The Rundown

Incentivize/Exercise. Finding it hard to stick to your workout? New research says the key could be daily reminders or incentives. Combining both is even more effective.

For the study, researchers followed more than 1,000 adults who had elevated risk for major cardiovascular events. Everyone received a wearable fitness tracker, which connected to an online health portal where researchers could see step counts. Participants set a goal to increase their daily baseline steps by 33%, 40%, 50% or any amount above 1,500 steps from their starting point and then they were randomly assigned to one of four groups.

The game group received points every week and maintained them by meeting their daily step goals. If they missed their goals, they lost points. They moved up levels as they earned more points and those who reached the highest tiers received trophies at the end of the study.

The financial group received $14 each week but lost $2 a day if they failed to meet their step targets. The third group received a combination of game and financial incentives. The fourth group was a control group. They got daily reminder messages that noted their step count but did not receive incentives.

The study lasted for 12 months, with a six-month follow-up period where all participants received the same information as the control group.

After a year, all groups increased their daily step count by more than 1,500. Compared to the control group, the game group walked an extra 538 steps from their baseline. The financial group walked an extra 492 steps. The group who received both incentives averaged 868 extra steps and maintained an average 576 more daily steps six months later.

Study author Alexander Fanaroff, M.D. says the interventions created immediate benefits for participants and they worked because research shows “it’s easier to think about today instead of the future, whether it’s exercising more to support long-term heart health or saving for a future goal.”

The team suggests that if you want to change your behavior around exercise, you can focus on the same principles used in the study and use daily reminders along with creating immediate benefits or rewards for movement.

Work Fit. A study out of Finland has found an association between low cardiorespiratory fitness in young people and decreased work ability in adulthood.

Conducted over 45 years, the study looked at participants born in the 1960s, measuring their baseline physical fitness between the ages of 12 and 19. Work ability was self-assessed twice during their working life—once between ages 37 and 44 and then again between the ages of 57 and 64.

In the middle of working life, low cardiorespiratory fitness in adolescence was linked to decreased work ability and higher rates of absence due to illness. At the end of working life, it was associated with decreased work ability.

A study author notes that while work ability is a multifaceted concept and affected by various factors, the results are particularly worrying in light of the cardiorespiratory fitness levels of today’s adolescents.

Extra Point

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