In his 2007 study published in the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, Raedeke asked participants to evaluate their mental state before and after exercise.

But Thomas Raedeke, PhD, professor of kinesiology at East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C., asserts that if your workout is fun, you’re not only more likely to keep it up, you’ll also experience better effects along the way. It’s easy to think of exercise as a chore-or as tedious torture-if you only look forward to the endgame. The approach, which he termed Primal Play, pairs functional movement with repurposed childhood games. “I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with exercise-but I’ve always loved to ‘play,’” he explains.Ĭhanneling his passion, Edwards got certified as a personal trainer and nutritionist, and then designed a fitness program infused with the energy of a children’s playground at recess. His adult workouts, on the other hand, felt like sheer drudgery.

“I only looked forward to the end result, watching the clock rather than staying in the moment.”Īs a kid, Edwards lived for physical activity, eschewing video games to play outside for hours.

No pain, no gain, right? But I didn’t enjoy the process,” he says. “I had a strong work ethic from my job in investment banking, which I transferred to my experience in the gym. There was just one problem: He was bored silly. He grew ever stronger, leaner, healthier. When Darryl Edwards hit the gym to get fit, he went all in, progressing from self-described couch potato to physical powerhouse. Have a Love-Hate Relationship With Exercise? You’re Not Alone To download a pdf of this infographic, click here. Circle the activities that appeal to you to get a sense of where you fall on each continuum-and to see which adjacent activities might also feel like “fun.” The chart outlines how seven psychosocial traits match an array of different activities, from team sports to tai chi. What’s the best sport or workout for your personality? James Gavin, PhD, professor of applied human sciences at Montreal’s Concordia University, developed the Fitness Personality Profile below. Step one: Discover what type of workout motivates you the most. Weary of your workout? Dreading your dreary routine? Find your fitness bliss by putting the fun back in activity.

My First Animal Moves by Darryl Edwards