Care for Health to be INSHAPE – What motivates us to be physically active?

For others, the physically active lifestyle comes naturally, and they could not imagine their lives without it. Then, there is another group that doesn’t have the motivation or any interest in sports or physical activity. So, what motivates people to be physically active?

Author: Sara Suikkanen

I asked the question during my presentation, at the “International Seminar Day on Commercializing Sports Innovations” in Lahti, Finland in April 2024. The audience consisted of the INnovation ecoSystem for Healthy Active People in Europe (I3-INSHAPE) project´s consortium members mainly from Finland, Spain, Hungary, and the Netherlands, and representatives from sports, vitality and technology-related companies and persons from local companies and higher education institutes interested in sport and wellbeing technology. The question that was asked from the audience with the Mentimeter was “What motivates you to be physically active or practice sport?”. The audience answered the question via the Mentimeter website with their smartphones and altogether 40 persons gave 83 answers. The most common answers were health, well-being, good feeling, and joy of movement. The word “health” was mentioned 20 times and answers related to “feeling good” or “joy of movement” 22 times. Other mentions were things like social elements (e.g., friends), routine, recovering from work, fitness, chemical reactions in the body (e.g., endorphins and dopamine), and competition (e.g., winning). All the answers can be seen in the word cloud (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Word cloud of the 83 answers to the question “What motivates you to be physically active or practice sport?”

Health as a Motivator

One of the biggest motivators that came up on the survey was health, which WHO defines as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. WHO states that the determinants of health are the social and economic environment, the physical environment, and the person´s individual characteristics and behaviours (World Health Organization 2017). On the determinants of health, there are some aspects that one can control by oneself, and some that one cannot. We can control how we are physically active or perform sports in our lives, but we cannot control our genes, for example. That was no surprise to anyone that health was on top of the motivators list as there have been many campaigns and guidelines all over Europe, where physical activity and health benefits have been promoted. The benefits for one´s health from being physically active, are quite well known.

Feeling good and Brain Health

The other prominent motivators for being physically active were “feeling good” and “Joy of movement” which occurred in the survey answers 22 times. These answers were also not surprising. Physical activity has been shown positive effects on our mental health by decreasing depression, anxiety, and psychological distress (Singh et al. 2023). The mechanism behind the physical activities antidepressant effect comes from biological changes in our brain chemistry and psychosocial pathways which work together and reduce feelings of depression, anxiety and psychological distress (Kandola, Ashdown-Franks, Hendrikse, Sabiston & Stubbs 2019). Physical activity is also associated with better brain health (Fox et al. 2022) and regular lifelong physical activity is important in maintaining it (Macpherson, Teo, Schneider & Smith 2017). Brain health is an important aspect of our health, and it includes the effects on an individual’s emotional, cognitive, and social functioning (Aejmelaeus et al. 2022; World Health Organization 2022) which are in today’s fatiguing and changing world even more important. Physical activity positively enhances the brain´s health, by regulating physical fitness, insulin and glycaemia, and helps buffering stress (Di Liegro, Schiera, Proia & Di Liegro 2019). Regular exercise boosts self-esteem, enhances functional capacity, and gives a feeling of autonomy (Matta Mello Portugal et al. 2013), all aspects which are needed in today’s hectic working life.

What motivates the Europeans?

The Special Eurobarometer for Sports and Physical Activity in 2022 queried information from citizens of 27 European Union countries. The most common answer to the question of the motivators to be physically active or engage with sports was “to improve their health” which was the motivator for more than half of the respondents (54%). Approximately every four out of 10 Europeans are physically active because they want to improve their fitness (43%) or to relax (39%). Around a quarter of Europeans engage in physical activity or sports because they want to have fun (27 %), improve their physical performance (27%) or control their weight (25%). Other motivators mentioned in the Eurobarometer were improving the physical appearance (19%), being with friends (19%), counteracting the effects of ageing (17%), improving self-esteem (13%), developing new skills (6%), spirit of competition (6%), making new acquaintances (5%), meeting people from other cultures (3%) and better integration into society (3%). (European Commission, Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture. 2022.)

Finding the motivation

Finding the one thing that motivates everyone is like searching for a needle in the haystack, it is almost impossible. We all are different and need different things to keep us motivated and moving. For others, the motivation comes from the good feeling of crisp air on our faces while we are jogging or walking, for others, it comes from the camaraderie of playing football or tennis with our friends, or from the feeling of achievement when we meet our exercise goals. Whatever the reason is for you, remember, that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. This old Chinese saying includes ancient wisdom, that is fitting also for today’s society. Find the one thing that keeps you going, take the steps, no matter how small, and keep moving. It is a gift for yourself that your body and mind will thank you later and it might start a good cycle towards a happier, healthier, and more active lifestyle to be in shape.

References

Di Liegro, C.M., Schiera, G., Proia, P. & Di Liegro, I. 2019. Physical Activity and Brain Health. Genes. Vol. 10 (9), 720. Cited 26 June 2024. Available at https://doi.org/10.3390/genes10090720

European Commission, Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture. 2022. Sport and physical activity : full report. Publications Office of the European Union. Cited 26 June 2024. Available at https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2766/356346

Fox, F.A.U., Diers, K., Lee, H., Mayr, A., Reuter, M., Breteler, M.M.B. & Aziz, N.A. 2022. Association Between Accelerometer-Derived Physical Activity Measurements and Brain Structure: A Population-Based Cohort Study. Neurology. Vol. 99 (11), e1202–e1215. Cited 26 June 2024. Available at https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000200884

Kandola, A., Ashdown-Franks, G., Hendrikse, J., Sabiston, C.M. & Stubbs, B. 2019. Physical activity and depression: Towards understanding the antidepressant mechanisms of physical activity. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. Vol. 107, 525–539. Cited 26 June 2024. Available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.09.040

Macpherson, H., Teo, W.-P., Schneider, L.A. & Smith, A.E. 2017. A Life-Long Approach to Physical Activity for Brain Health. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. Vol. 9. Cited 26 June 2024. Available at https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2017.00147

Matta Mello Portugal, E., Cevada, T., Sobral Monteiro-Junior, R., Teixeira Guimarães, T., da Cruz Rubini, E., Lattari, E., Blois, C. & Camaz Deslandes, A. 2013. Neuroscience of Exercise: From Neurobiology Mechanisms to Mental Health. Neuropsychobiology. Vol. 68 (1), 1–14. Cited 26 June 2024. Available at https://doi.org/10.1159/000350946

Singh, B., Olds, T., Curtis, R., Dumuid, D., Virgara, R., Watson, A., Szeto, K., O’Connor, E., Ferguson, T., Eglitis, E., Miatke, A., Simpson, C.E. & Maher, C. 2023. Effectiveness of physical activity interventions for improving depression, anxiety and distress: an overview of systematic reviews. British Journal of Sports Medicine. Cited 26 June 2024. Available at https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2022-106195

World Health Organization. 2022. Brain Health. Optimizing brain health across the life course: WHO position paper. Geneva: World Health Organization. Cited 26 June 2024. Available at https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/361251/9789240054561-eng.pdf?sequence=1

World Health Organization. 2017. Determinants of health. Cited 26 June 2024. Available at https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/determinants-of-health

Author

Sara Suikkanen, PhD, works as a Chief Specialist in the Faculty of Health Care and Social Services at the LAB University of Applied Sciences. She is part of the Physical Activity and Functional Capacity Research group, and is involved in the INnovation ecoSystem for Healthy Active People in Europe (I3-INSHAPE) project co-funded by the European Union.

Illustration: https://pxhere.com/en/photo/589060 (CC0)