Believe in Your Fitness

Want to stick to your exercise routine? Believe that you're getting
fit and you just might.

Exercise has long been shown to boost people's sense of well-being.
Edward McAuley, Ph.D., thinks that this emotional benefit may stem from
"self-efficacy"--or feeling that you can control your
surroundings.

McAuley, of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, asked
46 nonathletic college students to ride a stationary bicycle for about
eight minutes. The professor of kinesiology and his colleagues then told
half of the students that their cardiovascular response was much lower
than that of their fellow exercisers, meaning they were in peak shape. He
informed the others that they were in poor shape. Next, participants were
told to climb a Stairmaster for 20 minutes. Women who believed they were
in poor shape reported being more tired than those who thought they had
performed well. Those who thought they were in peak form reported not
only less fatigue but a higher sense of well-being.

People who feel in control of their workouts are more likely to
ignore physical feelings of fatigue, notes McAuley. So believing that
your workout is shaping up makes you less likely to ship out.