2019 Volume 27 Issue 3 Pages 256-270
Objectives: This study aimed to clarify the characteristics of workers who regularly exercise despite their limited leisure time. Their reasons for exercise were explored to apply them for encouraging exercise for more workers.
Method: We conducted a cross-sectional study to employees at 10 companies in Japan. A total of 1,020 employees answered the self-administered questionnaire. We then analyzed data of 521 employees after excluding invalid data. A total of 31 reasons for continuing exercise were given scores from 1 to 5, and the mean scores were compared between exercise "repeaters" and "non-repeaters". We also conducted a factor analysis to examine the reasons for continuing exercise.
Results: Among the higher-scoring items for continuing exercise, many reasons were related to health benefits, such as maintaining physical fitness (estimated mean score and [SE]: 4.02 [0.12]), maintaining body figure (3.98 [0.13]) or preventing illness (3.90 [0.12]). However, similar tendencies were observed in "non-repeaters" and "repeaters". Analysis of the reasons for continuing exercise revealed the following five factors: "enjoyment or uplifting of mood", "outside pressure or self-esteem", "appearance or yearning", "health benefits", and "dietary satisfaction". Among these factors, a typical characteristic among "repeaters" was "enjoyment or uplifting of mood". Meanwhile, the factor "dietary satisfaction" was significantly higher among "non-repeaters" than "repeaters".
Conclusions: Among workers with little leisure time, the most important motivational factor for repeating exercise was "enjoyment or uplifting of mood". Positive feedback of this factor may provide an effective behavioral approach for promoting the continuity of exercise.
