TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Some people may find it hard to start exercising and would rather lie on the couch. Some may come up with many excuses for not doing physical activities. Others even complain about not having time to work out even though knowing the health benefits.

A team of researchers from the University of British Columbia conducted a study about the relation of brain and exercise. As reported by Times of India on Wednesday, July 15, the team recruited 29 people and asked them to look at images of physical activities and inactivities while donning electrodes to monitor their brain activity.

They were first instructed to move the on-screen avatar toward the pictures of physical activity and away from the pictures of physical inactivity as quickly as possible and then do the opposite.

The study results revealed that participants moved faster toward activity-related images than toward the inactivity-related images. However, their brains were more active when moving the avatar away from images depicting inactivity.

In other words, human brains are programmed to be lazy to do exercise, and that prefers us to do activities that require less energy.

It is quite difficult to encourage the mind to fight it to be more physically active. However, if you are not feeling like exercise, opt for some kind of physical activity that is more like a game. It is better to find something that does not feel like working out to stay motivated.

Read also: Jokowi Calls on Indonesians to Exercise to Boost Immune System

BISNIS