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Abstract
Why do most people fail to exercise regularly? In light of theory and research, this paper shows that fitness activity is an affront to people’s sense of freedom; thus, it becomes a freedom-killing and leisure-killing activity. People fail to exercise because they cannot overcome the issue of freedom about exercise. Further, unlike other leisure activities, fitness activity also fails to promote freedom within. It offers “same-old, same-old”, while TV watching, for example, provides hundreds of channels from which to choose. The core problem is that most Americans view freedom one-dimensionally: freedom equals choice. This viewpoint sets up a confrontation between fitness activity and freedom and between fitness activity and leisure, and in both cases, fitness activity loses. There are two primary solutions to overcoming freedom about exercise. First, like children who with time and self-discovery finally overcome the irrelevance of freedom about having or not having to brush their teeth, people can grow into exercisers with time and education. This development, however, is likely to take generations, as with the reduction in the number of smokers. Second, at the individual level, it is possible to become a “self-os-doer” on one’s own or with the help of others (e.g., personal trainers). Society could help with the adoption of this psychological approach if it completely eliminated freedom about exercise by mandating that everyone work out for 30 minutes daily during working hours. Savings for the health-care system would be in hundreds of billions of dollars thanks to exercise’s positive effects on health.