Thinking of how to increase exercise works

DALLAS, June 25 (UPI) -- Telling coach potatoes to think of ways they could increase exercise performance led to a boost in cardiovascular fitness, U.S. researchers said.

Laura L. Ten Eyck of the Children's Medical Center in Dallas, along with Dana P. Gresky and Charles G. Lord, studied 61 college students who did not exercise on a regular basis or exercised inconsistently.

The researchers asked some students to think of a list of reasons why they should increase the performance of a target cardiovascular exercise such as being healthier. Other participants were asked to list actions they could take to increase exercise performance, such a joining a gym or working out with a friend.

Having the students for eight weeks bring to mind and list actions they could take to increase exercise performance led to an increase in exercise and improved cardiovascular fitness. However, having students repeatedly bring to mind the reasons why they should do the target exercise did not increase time spent exercising, the researchers said.

The study is published in the Journal of Applied Biobehavioral Research.