Why do you exercise? Why do you not exercise?

Changing your behaviour is not easy, but sometimes it’s necessary. For some, the challenge  is adopting a more physically active lifestyle. The benefits of an active lifestyle are clear – it  reduces the likelihood of heart problems, diabetes and obesity, alleviates symptoms of  depression and anxiety, and the list goes on. Despite the myriad of benefits, there are still  barriers preventing people from initiating and committing to regular exercise, and thus they  live relatively inactive lifestyles.

With the assumption that we all have an equal understanding of the benefits of exercise, why do some people “choose” to remain sedentary?

People may have a million different reasons for not exercising, but you could argue it comes down to the fact that these individuals haven’t internalized pro-exercise attitudes, beliefs and values (Garrin, 2014). On the surface, you may know that exercise is beneficial, but how much do you truly believe that exercise is necessary? How much do you value the outcomes of exercise? How much do you believe in your own ability to impact your health and wellbeing through exercise? How hard do you think it’ll be to start changing your behaviour and to overcome the setbacks along the way?

For example, some people may believe that exercise is not absolutely necessary despite the  benefits, possibly believing that there are other ways to attain those same benefits e.g.  healthy diet. Others may have tried being more physically active before, but succumbed to  old habits and now use previous failures as reasons to not try again.  

Ask yourself the following question: Why do you / don’t you exercise? Reflect on that and be  honest with yourself.  

The answer to this question implies our internal attitudes, beliefs and values towards  exercise, and has important implications for both our willingness to initiate exercise-related  behaviours and our ability to adhere to a physically active lifestyle in the long-term.  

Satisfying basic psychological needs

According to Self-Determination Theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1985), people are internally  motivated to engage in an activity because it satisfies their basic psychological needs of:  autonomy, competence and relatedness.  

People are more motivated to engage in exercise if they feel like the decision to do so is of  their own free will (autonomy). Commitment to regular exercise is higher when people  don’t feel any pressure or an obligation to exercise, but rather enjoy the experience and see  exercise as important in reaping certain benefits i.e. staying healthy, socializing etc. 

We feel good about ourselves when we successfully complete or master challenging tasks.  This describes our basic need to feel competent. In this regard, your motivation to exercise  is also associated with your perception of your ability to achieve your exercise-related goals  and overcome the obstacles along the way.  

Finally, people engage in activities to feel a meaningful connection with others. We may  play a sport, go to the gym, or simply go on walks as a way to bond and spend some time  with friends and other like-minded individuals. Having a common purpose and similar values  with others further enhances this feeling of relatedness.  

The degree to which these needs are fulfilled is associated with how intrinsically motivated  the individual is to exercise – that is how internally motivated the person is, and this is  strongly linked with the person’s likelihood to engage and persist in exercise behaviours.