Find Exercise You Enjoy: Personality Shapes Fitness Success A recent study highlights how aligning exercise type with personality traits can improve enjoyment, adherence, and stress reduction. Extroverts thrived on high-intensity workouts, while those high in neuroticism preferred short bursts and valued privacy. Conscientious people were generally fitter but less motivated by enjoyment, focusing instead on health benefits. All participants who completed the program improved fitness regardless of personality. Notably, neurotic individuals showed the largest stress reduction after exercising. These findings support creating personalized exercise plans based on psychological profiles.
In fact, researchers have found that regular exercise is at least as powerful as antidepressants in fighting depression.
An excellent 2010 review of randomized, controlled studies showed that strength training significantly decreases anxiety, improves memory and cognition, reduces fatigue, and makes you happier.