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PSYCHOLOGY OF EXERCISE 1

PSYCHOLOGY OF EXERCISE

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PSYCHOLOGY OF EXERCISE 2

Contents

Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 3

Health behavior .......................................................................................................................... 3

Psychology of exercise .............................................................................................................. 4

Psychological benefits of exercise ............................................................................................. 4

Problems associated with psychological exercise...................................................................... 5

Link between psychological exercise, morbidity and mortality ................................................ 5

Psychological exercise theories ................................................................................................. 5

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 7

References .................................................................................................................................. 9

PSYCHOLOGY OF EXERCISE 3

Introduction

This essay is aimed at evaluating how psychological factors influence health

behaviors. The assignment will try to explain the meaning of terms such as health behaviors,

come up with a specific health behavior which is practiced by individuals and try to evaluate

how the behavior affect the health of the individuals. Psychological factors refer to features

which describe the psychology of a person which motivate the person’s actions in seeking

satisfaction of a desired thing or activity (Sarafino and Smith, 2016). These psychological

factors tend to influence human behaviors, attitudes as well as the functioning of their minds.

For the purpose of this study, the essay will narrow down to the evaluation of the psychology

factor regarding to psychology of exercise. Psychology of exercise entails all the behaviors

which are undertaken by individuals with regard to exercising their bodies for the purposes of

keeping fit and positively healthy.

Health behavior

According to (Buckworth and Buckworth, 2013), health behavior refers to, “overt

behavioral actions, habits as well as patterns which relate to health maintenance, health

improvement as well as health restoration. According to the author, most of the human

behaviors often lie within this definition such as smoking, exercising, sexual behavior, diet

issues, and use of alcohol among many others. Health behavior may also refer to combination

of practices, attitudes and knowledge with the aim of contributing towards the motivation of

all the activities undertaken by human beings regarding their health (Sarafino and Smith,

2016). According to (Buckworth and Buckworth, 2013), health behavior could also refer to,

“activities which are undertaken by a person nevertheless their perceived or actual health

status with the aims of protecting, promoting and maintaining their health.” These activities

are often undertaken irrespective of whether they are factually effective at the end of

undertaking them. The three definitions of health behavior are totally similar except for the

PSYCHOLOGY OF EXERCISE 4

last definition which I tend to like most because psychological factors such as exercise in this

case should be undertaken often regardless of an individuals’ health status.

Psychology of exercise

The particular health behavior which this essay will look broadly into is the

psychology of exercise. Psychology of exercise comprises of all activities which are

undertaken by people with the main goal of attaining better healthy levels in the end

Buckworth and Buckworth, 2013. Research shows that the psychology of exercise often

contributes positively to the health status of those who undertake the exercise as compared to

those who never bother to exercise at all. Some of the activities involved in this psychology

of exercise include morning running, regular visits to the gym and also walking more often to

keep the body fit. Reportedly, exercise psychologists advocate for more involvement in

exercise activities for those people who often have conditions such as diabetes, cancer,

cardiovascular diseases among many others.

Psychological benefits of exercise

More often, people will engage in an activity such as exercise with high hopes of

getting end results. The end results could be either negative or positive both in the short term

and in the long run. Since time immemorial, exercising has been known to have a lot of

benefits coming with it both in the short run and in the long run. Some of the benefits which

are associated with the psychology of exercise include; improved body image like the men

who visit the gyms to work on their muscles and the ladies who want to have the good figure,

declined stress levels as well as enhanced capability to deal with stresses, upgraded self-

esteem, enhanced ability and confidence in the performance of physical activities, amplified

satisfaction, enriched moods, reduced depressions as well as good health for the entire body

for oneself (Buckworth and Buckworth, 2013).

PSYCHOLOGY OF EXERCISE 5

Problems associated with psychological exercise

Despite the numerous benefits which are associated with the psychology of exercise,

there are problems which are related to the exercises. Some of these problems include;

injuries, individuals may get to be hurt while in the process of exercising and this may cause

them more harm than good. Experiencing of pain, individuals who may not be used to the

exercises may end up experiencing a lot of pain which may even discourage them from

exercising further. Another major problem associated with exercising is lack of time where

by most people tend to be busy such that they lack time to exercise. This is a major problem

as it is the sole reason why most people never exercise and this result into bad health statuses

for them. The problem of being bored with the exercises also contributes to a large number of

people not exercising. However, this problem could be solved by practicing a lot of exercises

such that individuals have a variety to choose from so that they are not bored.

