is the people. When you have a training partner, you show up because someone is waiting for you. And when the session ends with a coffee together, it stops feeling like a chore. It becomes something you look forward to.

That’s the idea behind the City Guide’s line: “Train together. Then grab a coffee.” I wanted a simple way for people to find a good, independent spot near where they train. A place to meet before the session, talk it over after, or gather a group for a training meet-up.

Photos: Ashford Marx and Toa Heftiba / Unsplash

What the research says about training with a friend

There’s good evidence that social support helps people stick with healthy habits. The research is more mixed on how much it helps workouts specifically, so here’s what it shows:

Starting with friends helped people stick with it. In a classic study, people who joined a weight-loss program with three friends or family members were much more likely to finish it. 95% completed the program, compared with 76% of people who joined alone without extra support. And 66% kept their weight off over the next six months, compared with 24% (Wing and Jeffery, 1999).
Group exercise helped stress in one study. Medical students who took a weekly group fitness class for 12 weeks reported lower stress and better quality of life. Students who trained on their own didn’t see the same change in stress. It was a small study without random assignment, so treat it as a promising sign, not proof (Yorks et al., 2017).
Groups aren’t magic. A 2026 review of 71 studies found group-based exercise had only a small, uncertain advantage over training alone for overall activity. It did show a clear benefit for physical function, like strength and flexibility. Both approaches can work (Kritz et al., 2026).

So a training partner won’t do the work for you. But having someone to meet, and somewhere to go together after, makes the habit easier to keep. That’s what the City Guide is for.

How to use coffee to build your training routine

Before the gym: meet a little early, agree on the plan for the session, then go and train.
After the gym: sit down, refuel and talk about the session, the week or anything else.
Training meet-ups: choose a café close to the gym so your group has an easy place to gather.

If you have coffee before you train, keep the caffeine reasonable. The FDA says up to 400 mg a day is not generally linked to negative effects for most healthy adults, and a 12-ounce brewed coffee can have anywhere from 113 to 247 mg (FDA, 2024).

My coffee spots on the map

I’ve added a few of my own favorites to the City Guide:

The Blue Duck Cafe: a great spot to sit and chat with a friend. The staff are really welcoming, and after coffee you can walk along the river.
Bermonds Locke Cafe: a great space to work with tasty coffee. You get two hours of Wi-Fi after buying something.
№№ Coffee Cart: a great spot for amazing coffee and bakery treats.

The rest of the map comes from the community. As of November 2026, it lists 14 places across London, added by people who train and drink coffee near them.

Add your coffee spot

Where do you go after training? If there’s an independent café or coffee cart near your gym that you love, add it to the map. It only takes a minute:

Go to the 12REPS City Guide and tap Add your local spot.
Add the name, a short recommendation and a link if they have one.
We check every spot before it goes on the map.
Independent places only, please. No mainstream chains.

You can also give a gold star to a spot you love. You can star each spot once with your email, and not your own. The people whose recommendations get the most stars show up as our Top Coffee Scouts.

Find a spot near you, or add your own, on the 12REPS City Guide

Summary

I started the City Guide because training is more fun, and easier to stick with, when you do it with other people.
Research shows social support helps people stick with healthy habits, though group exercise isn’t a guarantee on its own.
Use coffee to anchor your routine: meet before, catch up after, or gather your group nearby.
The map only lists independent cafés and coffee carts in London, and anyone can add one.

Find your training plan

Got your coffee spot? Now plan the session. 12REPS gives you trainer-built programs, two demo videos for every exercise and a gym log that shows what you lifted last time, so you and your training partner can track your progress together. New users get a 7-day free trial.

Download 12REPS and see what you’ll get:

Sources

I’m Will Duru, a personal trainer and the founder of 12REPS. I hold a BSc (Hons) in Sport and Exercise Science and have more than a decade of experience coaching people in strength training.