How personality type affects your exercise preferences, and the health benefits of finding a good match
Are you a creative type or do you prefer structure and logical progression? The answer could have a strong bearing on the sort of exercise you should be doing so that you can better commit to reaching your fitness goals
True or false: Does your personality influence your exercise preferences?
The short answer: Yes
Suzan Salnikow, who is originally from the UK and has lived in Hong Kong for 27 years, exercises four or five times a week. The optometrist and mother of four does Pilates – which she believes is an extension of her “logical” nature – and a variety of group exercise classes at the gym.
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“Pilates is just logical, and there’s progression,” Salnikow says. “After having four children, including twins, and being an optometrist who has to stand for most of the day, I can appreciate how Pilates engages my core and strengthens and elongates my muscles.”
Salnikow gravitates towards exercises that are aligned with the kind of person she is – sensible, logical and practical. In fact, a new study from the British Psychological Society (BPS) took this idea a little further and found that our preferred exercise setting – whether at the gym or outdoors – is closely linked to specific personality traits.
The research, presented in January at a BPS conference in the UK, revealed that extroverts and those with a preference for objective logic were more likely to follow a regimented and structured gym regime. Creative types, including those who liked working with new ideas, tended towards outdoor activities like cycling, running and hiking.
