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11: Strategies to Facilitate More Pleasant Exercise Experiences

  • Page ID
    112048
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    There is broad acknowledgement that how we feel during exercise is a predictor of long-term adherence. In this chapter, we describe the evidence that leads us to focus on the promotion of pleasant exercise experiences as an important strategy for long-term exercise adherence. This is followed by a discussion of modifications that can be made to exercise itself (intrinsic) and to the exercise environment (extrinsic) with the aim of influencing how people feel during exercise. Exercise intensity is the predominant intrinsic strategy that we focus on given its central role in determining our affective responses to exercise. We discuss a range of extrinsic strategies including indoor and outdoor exercise, exercising with others, virtual reality, music, imagery, and exergaming, among others. We aim to provide a broad overview of the available strategies that researchers and practitioners can implement to help foster more consistently pleasant and enjoyable exercise experiences.


    This page titled 11: Strategies to Facilitate More Pleasant Exercise Experiences is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Leighton Jones and Zachary Zenko (Society for Transparency, Openness, and Replication in Kinesiology) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.