New research reveals a fitness partner who keeps verbal encouragement to a minimum might be a better motivator than one who is more vocal.

Conducted by Brandon Irwin, assistant professor of kinesiology at Kansas State University, the study got participants to exercise with a looped video recording.

Participants were split in two groups and exercised with a partner in a looped video recording, who they were told was slightly more skilled than them.

The video recording played to participants in the second group offered verbal encouragement, whereas the one played to the first group did not.

Irwin said: "When exercising with someone who is slightly better and who is not verbally encouraging, participants exercised longer than if conditions were the same but that person was verbally encouraging them."

He said the results were unexpected but speculated participants may have interpreted the verbal encouragement as condescending.

"If two individuals are exercising together and one is constantly saying 'you can do this' to the other, it may be taken at patronising."

In a separate study Irwin found the optimal exercise partner is 40 per cent better than the other.