The science behind the new year’s resolutions: Here’s what it takes for people to go to the gym

A new year is just around the corner and one of your new year’s resolutions may involve going to the gym or getting fitter. A new mega study compares over 50 behavioral interventions to see what makes people go to the gym regularly. Read to find out how.

This study tells you what shows what makes people tick

It is not easy to compare trials of behavioral interventions without interfering with decision-making. However, this Nature mega study compiles and compares over 50 such interventions. The mega study uses randomized controlled trials (RCT) to make this possible. In an RTC, participants are randomly assigned to groups that are receiving or not receiving interventions. However, they help understand behavior by concluding. The mega study is a collection of several RTC conducted simultaneously. However, according to critics, “their (a mega study’s) usefulness for guiding future research and additionally, policymaking is limited because they usually test only a narrow set of hypotheses”.

However, the study by Katherine Milkman and her colleagues from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania proposes using mega studies for answering such challenges. The team included researchers from various disciplines comparing and contrasting a total of 53 interventions and a control. Hence, strengthening the exercise habits of 61,293 people from a chain of gyms in the US. According to the researchers, exercise is a great way to study this since changes in exercise regimes are easy to track with the objective and high-frequency outcome measures. Additionally, the margins of improvement are also sizeable as they are resulting in improved behavior and exercise habits. 

How can you stick to your new year’s resolution?

In the study, 30 researchers from 15 universities worked in small groups to design 54 different four-week-long digital programs or ‘interventions’. The study revealed that 45 percent of the interventions helped in increasing gym visits from 9 to 27 percent. Among them, the top-performing intervention was providing micro rewards for going back to the gym after missing a workout. So, next year, set up micro rewards every time you return to the gym despite missing a workout or two. It will help in conditioning your brain to go back to the gym.

However, only eight percent of these interventions were measurable or significant. “Forecasts by impartial judges failed to predict which interventions would be most effective, underscoring the value of testing many ideas at once,” revealed the researchers. They also added that more mega studies are needed for understanding and improving behavioral science.

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