Many people plan to exercise but do not follow through. University of Michigan behavioral scientist Michelle Segar and colleagues carried out the first in-depth study focused on exercise to examine this problem. The team included Jen Taber, John Updegraff, and Alexis McGhee-Dinvaut of Kent State University. They ran four focus groups with 27 adults, ages 19 to 79, and published the findings in BMC Public Health.
The researchers found four components that form an all-or-nothing mindset and help explain why people abandon exercise plans instead of adjusting them:
- Rigid idealized criteria: many participants said strict standards were needed for an activity to “count” as exercise; one said, “If I do something for under 15 minutes, I feel like I didn’t even exercise.”
- Sought excuses: people described looking for reasons to avoid exercise, using phrases such as “it’s hard” or “it hurts.”
- Exercise seen as expendable: participants pushed exercise aside when routines filled with tasks that “have to be done or should be done.”
- Bafflement about failure to stick with it: many recalled positive past experiences yet still felt unable to maintain activity.
Segar said the mindset raises the immediate costs of exercise: when people feel tired or overwhelmed, short-term costs can seem larger than benefits and doing nothing becomes attractive. She advised three shifts in thinking: do not blame yourself, choose “good enough” over “perfect,” and do not be a prisoner of past negative exercise experiences.
Difficult words
- abandon — stop doing something before finishing it
- mindset — a way of thinking that shapes behaviour
- criterion — a standard used to judge or decidecriteria
- rigid — not willing to change or adapt
- expendable — able to be given up or sacrificed
- bafflement — a feeling of confusion and surprise
- overwhelm — to give someone too much to handleoverwhelmed
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- Have you ever stopped an exercise plan because it did not meet your ideal standards? What happened?
- How could choosing "good enough" instead of "perfect" change your daily routine?
- What reasons do people you know give to avoid exercise, and how could they be addressed?
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