Don’t Like The Gym? Matching Workouts To Personality Might Help

Not everyone looks forward to run on a treadmill or lifting heavy at the gym. If you’re someone who dreads traditional workouts, you’re not alone. A new study from the UK suggests that how much you enjoy exercising could have more to do with your personality than your fitness level.

Published in Frontiers in Psychology, the research highlights how different personality traits influence the kind of workouts people prefer, how consistently they stick with them, and even what kind of results they get. The study, conducted by University College London (UCL), also pointed out that around 31% of adults aren’t meeting the World Health Organization’s recommended 150 minutes of weekly physical activity.

These findings underline the idea that fitness routines should be tailored to who we are—not just physically, but mentally too.

UCL Tracks How Personality Affects Workout Habits

In an eight-week trial, researchers observed 132 adults who were split into two groups. One group followed a structured home workout program involving strength training and cycling. The other group continued with basic stretching and their usual daily activities.

Before starting, everyone took a personality test based on the “Big Five” traits: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness. The goal was to see how these traits influenced motivation, performance, and preference when it came to exercise.

Extroverts Go for Intensity but Drop Out More Often

The study found that extroverts gravitated toward intense workouts like high-intensity interval training (HIIT). Surprisingly though, they didn’t stick with the program as well as others and didn’t show better results either. Meanwhile, those who scored high in neuroticism people more prone to worry or stress preferred slower, at-home workouts. They also avoided tracking heart rate or pushing themselves too hard. Interestingly, this group was the only one to show a clear drop in stress levels by the end of the study.

Participants who were highly conscientious were already fairly active before the study began. But just because they had good habits didn’t mean they enjoyed the workouts more. On the flip side, those who scored high on openness people who like trying new things were more likely to finish the entire program, even if they didn’t love every part of it. They showed a willingness to explore different kinds of physical activity, like dance or hiking, instead of sticking to rigid routines.