Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Aarts, H.
Right arrow Articles by Schaalma, H.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Aarts, H.
Right arrow Articles by Schaalma, H.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Health Education Research, Vol. 12, No. 3, 363-374, 1997
© 1997 Oxford University Press

other

Physical exercise habit: on the conceptualization and formation of habitual health behaviours

Henk Aarts1,2, Theo Paulussen2 and Herman Schaalma3

1Department of Psychology and Language, Eindhoven University of Technology PO Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven
2Netherlands Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention PO Box 500, 3440 AM Woerden
3Department of Health Education, Maastricht University PO Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands

An observation one can make when reviewing the literature on physical activity is that healthenhancing exercise habits tend to wear off as soon as individuals enter adolescence. Therefore, exercise habits should be promoted and preserved early in life. This article focuses on the formation of physical exercise habits. First, the literature on motivational determinants of habitual exercise and related behaviours is discussed, and the concept of habit is further explored. Based on this literature, a theoretical model of exercise habit formation is proposed. More specifically, expanding on the idea that habits are the result of automated cognitive processes, it is argued that physical exercise habits are capable of being automatically activated by the situational features that normally precede these behaviours. These habits may enhance health as a result of consistent performance over a long period of time. Subsequently, obstacles to the formation of exercise habits are discussed and interventions that may anticipate these obstacles are presented. Finally, implications for theory and practice are briefly discussed.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 HEALTH PROMOT INTHome page
M. E. Jurg, J. S. B. De Meij, M. F. Van der Wal, and M. A. Koelen
Using health promotion outcomes in formative evaluation studies to predict success factors in interventions: an application to an intervention for promoting physical activity in Dutch children (JUMP-in)
Health Promot. Int., September 1, 2008; 23(3): 231 - 239.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Pers Soc Psychol BullHome page
U. N. Danner, H. Aarts, and N. K. de Vries
Habit Formation and Multiple Means to Goal Attainment: Repeated Retrieval of Target Means Causes Inhibited Access to Competitors
Pers Soc Psychol Bull, October 1, 2007; 33(10): 1367 - 1379.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Health Educ ResHome page
O. J. Webb and F. F. Eves
Promoting stair climbing: effects of message specificity and validation
Health Educ. Res., February 1, 2007; 22(1): 49 - 57.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 HEALTH PROMOT INTHome page
M. E. Jurg, S. P.J. Kremers, M. J.J.M. Candel, M. F. Van der Wal, and J. S.B. D. Meij
A controlled trial of a school-based environmental intervention to improve physical activity in Dutch children: JUMP-in, kids in motion
Health Promot. Int., December 1, 2006; 21(4): 320 - 330.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Int J EpidemiolHome page
F. F Eves and R. S. Masters
An uphill struggle: Effects of a point-of-choice stair climbing intervention in a non-English speaking population
Int. J. Epidemiol., October 1, 2006; 35(5): 1286 - 1290.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Health Educ BehavHome page
M. Grieser, M. B. Vu, A. L. Bedimo-Rung, D. Neumark-Sztainer, J. Moody, D. R. Young, and S. G. Moe
Physical Activity Attitudes, Preferences, and Practices in African American, Hispanic, and Caucasian Girls
Health Educ Behav, February 1, 2006; 33(1): 40 - 51.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Health Educ ResHome page
W. Hardeman, S. Sutton, S. Griffin, M. Johnston, A. White, N. J. Wareham, and A. L. Kinmonth
A causal modelling approach to the development of theory-based behaviour change programmes for trial evaluation
Health Educ. Res., December 1, 2005; 20(6): 676 - 687.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Health Educ ResHome page
S. Miilunpalo, R. Nupponen, J. Laitakari, J. Marttila, and O. Paronen
Stages of change in two modes of health-enhancing physical activity: methodological aspects and promotional implications
Health Educ. Res., August 1, 2000; 15(4): 435 - 448.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Health Educ ResHome page
K. Woolf-May, E. M. Kearney, A. Owen, D. W. Jones, R. C. R. Davison, and S. R. Bird
The efficacy of accumulated short bouts versus single daily bouts of brisk walking in improving aerobic fitness and blood lipid profiles
Health Educ. Res., December 1, 1999; 14(6): 803 - 815.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.