Wednesday, July 5, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Fit For
Sisters
Andrew Luscutoff
Columnist
Is exercise
contagious?
Can the people you asso-
ciate with the most subcon-
sciously determine how you
behave? Do you have a friend
who is always encouraging
and inspiring others to move
and challenge themselves?
Perhaps someone reading
this belongs to a social net-
working site which helps
promote healthy behavior?
The company you keep or
the social messages you’re
exposed to play a direct role
in exercise habits, according
to psychological studies.
We are exposed to hun-
dreds of influential social
messages per day. Some
quite obvious, like advertis-
ing, others less so, like the
way noticing the running
shoes next to the door may
trigger the desire for an
afternoon jaunt. These mes-
sages are powerful influ-
ences on behavior. Despite
the staunchest avoidance of
social pressure, everyone is
primed to behave by the out-
side influences they’re most
exposed to.
The New York Times
recently published an article
including new research on
the way this works. Using
data from five years and 1.1
million users of a run-track-
ing system, they were able
to distill some interesting
findings.
The researchers looked at
data where people belonged
to a social network of runners
where they could view and
see the other runners’ efforts.
If a friend runs on any given
day, a person is more likely
to run themselves. Speed
and distance were also influ-
enced. If friends ran faster
or farther, they themselves
pushed the pace/distance.
The weather played a role
as well. If someone’s peers
ran on a day of inclement
weather, they were more
likely to do so as well.
Simply recognizing
that friends and peers are
out exercising is effective
motivation. This was also
studied at the University
of Pennsylvania. The sub-
jects were either exposed
to motivational advertising
towardsexercise, or placed in
a social network among other
students and given prompts
about the others’ exercise
class attendance and their fit-
ness progress.
The results showed two
different outcomes: The
group who received the mar-
keting messages initially
improved their exercise class
attendance, but after time
this effect wore off; the stu-
dents drifted back to normal
behavior. In contrast, the
social support group contin-
ued to increase its effective-
ness as time passed. As the
students saw more and more
peers succeeding at exercis-
ing they were motivated to
emulate and actually contin-
ued to increase exercising.
This is important, because
the typical exercise routine
is tackled full-steam for a
few weeks, then inevitably
tapers away once the initial
motivation begins to subside.
If a person can join a social
group, they are much more
likely to get past the dangers
of dropping out, and will
eventually create a habit loop
which includes the exercise
and healthy behaviors they
sought out.
Common interests and
activity are essential to a
feeling of belonging. Aside
from exercising, peer groups
can also be a tool for creat-
ing healthy friendships. A
web of healthy, supportive,
and strong friendships tran-
scends a workout partner.
Feelings of belonging estab-
lish strong ties — ties that
create a ripple in the fabric of
a community. Our society is
faced with a plague of inac-
tivity, unhealthy habits, and
cascading negative health
outcomes because of it. If
there is anyway to create a
healthy community, perhaps
it can start with the spread
of influencers on the ground
level.
Need to develop a strong
network of active, health-
conscious friends? Explore
group activities, gyms, bike/
running/hiking shops. Seek
out SPRD programs. Look
into a gym. These all are
places where people are wel-
coming, friendly, and sup-
portive of one another.
Above all, commit to
the group, show respect and
reflect the friendships you
wish to create outward with
others.
Great hair
doesn’t happen
by chance.
It happens
by appointment.
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Tim & Ronnica Westcott
Jenny Duey
541-588-6611
220 W. Cascade Ave.
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