World Physical Activity Day: How to enjoy exercise?

This April 6, another World Day of Physical Activity is celebrated – a date created in 2002 to promote human movement and better health. But little has changed since then. We did more of the same and physical activity levels did not improve. Why did this happen? How can we best encourage physical activity?

The truth is that simply doing physical activity with health-focused goals, especially in the form of physical exercise, may not be enough to motivate people. The slogan “Exercise is medicine” didn’t work.

A short-term health-related cause, such as illness, may motivate initial exercise participation. However, there are also factors that encourage continuity beyond this; for example, immediate emotional reactions i.e. how we feel during running, strength training session, Yoga, Pilates etc. Do you enjoy the activity? Pleasure was touted as a high-quality motivation for exercise. But how can we increase pleasure during exercise?

Enjoyable educational experiences

Two researchers collected strategies to facilitate pleasurable experiences in exercise and divided them into intrinsic (top 3) and extrinsic (last 2). In addition to increasing pleasure, they try to minimize displeasure, a reaction many people feel during physical exertion that can scare them off from training.

intensity of effort

This is the main determinant of pleasure (or displeasure). Moderate intensities in exercise are associated with pleasure for most people, but some experience greater pleasure when increasing the intensity, while others experience a decrease in pleasure with this increase.

The evolutionary explanation for this is that hunter-gatherers survive with moderate effort, staying active and alert in the environment, and that’s how we evolved. Not everyone wants to feel like the famous “I’m dead but I’m fine” motto because emotional responses such as pleasure are highly individual, and so much effort is put in during and after exercise.

The potential for exercise intensity to create an enjoyable experience may be higher if the intensity is self-regulated, for example when you walk at your own pace. Check how you feel at the different levels of intensity in your workout, if you prefer to run faster or moderately, or if you prefer to lift a little more weight at the gym and don’t forget to consult a PE specialist.

end of education

Evidence suggests that the finishing task is the strongest emotional stimulus and can affect judgment of the entire training session. The last exercise of the workout is important. You hate sit-ups or calf workouts and these are your last workouts? Caution: What you feel at the end of the workout can affect the perception of the entire session.

If your goal in bodybuilding workouts is hypertrophy, the order of the exercises doesn’t seem so important, so how about finishing with an exercise you love?

Modality selection

Choose something you enjoy doing in your spare time in a pleasant environment and feel empowered to do it. The type of exercise and the environment are important. It gave birth to the term “not everyone feels good in bodybuilding gyms”.frightenedSee how you feel in different settings, when someone feels unsure of themselves at the gym and threatened by others.

Outdoor and group exercise

Being outdoors has been valued since the pandemic, and today it is increasingly recognized for its health benefits due to the synergistic effects of exercise and contact with nature, especially for mental health to help combat anxiety.

Search for parks and squares in your city. Group training can provide commitment, a sense of community, belonging and camaraderie, in addition to the pleasure of being with people. Also consider using the exercise session for a time of solitude where you enjoy your own company and experience solitude in positive ways, such as jogging alone in the street.

Will we be able to dive into the metaverse at any time in the future to train in the modality we want, with the person we want, and in the environment we choose?

Music

Music can make the activity more enjoyable and increase performance, as well as generate responses such as emotions and apart from separating exercise from effort, it is something many people really hate when they think of exercise. Music can distract us. Find out here which is the best type of music to train, according to science.

These are strategies that encourage enjoyment of exercise, try to fit them into your routine. If we seek instant pleasure in so many actions, why not a motivation to act more?