Living in a Larger Body: Do Exercise Motives Influence Associations between Body Image and Exercise Avoidance Motivation?

The study explored reasons for exercise as possible mediators of the relationship between body appreciation and exercise avoidance motivation and between body surveillance and exercise avoidance motivation. Using a cross-sectional design, 131 women with a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or higher completed measures of body surveillance, body appreciation, reasons for exercise, and exercise avoidance motivation. Mediation analyses indicated that appearance-oriented reasons for exercise partially mediated the body surveillance–exercise avoidance motivation relationship. Health and fitness professionals, organizations, and environments should avoid reinforcing appearance-oriented reasons for exercise. Rather, empowering exercise experiences and environments should be created as they seem to benefit women regardless of reasons for exercise.