Doing Physical Activities for Fun is More Beneficial: Study

Having fun while working out makes you binge less on junk food, according to a study.

Many individuals train for endless hours in the gym and yet, very few achieve significant weight loss.  Recently, American and French researchers found giving different names for regular exercises and physical activity change people's perception and attitude about workouts and diet. Doing basic exercises like brisk walking and running for fun can help people easily accomplish weight reduction goals, reports the New York Times.     

Their study involved 56 women who were obese but healthy. The experts asked all participants to spend half an hour walking for about a mile in the city. Half of the participants were told the walk was meant to be an exercise and the rest walked for fun and enjoyment by listening to music. It was observed both groups underwent same levels of exertion and burnt same amount of calories but, women who walked purely for exercising purposes reported being very tired and grumpy.

Later, the participants settled for lunch with pasta, soda drinks and chocolate pudding. Women who walked for exercising consumed more sugary soda and desserts compared to those from the other group.

In the second part of the trial, male volunteers were asked walk for a mile either as an exercise or pleasurable activity. They were handed a bag of M&M candies as a token of appreciation. The study noted that men from the exercise group ate twice the amount of candies eaten by other volunteers.

The final part of the experiment, researchers examined post-exercise behavior and eating habits in marathon runners. The runners were interviewed about their race experience and given an option to either choose a chocolate bar or a healthy cereal snack. Runners who were dissatisfied with their performance in the race or felt it was difficult chose to eat the chocolate and happy runners who enjoyed the experience picked the healthy snack.

These findings suggest people's view on exercise change after it is done with the  intention of enjoying, not just losing weight. The authors believe exercising affects what we eat later on.

"We can frame our workouts in different ways," said Carolina O.C. Werle, study author and associate professor of marketing at the Grenoble School of Management in France, reports the New York Times.

"By focusing on whatever we consider fun about it, such as listening to our favorite music or chatting with a friend during a group walk. The more fun we have, the less we'll feel the need to compensate for the effort with food."

More information is available online in the journal Marketing Letters.