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Understanding the Link Between Personality and Exercise
Finding it challenging to stick to your summer workout goals? Your personality might be a key factor in this struggle. A recent study conducted by researchers at University College London has revealed that aligning your exercise routine with your personality traits can make workouts more enjoyable and lead to better results.
The study, which lasted eight weeks, focused on how different personality traits influence the type of exercise individuals prefer and their overall enjoyment. The findings suggest that people are more likely to stay active if they engage in activities that resonate with their unique personalities.
Personality Traits and Exercise Preferences
During the experiment, researchers measured strength levels and assessed the prominence of various personality traits among participants. They discovered that extroverts tended to favor high-intensity workouts, while individuals who often worry preferred short bursts of activity and experienced greater stress reduction from such exercises.
Dr. Flaminia Ronca, the study author from UCL Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health, emphasized the importance of finding joy in physical activity. She stated, “We found some clear links between personality traits and the type of exercise the participants enjoyed most. This knowledge could potentially help tailor physical activity recommendations to individual needs, encouraging them to become and remain more active.”
Tailoring Exercise to Individual Needs
The study involved 86 volunteers with varying fitness levels and backgrounds. These participants were divided into two groups. One group, consisting of 25 people, followed an eight-week home-based fitness plan that included cycling and strength training. The other group, comprising 51 people, continued their usual lifestyle but was asked to stretch twice a week.
Throughout the program, all participants rated their enjoyment of each exercise session. Their strength levels were also measured through push-ups, plank holds, and jumping. Following this, they engaged in a low-intensity cycling session for 30 minutes and then underwent a cycling test to measure their oxygen capacity.
In addition to these physical assessments, researchers studied participants’ personality traits, including sociability, diligence, agreeableness, openness, and negative emotions such as fear of failure, anxiety, and self-doubt. Participants also rated their perceived stress levels on a scale from one to ten.
Key Findings and Implications
Results indicated that individuals who scored high on diligence and openness were more likely to engage in exercise, either because they enjoyed it or were driven by curiosity to try new workouts. Those who were very diligent also tended to have well-rounded fitness levels, scoring higher in both aerobic fitness and core strength.
On the other hand, individuals with higher levels of anxiety and self-doubt preferred private workouts and needed short breaks during sessions. Notably, the study showed that stress levels significantly decreased for those experiencing negative emotions after starting to work out independently or in private sessions.
Dr. Ronca highlighted the significance of these findings, stating, “It’s fantastic news, as it highlights that those who benefit the most from a reduction in stress respond very well to exercise.” Professor Paul Burgess, a senior author from the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, added that individuals with higher neuroticism scores showed a strong reduction in stress when following the study’s fitness training.
Social and Private Exercise Preferences
Previous research suggests that people with anxiety and stress may find private exercise more enjoyable than group settings, as it reduces feelings of being judged or compared to others. This allows them to feel more in control and focus on their personal needs, leading to reduced stress levels.
Conversely, very social and outgoing individuals enjoyed high-intensity sessions, such as HIIT, team sports, and intense cycling, in the presence of others.
Conclusion and Future Directions
By the end of the eight-week study, all 86 participants showed noticeable improvements in strength and fitness. Professor Burgess concluded, “We hope that if people can find physical activities they enjoy, they will more readily choose to do them.”
He further noted, “After all, we don’t have to nag dogs to go for a walk: being so physically inactive that we start to feel miserable might be a peculiarly human thing to do. In effect, our body punishes us by making us miserable. But for some reason, many of us humans seem poor at picking up on these messages it is sending to our brain.”
The study was published in Frontiers in Psychology on July 7.
