怎樣才能說服你去鍛煉?

A desire to lose weight or improve your figure? To keep heart disease, cancer or diabetes at bay? To lower your blood pressure or cholesterol? To protect your bones? To live to a healthy old age?

想減肥，想要更好的身材?防范心臟病、癌癥和糖尿病?降低血壓和膽固醇?保護骨骼?還是延年益壽?

You'd think any of those reasons would be sufficient to get Americans exercising, but scores of studies have shown otherwise. It seems that public health experts, doctors and exercise devotees in the media -- like me -- have been using ineffective tactics to entice sedentary people to become, and remain, physically active.

你可能覺得上述任一理由都足夠說服人們去鍛煉，可是大量研究顯示，情況并非如此。公共衛(wèi)生專家、醫(yī)生、媒體上的運動達人——比如我——似乎一直在試圖鼓動久坐不動的人變得愛運動、并且堅持下去，但卻并沒取得什么成效。

For decades, people have been bombarded with messages that regular exercise is necessary to lose weight, prevent serious disease and foster healthy aging. And yes, most people say they value these goals. Yet a vast majority of Americans -- two-thirds of whom are overweight or obese -- have thus far failed to swallow the "exercise pill."

多少年來，人們持續(xù)接受著“想減肥、預防嚴重疾病、促進晚年健康就必須鍛煉”的信息轟炸。當然，多數(shù)人也說這些好處值得重視。可惜，絕大多數(shù)美國人(大約三分之二)還是超重甚至肥胖。顯然，他們沒有吞下那顆“鍛煉藥片”。

Now research by psychologists strongly suggests it's time to stop thinking of future health, weight loss and body image as motivators for exercise. Instead, these experts recommend a strategy marketers use to sell products: portray physical activity as a way to enhance current well-being and happiness.

現(xiàn)在心理學家的研究讓我們看到了一個強烈的信息：是時候停止拿未來的健康、減重和改善個人形象來刺激人們鍛煉了。相反，專家建議采取銷售人員常用的產品推廣策略：把體育鍛煉刻畫成能夠增進人們當前幸福感和滿足感的方法。

"We need to make exercise relevant to people's daily lives," Michelle L. Segar, a research investigator at the Institute for Research on Women and Gender at the University of Michigan, said in an interview. "Everyone's schedule is packed with nonstop to-do's. We can only fit in what's essential."

“我們需要把鍛煉與人們每天的生活聯(lián)系起來，”密歇根大學(University of Michigan)女性與性別研究所的研究調查員米歇爾·L·西格(Michelle L. Segar)在采訪中提到：“大家的日程安排已被無間斷的待完成事件占滿了，我們只能把最重要的擠進去。”

Reframing the Message

傳遞新信息

Dr. Segar is among the experts who believe that people will not commit to exercise if they see its benefits as distant or theoretical.

包括西格博士的一些專家認為，如果收益過于遙遠或理論化，人們就不太可能長期堅持鍛煉。

"It has to be portrayed as a compelling behavior that can benefit us today," she said. "People who say they exercise for its benefits to quality of life exercise more over the course of a year than those who say they value exercise for its health benefits."

“一定要把鍛煉描述成當下就有成效的誘人行為才行，”她說：“認為鍛煉有助于提高生活質量的人，比那些把鍛煉當作促進健康手段的人要平均多鍛煉一年的時間。”

Her idea for a public service advertisement to promote exercise for working women with families: A woman is shown walking around the block after dinner with her children and says, "This is great. I can fit in fitness, spend quality time with my kids, and at the same time teach them how important exercise is."

她設計了這么一條公益廣告，鼓勵育有子女的職業(yè)女性鍛煉身體：晚餐后，媽媽與孩子們在街道上散步，這位媽媽邊走邊說：“這太棒了，我既能健身，又能和孩子在一起，同時還可以告訴他們鍛煉是多么重要。”

Based on studies of what motivates people to adopt and sustain physical activity, Dr. Segar is urging that experts stop framing moderate exercise as a medical prescription that requires 150 minutes of aerobic effort each week. Instead, public health officials must begin to address "the emotional hooks that make it essential for people to fit it into their hectic lives."

基于很多對促使人們開始并堅持鍛煉的原因的調查，西格博士迫切希望專家們不要再把“每周進行至少150分鐘有氧運動 ”這樣的適度鍛煉當藥方一樣開給病人。反之，公共衛(wèi)生官員應當把鍛煉描繪成“一種情感誘惑，使其在人們的晝夜忙碌中占據(jù)重要的一席之地。”

"Immediate rewards are more motivating than distant ones," she added. "Feeling happy and less stressed is more motivating than not getting heart disease or cancer, maybe, someday in the future."

“即刻回報遠比未來收益誘人得多，”她說，“現(xiàn)在感到開心快樂、壓力驟減，比將來可能不得心臟病或癌癥更鼓舞人。”

In a study of 252 office workers, David K. Ingledew and David Markland, psychologists at the University of Wales, found that while many began to exercise as way to lose weight and improve their appearance, these motivations did not keep them exercising in the long term. "The well-being and enjoyment benefits of exercise should be emphasized," the researchers concluded.

在一項對252名上班族所做的調查中，威爾士大學(University of Wales)的心理學家戴維·K·恩格迪沃(David K. Ingledew)和戴維·馬克蘭(David Markland)發(fā)現(xiàn)，盡管很多人都是為了減肥和提升個人形象才開始鍛煉的，但這類因素并不能激勵他們長期運動下去。“應當更強調鍛煉帶來的幸福和愉悅。”他們總結。

Dr. Segar put it this way: "Physical activity is an elixir of life, but we're not teaching people that. We're telling them it's a pill to take or a punishment for bad numbers on the scale. Sustaining physical activity is a motivational and emotional issue, not a medical one."

