Psychology of Motivation: Why is Exercise a Struggle
Exercise is widely recognised for its physical, social, and psychological benefits. While the benefits of physical activity are widely known, for many individuals, maintaining consistent motivation and dedication to exercise remains a significant struggle. Despite having good intentions to exercise, when the time comes, individuals often fall victim to procrastination by finding valid ways to avoid it.
So why is it that, despite having good intentions, exercise is the first thing that is left out of the day? The answer to this question lies within the concept of how one perceives time, rather than a lack of willpower or simply laziness, and one might think. When looking at engaging in some form of physical activity, a common perceived barrier to starting exercise is the available time within a day (1). Many people have busy schedules, such as working long hours or responsibilities involving their families, which are valid reasons why many exercise goals fail. While responsibilities with work and family require a significant amount of effort, time, and dedication (as does exercise), it is preferred during the day as it elicits immediate gratification and benefits to an individual.
Benefits and Costs: The Now and Then
As established earlier in the article, time is a vital factor when accounting for physical activity in the day. Imagine setting your alarm for early in the morning, intending to go for a run. However, when the alarm finally rings in the morning, the prospect of getting a little extra rest seems more appealing than the long-term benefits of a run, and hence, exercise gets delayed by yet another day. This is a common experience that demonstrates a concept called temporal discounting: the psychological tendency to devalue future rewards in favour of immediate gratification (2).
Although individuals are aware of the benefits of exercise, such as better health, enhanced well-being, the rewards of the activity are abstract are placed in a distant and uncertain future. On the other hand, the costs of physical activity and benefits of skipping it are immediate and visible and are felt in the present, such as the discomfort or pain, loss of leisure or family time, and the additional effort. As a result, individuals place a heavy emphasis on the immediate costs rather than the long-term benefits, which leads to decreased motivation to exercise. This is a cognitive bias, and even the most well-intended individuals can often be influenced by this tendency.
Why are good intentions not enough? This is a question all individuals ask themselves when they have made plans to exercise but fail to follow through. The challenge lies not in the lack of willpower, but in how our minds process motivation over time. Known as the intention–behaviour gap, it is the space between what we plan to do and what actually happens in practice (3). When we normally picture our future selves, we often imagine someone more energized and disciplined than we realistically feel in the moment. Then, when it comes time to act, the immediate demands of daily life, the effort required, and the lure of comfort naturally weigh more heavily than distant, abstract health benefits. This isn’t your failure; it’s a common human tendency shaped by how we think about and value the present compared to the future. Understanding this gap between intention and action helps us see that the challenge isn’t simply about willpower; it’s about how we perceive costs and benefits in the moment. The good news is that by making adjustments to routines and those perceptions, we can make exercise feel more achievable and rewarding.
Turning Intentions into Actions: Balancing Benefits and Costs
1. Reduce the Perceived Costs
· To reduce the monetary costs of physical activity, go for a walk or run instead of joining a gym.
· To make exercise convenient along with other commitments, try home workouts or walking on a treadmill while working in the office.
· To lessen physical costs such as discomfort or pain, try lowering the intensity of the workout.
2. Enhance the Benefits to be More Immediate
· Engage in something enjoyable while exercising, such as listening to music, watching a movie or show on the treadmill, or asking a friend to join you to have a social interaction.
· Enhance the immediate gratification by adding various smaller rewards after exercise rather than distant rewards, as it will boost your motivation.
3. Increase the Costs of Not Engaging in Exercise
· Put yourself in commitment binds by self-imposed penalties to increase the cost of skipping exercise so that following through is the easier option.
· These can include lifestyle penalties (no leisure activity till you work out, restriction of sweet treats), exercise-based penalties (doubling up on the next workout or forfeiting a rest day).
4. Decrease the Benefits of Not Exercising
· Make exercise a part of your social plans, where not exercising will lead to loss of social interaction.
· Put visible reminders of your exercise goals around your space so that sitting idle feels less uncomfortable.
· Set aside certain music, podcasts, or movies only for your workouts, so that the rest feels less rewarding and boosts your motivation to exercise.
Cognitive processes such as temporal discounting and the intention–behaviour gap make it easy to delay or avoid physical activity, even when intentions are genuine. However, by reshaping the way we perceive costs and benefits of exercise, reducing barriers, enhancing immediate rewards, increasing accountability, and making inactivity less appealing, we can tip the balance in favour of action. Ultimately, sustaining motivation is about creating an environment where exercise feels both achievable, rewarding, and beneficial in the present, not just in some distant and abstract future. In doing so, we can move beyond good intentions and build lasting, meaningful habits that support both our health and well-being.
Written by Staley Putnam and Saniya Jain
Bibliography
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Woolley K, Fishbach A. For the Fun of It: Harnessing Immediate Rewards to Increase Persistence in Long-Term Goals. Journal of Consumer Research [Internet]. 2016 Jan 5;42(6):952–66. Available from: https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article-abstract/42/6/952/2358882