Exercise Getting you Down? Not Any More!

             Do you have a hard time motivating yourself to get to the gym? Does the thought of getting on the treadmill make you want to curl back up into bed? If yes, have no fear, you’re not alone in your exercise angst. A recent study by Ruby, Dunn, Perrino, Gillis, & Viel (2011) found that people tend to only think about their enjoyment of the beginning of an event when considering how much they enjoy the event as a whole, especially if the event requires mental or physical effort. If an individual is thinking back on their exercise experiences or thinking towards exercising and the initial aspect of an exercise workout is not enjoyable then the entire idea of exercising produces no thoughts of enjoyment, and an individual will be less motivated to exercise.

          

 Underestimation of exercise enjoyment is a problem because obesity is a quickly growing issue in the United States and Canada due to lack of exercise. Obesity is the cause of many other physiological issues and requires billions of dollars in health care. Although lack of enjoyment is not the only reason for not exercising it is something that can easily be changed, unlike other reasons, such as lack of time or money. Studies like the one by Ruby et al. (2011) are important for understanding why people harbor negative feelings towards exercise and can help us figure out how to overcome these issues and alter our attitude towards working out.                                   

           

The solutions offered by Ruby et al. (2011) are easy and effective and do not even involve changing the actual content of your workout. Basically, they found that many people incorrectly predict how much they actually enjoy exercising because they place their feelings of the entire workout on the initial part of the exercise experience.  With that in mind, Ruby et al. suggest moving your favorite part of the workout to the beginning and least favorite part to the end, so that you are excited to begin the workout, and by the end you are almost done anyway. In fact, I have attempted using their advice the past couple of days, and it has definitely worked! For example, when I go to the gym I use the treadmill, elliptical, and bike. My favorite portion of the workout is the elliptical and my least favorite is the bike, so I have altered the order of my routine so that I do the elliptical, then the treadmill, and end with the bike. By moving the favorite part of the workout to the beginning the focus of enjoyment becomes the favorite part and exercise is viewed in a more positive light. It was also suggested to consider each aspect of the workout separately rather than as a whole in order to highlight the aspects that are enjoyable.

                     

            By taking these suggestions into consideration people will have a more positive view of exercise and will therefore be more likely to enjoy it and engage in it. Engaging in exercise is vital to both physical and mental health. Understanding how we think about events and our enjoyment of them can not only be applied to exercise, but all aspects of life, including quitting smoking and eating healthy.

            Happy Exercising!

-Julia Vogel

Ruby, M.B., Dunn, E.W., Perrino, A., Gillis, R., & Viel, S. (2011). “The invisible benefits of exercise”. Health Psychology, 30, 67-74.