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Category: Exercise
How Personality Affects The Motivation To Exercise
Those seeking variety are not always fans of regularly scheduled classes.
Those seeking variety are not always fans of regularly scheduled classes.
People are more likely to stick to an exercise routine if it fits their personality.
Extraverts have more success in the gym where they are surrounded by other people.
They prefer the excitement of having others around them.
Amy Hagan, the study’s author, said music is also important to extraverts:
“These excitement-craving people love lots of activity, and they want to go, go, go.
Music seems to add more excitement to their workout and gets them going even more vigorously.”
People who like new experiences may be better exercising outdoors.
Those seeking variety are not always fans of regularly scheduled classes.
People who are conscientious, however, do like scheduled workout sessions, but they would rather be in charge of it themselves.
Ms Hagan said:
“These are very self-disciplined people who strive to achieve something.
They want to take charge of their own exercise routine to make sure it will get done.”
The conclusions come from a study of 860 students who were given personality tests and asked about their exercise habits.
The results revealed that different personality types like to exercise in different ways.
Least likely to exercise were people high in neuroticism, said Ms Hagan:
“People who are neurotic are least likely to exercise, but these are the very people who would benefit the most from the activity because it would help reduce their anxiety and stress.”
Ms Hagan said:
“If people’s personalities can predict what conditions are most favorable for them to exercise, then an exercise program can be tailored to fit their personal needs, making it more likely they will stick with a routine.”
The study was presented at the North American Society for the Psychology of Sports and Physical Activity (Hagan, 2004).
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How To Boost Your Mental Health In Only 10 Minutes
It boosts our ability to regulate our emotions, avoid temptations and control bad habits.
It boosts our ability to regulate our emotions, avoid temptations and control bad habits.
Just ten minutes of moderate-intensity exercise, like running, is enough to improve mental health, a study finds.
This amount of exercise is enough to boost blood flow to various areas of the bilateral prefrontal cortex.
These areas of the brain are important to how we feel and control our actions.
The study suggests that even this small amount of exercise boosts our ability to regulate our emotions, avoid temptations and control bad habits.
Professor Hideaki Soya, study co-author, said:
“Given the extent of executive control required in coordinating balance, movement, and propulsion during running, it is logical that there would be increased neuronal activation in the prefrontal cortex and that other functions in this region would benefit from this increase in brain resources.”
For the study 26 people were given tests of their mood and brain function before and after they did 10 minutes on a treadmill.
The results showed that people felt better after running,
Chorphaka Damrongthai, the study’s first author, said:
“This was supported by findings of coincident activations in the prefrontal cortical regions involved in mood regulation.”
Not only this, but their brains demonstrated improved performance in areas related to mood and inhibitory control.
Inhibitory control is people’s ability to stop themselves from temptations, such as eating unhealthy food or any other habits that might otherwise be difficult to avoid.
It is also involved in controlling unwanted thoughts and directing attention efficiently.
The mental benefits of exercise
Exercise has been linked to a huge range of mental benefits, including that it:
- increases stress resilience,
- reduces anxiety,
- lowers the risk of dementia,
- speeds up the mind,
- fights depression,
- consolidates long-term memory,
- and much more…
→ Related: Exercise: 20 Mental Benefits Of Physical Activity
The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports (Damrongthai et al., 2021).
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Ever wondered why some people stay motivated to work out while others struggle? These psychology-backed tips might just hold the key.
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Finding the motivation to exercise consistently can feel like a battle, even for the most determined.
This article reveals 12 psychology-backed strategies that can help you stay motivated to exercise, even when you don’t feel like it.
Whether you’re struggling to get started or finding it hard to keep going, these tips will help you tap into the mental tricks that make all the difference.
From choosing the right type of exercise and working out with similar others to using the power of imagination and the buddy system, these insights will transform the way you approach fitness.
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