Signing A Contract Can Help You Stay More Physically Active, Study Says

Office workers who put their physical activity goals in writing are more likely to exercise, according to a new study.

Finnish researchers found that workers who made a written commitment that was made into a contract and co-signed with the researchers were able to decrease muscle inactivity time by 33 minutes a day and increase light muscle activity by 21 minutes a day.

“They also set modest goals to reduce long periods of sitting and to increase physical activity while at work, such as standing to answer the phone, and while at home with the family, such as biking or walking as a family to the grocery store,”
reported Ann Lukits from the Wall Street Journal.

Another control group of participants didn’t sign an exercise contract.

Family leisure time

The biggest activity differences seen in the study were during family leisure time – which suggests that signing an exercise contract could help workers offset hours spent being sedentary at the office.

“Interventions targeting sedentary time are needed,” the authors wrote.

The study is published in the November issue of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

Source: WSJ