Personality conditions how and what exercise we enjoy

Find motivation To put on Exercise is usually the largest barrier. It is no accident that less than a quarter of people reach the activity goals proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The guidelines of the WHO They recommend that the healthy adults accumulate at least 150 minutes weekly activity (either force, resistance or mixed). Even so, just the 22.5% of the adults and the 19% of the teenagers worldwide meet these levels.

That Physical inactivity has become a Risk factor Key to the physical and mental health Throughout life, so it is urgent to find methods that foster participation. Understand how personality traits They are related to the practice of physical activity could improve interventions and guide physical education in schools to promote positive emotions and pleasure When training.

A way to do the most enjoyable exercise is to choose activities that fit our personality. Researchers of the United Kingdom They studied precisely this: how personality influences the type of exercise we prefer and the constancy with which we practice it. “We discover that our personality can influence the way we get involved with exercise and, in particular, in what forms of exercise we enjoy,” says the first author, the Dr. Flaminia Roncafrom the Institute of Sports, Exercise and Health of the University College in London (UCL).

“Understanding personality factors when designing and recommending physical activity programs is probably very important to determine the success of a program and if people will keep it and put themselves in shape,” adds the main author, the Professor Paul Burgessfrom the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience of the UCL.

Main conclusions

Work shows that certain traits They can favor the choice of exercises on others and that, in addition, some profiles make greater benefit from the exercise in the reduction of the stress. The results were published in Frontiers in Psychology. In the study, participants passed tests laboratory to evaluate your initial physical condition. Then they divided into two groups: one followed a Plan of eight weeks At home with cycling and strength training (intervention group) and the other He maintained his usual life (Control Group).

During the evaluation they were asked, since the first week and after the end of the intervention, how much they had enjoyed Each session. The analyzed features included extroversion, Responsibility (Consciousness), kindness, Neuroticism and opening. “Our brains are connected in different ways, which determines our behaviors and how we interact with our environment. Therefore, it is not surprising that personality also influences how we respond to different exercise intensities,” Ronca explains.

In practical terms, individuals with high extroversion They tended to prefer sessions intense groupas team sports. The with greatest Neuroticism They preferred training private: they accepted the intensity, but they needed Short breaks Between rounds. The most aware And the most Open They practiced exercise, regardless of whether they enjoyed it or if their motivation was curiosity.

A striking finding was the interaction between personalityphysical improvement and stress: Both groups started with similar stress levels, but at the end of the intervention, participants with high scores in Neuroticism They evidenced a remarkable reduction in stress. “It is fantastic news, since it shows that those who benefit most from a stress reduction respond very well to exercise,” Ronca affects.

The authors underline that the essential is find An activity that is enjoyed and not discouraged if a specific modality does not fit. “It doesn’t matter if we don’t enjoy a particular session,” says Ronca. “We can try something different.”

“We hope that if people find physical activities they enjoy, they feel more willing to practice them,” Burgess concludes. “After all, we don’t have to give the can dogs to go for a walk: be so physically inactive that we start Feel bad It could be something peculiarly human. Indeed, our body punishes us making us feel bad. But for some reason, many humans seem not to capture these messages that sends to our brain. “