For years, researchers have been on the lookout for predictors of exercise behaviour, in a bid to get people to embrace fitness. Put another way, they are trying to find out what makes people go to the gym, and how we can get more people there more frequently.
One theory that has gathered steam is the theory of exercise identity. Research is showing that it could be a key factor in what drives people to work out, while helping to explain why others run out of steam.
What is exercise identity?
Exercise identity is the extent to which someone defines themselves as an exerciser, or a person who regularly engages in physical activity.
The theory builds on the notion that our sense of self drives our behaviour. We go to work because our career and our jobs are a key component of our self-concept. This extends to our roles in relationships — as partners, as siblings, as parents, and as friends. We engage in and commit to these roles because they are a part of who we are and how we see ourselves.
When people decide to go to the gym and kickstart a fitness regime, the theory is that unless someone is able to incorporate exercise into their self-concept, they are unlikely to maintain the motivation to keep turning up.
On the other hand, if you embrace exercise as a part of yourself, you are far more likely to partake in exercise behaviours because it serves that sense of identity.
Ask yourself this question: when you meet someone, and they ask you to tell them about yourself, how likely are you to mention that you are a a gym junkie, or that you love to exercise?
The answer to that question, according to research, could be a very reliable predictor of whether you’re able to adhere to a fitness program long-term or not.
The research
Recent research has looked into this very notion and the results are certainly interesting. One particular study looked at a number of variables associated with exercise adherence, including group exercise membership, social support and exercise identity.
They surveyed 506 people with a mean age of 34, and used exploratory path analysis to model group exercise membership, forms of social support, exercise identity and physical activity. They found that exercise identity is strongly correlated with time spent training. The stronger the sense of exercise identity, the more people trained.
A similar study explored the relationship between time spent exercising, the presence of fitness apps on one’s phone, and a sense of exercise identity.
What these researchers found was that people who had fitness apps on their phone exercised 67% more than those who don’t. They also found that people with fitness apps on their phone had a 36% greater exercise identity than those who didn’t.
Interestingly, when the researchers controlled for exercise identity, the relationship between the fitness apps and exercise behaviour disappeared.
The researchers theorised that it is the exercise identity that is the key factor in this relationship. The fitness apps merely serve as a marker for fitness identity, and the fitness apps reinforce and strengthen this sense of exercise identity.
The takeaway
So, what comes first the exercise identity or the fitness behaviour? For many of us, an exercise identity is likely to be something that builds over time. Therefore, a level of commitment to the gym is probably required for a period before we feel like it is a part of who we are.
How long do we need to commit to training before we feel like it’s a part of our sense of self? Many believe that ‘how long’ is the wrong question. The right question to ask instead might be, ‘how fun’?
For anyone embarking on an exercise program, researchers believe that in the early going, there must be a level of enjoyment in the activity if we’re likely to persevere long enough to make it a part of who we are.
So make it fun, make it something that you want to do when starting out, and over time, the fitness fanatic in you will emerge, driving you to the gym, and to a fitter, stronger you.
Golaszewski, N. M., LaCroix, A. Z., Hooker, S. P., & Bartholomew, J. B. (2022) Group exercise membership is associated with forms of social support, exercise identity, and amount of physical activity, International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 20:2, 630-643, DOI: 10.1080/1612197X.2021.1891121
Barkley, J. E., Lepp, A., Santo, A., Glickman, E., & Dowdell, B . The Relationship between Fitness App Use and Physical Activity Behavior Is Mediated by Exercise Identity. Computers in Human Behavior 108 (2020): 106313. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2020.106313.
