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A new study was released this week which reaffirms that the placebo effect comes into play when someone believes exercise has positive effects. The researchers found: If you believe working out will make you feel good, it creates a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Apparently, your mindset about exercise makes a really big difference in terms of the power that physical activity has to improve your mood. Study participants who believed that aerobic physical activity would have positive effects before riding a stationary bicycle enjoyed the exercise more, improved their mood more, and reduced their anxiety more than their less optimistic counterparts, who viewed exercise negatively.
Additionally, the team provided evidence that test subjects could be positively or negatively influenced regarding their attitudes towards exercise. Clearly, my goal in writing about this study is to convince you to take a more positive attitude about the benefits of exercise and the hope that I can persuade you that Sweat=Bliss, too.
The August 2016 study, "Expectations Affect Psychological and Neurophysiological Benefits Even After a Single Bout of Exercise,” was published in the Journal of Behavioral Medicine.
This study was led by a psychologist, Hendrik Mothes, from the University of Freiburg's Department of Sport Science in Germany. Mothes and his team were able to demonstrate that test subjects derive more psychological as well as neurophysiological benefits from exercise if they already have a positive mindset about the benefits of working out. In a statement, Mothes said,
"The results demonstrate that our belief in how much we will benefit from physical activity has a considerable effect on our well-being in the manner of a self-fulfilling prophecy . . . Beliefs and expectations could possibly have long-term consequences, for instance on our motivation to engage in sports. They can be a determining factor on whether we can rouse ourselves to go jogging again next time or decide instead to stay at home on the couch.”
In addition, the study revealed a neurophysiological difference between the test subjects. According to the measurements of EEG brain activity, participants with more positive expectations before the study began were more relaxed on a neuronal level after they finished exercising.
All animals seek pleasure and avoid pain. Unfortunately, the misconception of physical activity being a disagreeable experience is why so many human beings avoid seeking regular exercise.
From an evolutionary standpoint everything that human beings do for survival—eating, sleeping, having sex, and working hard physically...breaking a sweat—are designed to make us feel good. This is a generous biological design and at the same time key for our survival.
Sweat is egalitarian and universally accessible. The sweat dripping from someone’s skin, represents anandamide and other brain chemicals pumping inside his or her body, mind, and brain. Sweat creates a sense of joie de vivre via the joy of movement.
Sweat and the biology of bliss is a universal phenomenon that is available to everyone—especially, if you believe it is true.
Conclusion: Feeling Good When We Sweat Is a Generous Biological Design
The vast majority of people view aerobic activity as a disagreeable, uncomfortable, and even painful experience. Coaxing able-bodied people in the 21st century to be more physically active is tricky business, but of paramount importance for our individual and collective well-being and posterity.
Mothes is now working on his next project. He's going to investigate how various explanatory styles and mindsets influence perceptions of different exertion levels during physical activity.