Link between psychological exercise, morbidity and mortality

A research conducted in UK showed that regular physical exercises reduced the risk

of dying by twenty three percent. This is because the regular exercises reduce the severe

effects of the diseases which often cause the death of people. Reportedly, exercises reduces

the risks of people dying precipitately, reduces heart problems, stress and depression, regulate

body weight to avoid obesity among many other illnesses which results into death. This is

because once a person exercises; they keep their bodies active such that they are able to fight

any viruses of diseases which might attack their immune systems.

Psychological exercise theories

Research shows that most psychological behaviors are often linked to some sort of

theories which tend to explain the reasons as to why people engage in those psychological

behaviors (An Introduction to Health Psychology, 2007). Consequently, psychological

PSYCHOLOGY OF EXERCISE 6

behavior has not been neglected and therefore there exists theories which explain why people

often engage in intentional behaviors such as exercise. One of the psychological exercise

theories is the theory of planned behavior or action. This theory states that assertiveness

directed towards subjective norms, behavior as well as perceived behavioral control often

profile a person’s behavioral intentions. According to the theory, whenever people monitor

and evaluate that a suggested behavior has positive outcomes, and they happen to think that

other significant people in their lives want them to undertake the behavior, then this results

into a higher enthusiasm of them performing the behavior. This indicates a strong correlation

between individual’s attitude and their independent norms to undertake certain behaviors.

However, studies show that there exists a counter argument to the strong correlation

between a person’s attitude and the actual taking of the behavior. There exist circumstantial

limits such that a positive intention of undertaking an activity will not always result into the

actual undertaking of the action. These circumstantial limitations include self-efficacy which

refers to the difficulty in which a person perceives in order to undertake the behavior. If the

level of self-efficacy is high, then the individual end up not doing the actions such as exercise

despite the positive attitude instilled in them. Another determinant of the actual undertaking

of the exercises is controllability which comprises of external factors which a person

perceives as a threat to the performing of their exercises. High levels of controllability

indicate that the person if confident and can therefore undertake the exercises.

Another theory which is highly related to the psychology of exercise id the self

determination theory. Self determination theory is a theory which tries to explain the

enthusiasm behind an individual’s behavior depending on the person’s motivational

orientations, interpersonal perceptions as well as relative influences (An Introduction to

Health Psychology, 2007). This theory comprises of three sub theories which aim at

explaining the motivation behind the psychology of exercise. One of the sub theories is the

PSYCHOLOGY OF EXERCISE 7

cognitive evaluation theory which states that people performs an exercise for external

contingencies such as fame or even money and as long as the returns are all-pervading, then

the individual will persist with the exercises. The other sub theory is the theory of organismic

integration which advocates that individuals undertake exercise for extrinsic and intrinsic

motives. Finally the third sub theory is the basic needs theory which researchers say that

individuals will always venture in psychological exercises in order to satisfy the three

psychological needs which are basic. These three basic needs comprise of competence,

autonomy as well as relatedness and are perceived to be fundamental for all people by

psychologists.

The third psychological exercise theory is the achievement goal theory. According to

this theory, individual will always engage in psychological exercise with the aim of attaining

specific set goals (An Introduction to Health Psychology, 2007). Researchers argue that

people will always have a motive of exercising and that they cannot engage in exercising

without certain objectives. Examples of objectives and goals as to why people will engage in

exercises include; aim of cutting weight, recommendations by health practitioners among

many others. These goals and objectives will therefore keep individuals on their toes in order

to achieve their objectives.

Conclusion

In conclusion, health behaviors refer to all the activities undertaken by individuals

with the aims of maintaining their health, improve as well as restore their health. Psychology

of exercise involves one of the health behaviors which most people use for the purposes of

keeping their bodies fit. Research shows that individuals will always venture into

psychological exercises for various reasons which are clearly enumerated by the various

theories of psychological exercise such as the theory of planned action and the self

determination theory. However, according to (Sarafino and Smith, 2016), people should

PSYCHOLOGY OF EXERCISE 8

always try their level best to exercise their bodies for it will always bring them numerous

benefits such as reduced risks of diseases, improved body image, reduced stresses and

depression, increased confidentiality among many others. A weigh between the benefits and

the problems associated with the psychology of exercises clearly shows that the benefits

outweigh the problems and hence psychology of exercise is important and should often be

practiced.

PSYCHOLOGY OF EXERCISE 9

References

An Introduction to Health Psychology. (2007). Psychology, Health & Medicine, 12(5),

pp.617-618.

Application of the Theories of Reasoned Action and Planned Behavior to Exercise Behavior:

A Meta-Analysis. (1997). Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 19(1), pp.36-51.

Buckworth, J. and Buckworth, J. (2013). Exercise psychology. Champaign, IL: Human

Kinetics.

Sarafino, E. and Smith, T. (2016). Health Psychology. New York: Wiley.

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