Category: Exercise

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, research finds.

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).

The key is to make small changes that are sustainable.

Replacing sedentary behaviours with light activity or even sleep improves mood, new research finds.

People who routinely switch to walking around or sleeping from sitting down experience less stress, better mood and even lose weight.

The key is to make small changes that are sustainable.

Light exercise can include walking from one room to another or even standing while cooking or talking on the phone.

Practically any light activity that does not involve sitting down is better than being on the couch.

Another example is going to bed a little earlier instead of staying up late watching television.

Being asleep also means there is less time to snack, worry or engage in other problematic behaviours.

Dr Jacob Meyer, the study’s first author, said:

“People may not even think about some of these activities as physical activity.

Light activity is much lower intensity than going to the gym or walking to work, but taking these steps to break up long periods of sitting may have an impact.”

The study tracked 423 people over 10 days by giving them an armband that measured their energy expenditure.

While sleep or light activity were preferable to sitting down, more vigorous activity was even better for weight loss.

Even light activity showed benefits to people’s mood for at least one year afterwards.

Dr Meyer said small changes are vital:

“It may be easier for people to change their behavior if they feel it’s doable and doesn’t require a major change.

Replacing sedentary time with housework or other light activities is something they may be able to do more consistently than going for an hour-long run.”

The study was conducted before the current pandemic, although the researchers have data showing that physical activity has reduced by 32 percent during lockdown.

Dr Meyer said:

“With everything happening right now, this is one thing we can control or manage and it has the potential to help our mental health.”

The study was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (Meyer et al., 2020).