Moderation is Key for Exercise Motivation

People who embark on a moderate exercise program report higher levels of energy and are more motivated than those who follow a more intensive program, say researchers from the University of Copenhagen. Professor Bente Stallknecht from the university’s Department of Biomedical Sciences at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, and colleagues studied 61 healthy, sedentary, moderately overweight young men in order to examine the effects of 2 different doses of endurance exercise on health behaviour and exercise compliance. Participants were randomised to a sedentary control group, a moderate (MOD;30 minutes/day) or a high-dose (HIGH;60 minutes/day) endurance exercise group for 12-weeks. Results showed that men who exercised for 30-minutes a day lost an average of 3.6 kg during the 3-month study, but those exercising for a full hour only lost 2.7 kg. The fact the participants lost more weight doing less exercise can be explained by the participants differing attitudes to exercise. Those in the MOD group were untroubled by the exercise load and had a positive attitude towards exercise, however those in the HIGH group complained of increased fatigue, were less positive, and perceived exercise as time-consuming. “The qualitative data offer a possible explanation for the surprising biological data. The subjects in the test group that exercised the least talk about increased energy levels and a higher motivation for exercising and pursuing a healthy everyday life. They take the stairs, take the dog for an extra walk or cycle to work. In contrast, the men who exercised for one hour a day, after training, felt exhausted, demotivated and less open to making a healthy change. We are thus seeing that a moderate amount of exercise will significantly impact the subjects’ daily practices,” concluded Astrid Jespersen, ethnologist and associate professor at the university’s Faculty of Humanities.