西格博士這樣說到：“體育鍛煉是生活的萬金油，很遺憾我們并沒有教給人們這一點。我們告訴他們的是，鍛煉是藥，或是對體重秤上超標數(shù)字的懲罰。經(jīng)常進行體育鍛煉應該是人們主動想做，喜歡做的事，而不是醫(yī)生強迫的。”

Other studies have shown that what gets people off their duffs and keeps them moving depends on age, gender, life circumstances and even ethnicity. For those of college age, for example, physical attractiveness typically heads the list of reasons to begin exercising, although what keeps them going seems to be the stress relief that a regular exercise program provides.

另有研究表明，年齡、性別、生活環(huán)境甚至種族都在“告別舊我，積極運動”中起著作用。比如說，大學生開始鍛煉的首要目的就是讓自己顯得更有魅力。不過看起來讓他們堅持下去的理由似乎是有規(guī)律的鍛煉所帶來的減壓效果。

The elderly, on the other hand, may get started because of health concerns. But often what keeps them exercising are the friendships, sense of community and camaraderie that may otherwise be missing from their lives -- easily seen among the gray-haired women who faithfully attend water exercise classes at my local YMCA.

說到老年人，對健康的考慮則是主要誘因。但是能使他們持續(xù)鍛煉的原因就變成了一些非鍛煉而不可得的情感：友誼、社區(qū)意識、志同道合者間的關系等。在我們當?shù)氐幕浇糖嗄陼?YMCA)里，絕不乏灰白頭發(fā)的婦女忠實地參加著水上運動課程。

In a recent study of 1,690 overweight or obese middle-aged men and women, Dr. Segar found that enhancing daily well-being was most influential factor for the women in the study. Men indicated they were motivated by more distant health benefits, although Dr. Segar suspects this may be because men feel less comfortable discussing their mental health needs.

在最近一項包含了1690名超重或肥胖的中年人的調查中，西格博士發(fā)現(xiàn)提高幸福感對女性更有影響力。而男性則表示未來的健康才是他們的源動力，不過西格懷疑這是由于男性不愿意表現(xiàn)出自己在心理上有需求的緣故。

"What sustains us, we sustain," Dr. Segar said. "We need to promote what marketers call 'customer loyalty.' We need to help people stay engaged with movement by teaching them how it can help sustain them in their lives."

“什么能維持我們的生命，我們就堅持做什么，”西格博士說：“我們應該努力推進銷售人員所說的‘顧客忠誠度’。通過教授人們鍛煉身體為何有益于日常生活，來幫助他們長此以往地堅持下去。”

Value Beyond Weight Loss

價值遠高于減肥

Many, if not most, people start exercising because they want to lose weight. But very often they abandon exercise when the expected pounds fail to fall off. Study after study has found that, without major changes in eating habits, increasing physical activity is only somewhat effective for losing weight, though it helps people maintain weight loss and shedding even a few pounds, especially around one's middle, can improve health.

很多人(估計是絕大多數(shù)人)開始鍛煉都是因為想減肥?？墒且坏┌l(fā)覺所期望的斤兩減不下去，鍛煉這件事就很可能被拋諸腦后了。無數(shù)研究證實，只要沒給飲食習慣來個大改變，加大運動量不過對減重有些許效果而已——然而鍛煉能讓人們保持在減肥成功的狀態(tài)，甚至可以幫助甩掉一些重量：特別是腰部，這對于健康是有利的。

For example, researchers in Brisbane, Australia, and in Leeds, England, studied 58 sedentary overweight or obese men and women who participated in a closely monitored 12-week aerobic exercise program. Weight loss was minimal, but nonetheless the participants' waistlines shrunk, their blood pressure and resting heart rate dropped, and their aerobic capacity and mood improved.

舉例來說，澳大利亞布里斯班和英國利茲的研究者們請58名不愛動的超重或肥胖者參與了一項為時12周、受到密切監(jiān)控的有氧運動項目。雖然減重效果甚微，但參與者的腰圍縮小了，血壓和靜息心率降低了，有氧代謝能力和情緒都有所改善。

"Exercise should be encouraged and the emphasis on weight loss reduced," the researchers concluded. "Disappointment and low self-esteem associated with poor weight loss could lead to low exercise adherence and a general perception that exercise is futile and not beneficial."

“我們應該更多地鼓勵人們鍛煉，少強調減肥。”研究人員總結說，“減肥不成功所引起的失望和自視過低會讓人難以堅持，并產生一種鍛煉無用無益的成見。”

I walk three miles daily, or bike ten miles and swim three-quarters of a mile. If you ask me why, weight control may be my first answer, followed by a desire to live long and well. But that's not what gets me out of bed before dawn to join friends on a morning walk and then bike to the Y for my swim.

我每天步行3英里(約5公里)或騎車10英里(約16公里)，還要游泳0.75英里(約1200米)。如果你問我為什么這樣做，我可能首先回答：保持體重。然后是：活得更長更好。不過這絕非每天一大清早就誘使我跳下床，和朋友們一起晨間行走，然后騎車去YMCA游泳的根本原因。

It's how these activities make me feel: more energized, less stressed, more productive, more engaged and, yes, happier -- better able to smell the roses and cope with the inevitable frustrations of daily life.

真正的原因在于運動給我的感受：精力充沛、壓力不再、更有效率、更專注，當然還有，更開心——我能夠在休息時更加放松，處理生活中不可避免的低谷時更加得心應手。