The will to exercise may be contagious. If you or your spouse are hitting the gym or going for a run, the other is more likely to follow suit, according to new evidence out of Johns Hopkins.

It seems we get inspired by all that hard work our spouse is doing and want to emulate it.

The study used the American Heart Association recommendation that adults should exercise at a moderate intensity for a minimum of 150 minutes per week or at a vigorous intensity for at least 75 minutes per week.

Researchers looked at the habits of more than 3,200 couples reported during two medical visits about six years apart, starting in the late 1980s, according to a statement from the university.

About 45 percent of husbands and 33 percent of wives in the study group met the activity recommendations at the first visit.

Wives most influential
And if the wife met recommended levels of exercise at the first visit, her husband was 70 percent more likely to do the same the next visit than those with less active spouses.

Husbands are a little less influential. When a husband met recommended exercise levels, his wife was 40 percent more likely to mimic his activity by the second visit.

"When it comes to physical fitness, the best peer pressure to get moving could be coming from the person who sits across from you at the breakfast table," says Laura Cobb, a Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health doctoral student and co-author of the research said in a statement.

Even better if you get up from the table and go for a brisk walk together.

Read on for a four-minute workout and how to improve your exercise regimen.