Fitness Cheats
I listened to a very insightful podcast from American Public Media today, on the economics of cheating, and it got me thinking about fitness cheats. The premise that was put forth had to do with how social norms affect the likelihood of cheating when we’re in a group. Hang with me.
An experiment was conducted, where a group of college kids, (all from the same college) were asked to solve math problems in a short timeframe. Participants were given a cash in an envelope, and allowed to keep cash based on the number of problems completed. Here’s the kicker — it was all done on the honor system. During the course of the experiment, an actor stood up and stated they had finished all the problems, which was obviously a lie. When the “plant” was wearing the school colors, more students lied about how many of the problems they completed than when the “plant” was wearing the colors of a rival school. The conclusion: When someone from within your circle tells a lie, it becomes more socially acceptable.
Cheating On Fitness
You’re probably wondering where I’m going with this. The kicker about fitness goals is that we’re not accountable to anyone. I can set all the fitness goals I want, and write them down, stick them on a piece of paper, and forget about them. I can buy new fitness equipment for my New Years resolutions, and join a gym. If I’ve promised not to eat my Raspberry Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream (for instance), and I decide to have a bowl, who is there to hold me accountable? My wife, if I’ve told her I won’t do it. But, she isn’t my caretaker, nor would I want her to be. So that leaves us accountable to ourselves. I’m not real good about being accountable to myself all the time.
This is one of the reasons so many fitness “experts” suggest newcomers to fitness try to get into a partner or group. Once you get into a group, you become accountable to the group, and you have to face them if you decide to slack off (or cheat). Conversely, this would suggest that if one person in the group decides to lay off, that makes it more acceptable.
Staying Motivated
So, how to you avoid being a fitness cheat? I was struggling with this just the other day, which is how I got here. My “partner” hasn’t gone to the gym with me since the beginning of December, and I was feeling unmotivated – searching for an excuse to not go. I couldn’t find one that was convincing enough for me to lay off, so got up and went. While I was doing my workout – listening to my mp3 player, I heard this the story that inspired this article. Fitting, right?
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