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CONSISTENCY IS KEY

HHS_us_health_human_services_logo_nyreblog_com_.gifExercising this week


A husband and his wife stretch together.

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Feel like exercising this week? How about every week?

Researchers have been tracking week-by-week changes in people's motivation to exercise. And they say those don't-feel-like-it weeks can really hurt the capacity to stick with the program.

At Penn State, David Conroy measured weekly intentions and physical activity performance of 33 college students over 10 weeks. He says people with the strongest weekly commitments were more likely to be successful. But he warns:

"Most people set goals without considering their commitment and how those commitments will change from a week-to-week basis."  (6 seconds)

So good time management to work on consistency can help.

The study in the Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

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