Changing Our Tune on Exercise

Desperate to find ways to get people to exercise, psychologists and researchers believe they've found a new approach that will be more effective than the promise of future health benefits has been for most people. Jane Brody points to experts who now recommend marketing physical exercise like you would a consumer product: "portray physical activity as a way to enhance current well-being and happiness." Dr. Michelle L. Segar, a research investigator at the Institute for Research on Women and Gender at the University of Michigan, is among the experts who believe that people will not commit to exercise if they see its benefits as distant or theoretical. “It has to be portrayed as a compelling behavior that can benefit us today,” she said.

The New York Times, 8/28/2012