Neuroscience
Walk into any gym these days and you're confronted by a bank of exercise machines facing a wall of floor-to-ceiling mirrors. Yet new research suggests this could be the worse possible set-up for sedentary women braving the gym for the first time.
Kathleen Martin Ginis and colleagues invited 92 women to exercise at their lab where they allocated them to one of four conditions: to cycle for 20 minutes on an exercise bike alone with no mirror; to cycle alone in front of a mirror; to cycle with two to four other women with no mirror; or to cycle with two to four other women in front of a mirror.
None of the women usually completed more than 15 minutes of exercise a week and they were asked to dress with baggy shorts and a t-shirt to avoid any effect clothing might have on the results.
Compared with the women in the other groups, the women who exercised with others in front of a mirror appeared to suffer - they felt less revitalised afterwards, more exhausted, and more self-conscious. The researcher said it's probable the presence of mirrors and other exercisers encouraged comparison of oneself against others or against some physical ideal.
The researchers cautioned that their study was not conducted in a real gym environment, but they advised women new to exercising to sample a range of environments to see what suits them best. "An exercise initiate may feel better working out in a private, unmirrored environment, or outdoors, instead of partaking in a group exercise class in a mirrored aerobics studio," they said.
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Martin Ginis, K.A., Burke, S.M. & Gauvin, L. (2007). Exercising with others exacerbates the negative effects of mirrored environments on sedentary women's feeling states. Psychology and Health, 22, 945-962.
Post written by Christian Jarrett (@psych_writer) for the BPS Research Digest.
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Neuroscience
Why gym design is all wrong
Walk into any gym these days and you're confronted by a bank of exercise machines facing a wall of floor-to-ceiling mirrors. Yet new research suggests this could be the worse possible set-up for sedentary women braving the gym for the first time.Kathleen Martin Ginis and colleagues invited 92 women to exercise at their lab where they allocated them to one of four conditions: to cycle for 20 minutes on an exercise bike alone with no mirror; to cycle alone in front of a mirror; to cycle with two to four other women with no mirror; or to cycle with two to four other women in front of a mirror.
None of the women usually completed more than 15 minutes of exercise a week and they were asked to dress with baggy shorts and a t-shirt to avoid any effect clothing might have on the results.
Compared with the women in the other groups, the women who exercised with others in front of a mirror appeared to suffer - they felt less revitalised afterwards, more exhausted, and more self-conscious. The researcher said it's probable the presence of mirrors and other exercisers encouraged comparison of oneself against others or against some physical ideal.
The researchers cautioned that their study was not conducted in a real gym environment, but they advised women new to exercising to sample a range of environments to see what suits them best. "An exercise initiate may feel better working out in a private, unmirrored environment, or outdoors, instead of partaking in a group exercise class in a mirrored aerobics studio," they said.
_________________________________
Martin Ginis, K.A., Burke, S.M. & Gauvin, L. (2007). Exercising with others exacerbates the negative effects of mirrored environments on sedentary women's feeling states. Psychology and Health, 22, 945-962.
Post written by Christian Jarrett (@psych_writer) for the BPS Research Digest.
- Short-term Exercise Boosts Body Image Without Making Any Physical Difference
Many people find exercise adherence difficult after the first few weeks because the fun of something new has worn off, and yet their programme has yet to deliver any tangible changes in terms of body shape and weight. A new study offers a potential...
- Is Eating More Slowly The Key To Eating Less?
Barely a day goes by that we aren't reminded of the pending obesity crisis that is set to befall the Western World. Some experts have suggested that learning to eat more slowly might help us to eat less. Doing so leads to the subjective feeling that...
- The Power Of A Light Touch On The Arm
A good-looking man approached 120 women in a night club over a period of three weeks, and asked them to dance. It was in the name of science – the man was an assistant to the psychologist Nicolas Guegen. Remarkably, of the 60 women who he touched lightly...
- When Women Prefer Taller Men
Women who are in the fertile phase of their menstrual cycle, or who are looking for a short-term relationship, tend to prefer taller men. That’s according to Polish researchers Boguslaw Pawlowski and Grazyna Jasienska who asked 110 women to look at...
- The Game Brain
An excellent op-ed piece in today's New York Times about the value of exercise - of the physical variety - in mental gymnastics. A Risser suggestion to supplement the intent of the opinion writers: get out there and walk around, but take a camera...