Pooch Power
The best fitness plan you can buy into, according to UW-Madison kinesiology Professor Bill Morgan, may be one with four legs. "If you're thinking about buying exercise equipment," he says, "buy a dog instead."
Morgan, director of the Exercise Psychology Lab, believes that the best exercise plans center around performing an immediate, tangible chore - working on the lawn, for instance, or biking to work. He points to decades of research indicating that few people have the strong commitment needed to stick to a regular exercise plan. Though many people resolve to work out more often, three-quarters of them will give up their regimen by the end of the first year. If the exercise is linked to a chore, however, people are far more likely to make it a regular part of their lives.
Morgan, director of the Exercise Psychology Lab, believes that the best exercise plans center around performing an immediate, tangible chore - working on the lawn, for instance, or biking to work. He points to decades of research indicating that few people have the strong commitment needed to stick to a regular exercise plan. Though many people resolve to work out more often, three-quarters of them will give up their regimen by the end of the first year. If the exercise is linked to a chore, however, people are far more likely to make it a regular part of their lives.
Dogs, he says, are particularly good for destroying the excuses that keep people from following a regular workout program. "When it's minus twenty degrees Fahrenheit, my dog is just as eager to go for a walk" as on a nice day, says Morgan. "I may not have time [for walking] some mornings, but I have to make time."
Morgan calls chore-based workouts "purposeful exercise." He became convinced that purpose was the key to maintaining exercise while studying ten individuals during the past dozen years. He's recorded how long each person has stuck to regular exercise when there was a tangible purpose to motivate their sweat. Some of the dog owners walk up to six miles each day.
"The way to enhance adherence" to an exercise regimen, he says, "is to adopt purposeful activities."
Morgan calls chore-based workouts "purposeful exercise." He became convinced that purpose was the key to maintaining exercise while studying ten individuals during the past dozen years. He's recorded how long each person has stuck to regular exercise when there was a tangible purpose to motivate their sweat. Some of the dog owners walk up to six miles each day.
"The way to enhance adherence" to an exercise regimen, he says, "is to adopt purposeful activities."
