Northwest Iowa — Did you make a New Year’s resolution to exercise and lose weight this year? If so, you’re probably one of many people who will be headed to the gym today to get started. However, studies suggest around 80-percent of those people will fail or quit exercising by March.
Alison Phillips, an Assistant Professor of Psychology at ISU, has studied the behaviors of people who’ve been able to develop and maintain exercise as a habit. She suggests newcomers to exercise should choose an activity they might come to enjoy — even if that’s not the case at first.
Some people may never come to “enjoy” exercise, but Phillips suggests there are byproducts they might appreciate.
Phillips’ study involved monitoring the activity levels for people just starting to work out along with those who had been exercising regularly for at least three months. The results were published in the journal Sport, Exercise and Performance Psychology.
