This is said to motivate people more than anything.
Exercise is something that many of us don't enjoy, or at least don't get around to doing.
We all know that it is extremely good for your body and mind but it can be very hard to find time and then be motivated enough to actually do it.
A new
study published in the journal
Preventative Medicine Reports found that, in order to get us motivated there is one determining factor: Competition.
The study brought together 800 people to sign up for an 11-week exercise program called PennShape which had a social media site along with it.
Though they were unaware of it, the participants were then broken into four groups to see how different types of groups affected their fitness. These were
individual competition, team support, team competition, and a control group.
Those in the individual group had a leadership board ranking their progress against other individuals.
The team groups were able to chat to each other and encourage team mates.
Attendance for the competitive group shot up to 90% in comparison to the controlled group.
"Competitive groups frame relationships in terms of goal-setting by the most active members. These relationships help to motivate exercise because they give people higher expectations for their own levels of performance." Damon Centola lead author of the paper said.
