Even a Little Exercise Boosts Your Ego

Psychological benefits of working out not related to actual fitness: study
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 8, 2009 2:54 PM CDT
Even a Little Exercise Boosts Your Ego
Matt Petrovick, 24, a financial planner, exercises at Planet Fitness as President Obama delivers his speech on health care.   (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

Good news for the semi-motivated couch potato: doing just a little exercise—not actually getting fit—will make you feel better about yourself, a new study says. University of Florida researchers reviewing 57 studies on exercise and body image found that people who exercised got the same body-image boost no matter the duration, intensity, length, or type of exercise.

"You would think that if you become more fit that you would experience greater improvements in terms of body image, but that's not what we found," one researcher tells LiveScience. "It may be that the requirements to receive the psychological benefits of exercise, including those relating to body image, differ substantially from the physical benefits."
(More exercise stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X