For better exercise habits, match workouts to your personality
There's a TikTok video of the New England Patriots' wide receiver Stefon Diggs trying to do Pilates -- and getting flipped off the device like a pancake. But Chelsea Handler had the opposite experience: "I was a fitness fiasco until I found Pilates," she's admitted.
Clearly, it pays to find out what your exercise personality -- and ability -- is, so you choose activities that you can do week after week, with joy. That's the conclusion of a study in Frontiers in Psychology that compared how conscientious, neurotic, and extraverted personalities participated in and reacted to an eight-week exercise program.
Turns out that conscientious people are generally more fit and participate in more hours of physical activity -- even if they aren't crazy about the activity they're doing. Extroverts enjoy intense workouts and are more likely to put the time in if they are involved in a team sport or have other folks around. Neurotic folks get the most benefit from private, stress-busting aerobic workouts -- but need short breaks every so often.
Personality influences which workout you enjoy and how intensely you do it. So, who are you?
1. Do you prefer exercising indoors, outdoors, or both?
2. Do you like to exercise by yourself, with a buddy or a team?
3. Are you comfortable with high-intensity intermittent training or something more -- or less -- demanding?
4. What forms of exercise suit your answers to those questions? Pickleball, jogging, swimming, softball, weight-training ... or Pilates? Pinpoint your best-suited option(s). And for more help enjoying your workouts, explore my book "The RealAge Workout."
Health pioneer Michael Roizen, M.D., is chief wellness officer emeritus at the Cleveland Clinic and author of four No. 1 New York Times bestsellers. Check out his latest, "The Great Age Reboot: Cracking the Longevity Code for a Younger Tomorrow," and find out more at www.longevityplaybook.com. Email your health and wellness questions to Dr. Mike at questions@longevityplaybook.com.
(c)2023 Michael Roizen, M.D.
Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
(c) 2025 Michael Roizen, M.D. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
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