We are starting a series where we take a study that caught our attention, break down what it actually shows, challenge anything that does not add up, and pull out what you can use straight away. First up, one that quietly changes how you should think about your daily walk.
Each time, we will be asking:
This study was referenced in an excellent book, Longevity Simplified by Howard Luks MD, an orthopedic surgeon, sports-medicine specialist and endurance athlete. Over the course of the book he outlines a simple framework for optimal health.
If you have trained with us at ATP, you will know he is preaching to the choir. We are advocates for keeping things simple and executing on a daily basis. One of the studies he referred to really jumped out at us. The title was:
The framing trap
It turns out that how we perceive activity is vitally important. If we are pursuing a weight-loss goal, the wrong framing can quietly sabotage our efforts.
If we treat physical activity as an imposition, we create a debt that needs paying off. We then square off our accounts with the requisite amount of reward.
“Engaging in a physical activity seems to trigger the search for reward when individuals perceive it as exercise, but not when they perceive it as fun.”
If we frame physical activity in terms of the enjoyment we get from it, in this case a scenic walk, then no such accounting is triggered and we are free to reap the benefits. There were three studies. Two with more of a general-population sample, and one with a more athletic group.
The three studies at a glance
| Study | Who | Framing tested | Key result |
| 1 | 56 women | Exercise vs music / recreation | “Exercise” group ate more hedonic dessert + drink |
| 2 | General population | Exercise vs scenic / fun | 374 vs 166 cal of M&Ms |
| 3 | Athletes, after a race | More fun vs less fun | More fun → chose the cereal bar over chocolate |
Study 1
56 women were split into two groups. The first was told the 30-minute walk was exercise. The second was told it was recreational, and that they were testing music on an MP3 player. Afterwards they were taken to a buffet where the amount they ate was measured. Both groups had one main course, a fairly healthy pasta bolognese with vegetables and bread, then two choices each for drink and dessert:
Coke · Chocolate pudding
Bottled water · Applesauce
Both groups ate the same amount of the main course. But the group told they were exercising took in significantly more calories from the dessert and the drink.
| Framed as exercise | Framed as fun | |
| Snacking | Ate more dessert + drink | Ate less |
| Energy | More tired, lower energy | More energy, less tired |
| The walk | Less exciting | More exciting |
| Mood | Less positive | More positive |
“When an effortful activity is perceived as exercise, it leads to increased consumption of hedonic foods (but not of utilitarian foods) compared with when the same activity is perceived as fun.”
A limitation. While directionally accurate, there are issues with the data. The total calories consumed are spectacularly low, which makes us think there was an error somewhere in the methodology or the formulas. As you can see below, the totals stay very low regardless of the choice.
| Total meal | Regular meal* | Hedonic (drink + dessert) | Choc. pudding | Apple sauce | Drink chosen | |
| Exercise framing | ||||||
| Mean | 313.23 | 193.67 | 133.98 | 135.30 | 75.14 | 33.10 |
| S.D. | 132.73 | 116.96 | 111.00 | 54.16 | 35.05 | 84.22 |
| n | 28 | 28 | 28 | 11 | 16 | 29 |
| Fun framing | ||||||
| Mean | 305.75 | 210.32 | 94.45 | 100.10 | 89.79 | 9.23 |
| S.D. | 109.41 | 99.07 | 35.48 | 37.56 | 38.53 | 47.06 |
| n | 28 | 24 | 24 | 13 | 13 | 26 |
| Sig. | NS | NS | p<.05 | p<.05 | NS | NS |
Study 2
Same design, but they dropped the music cover story and simply framed the walk as scenic. They also skipped the sensible lunch and went straight to an unhealthy snack: M&Ms.
Study 3
The first two studies used a sedentary, non-athletic population, so it is interesting that the third supports the same central idea with athletes.
“Participants who had more fun during the race were more inclined to choose the cereal bar than participants who had less fun.”
There was a relationship between how much fun people had during a race and their snack choice afterwards. Neither snack is truly “healthy,” but chocolate bar versus cereal bar fits the general public’s view of an indulgent versus a virtuous choice.
Concluding thoughts
“Consumers who are contemplating beginning a physical activity routine in order to help lose weight would be well advised to make certain they reframe it so they see it as fun, or at least not as work or exercise. Listening to music during a run, making phone calls during a walk, or watching a video during a treadmill routine may be more related to weight-loss success and perseverance than previously thought.”
In other words, a podcast or music might make steady-state cardio far more enjoyable.
For us this reaffirms some long-held suspicions about how we operate: how our bodies and minds seek balance and equilibrium despite our best efforts. For coaches and clients, it means we should not suffer and sacrifice too much early on, or we stack up a debt that may need repaying later.
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