Enduring Exercise Habits

University of Pennsylvania

Status: Completed

Conditions: Healthy

Treatments: Behavioral: Sweet Spot: Rigid low incentive condition; Behavioral: Think Twice: Control condition; Behavioral: WDR: Treatment condition; Behavioral: Sweet Spot: Flexible high incentive condition; Behavioral: FOTW: Low incentive treatment condition; Behavioral: Sweet Spot: Flexible low incentive condition; Behavioral: FOTW: High incentive treatment condition; Behavioral: WDR: Control condition; Behavioral: Sweet Spot: Rigid high incentive condition; Behavioral: FOTW: Low incentive control condition; Behavioral: FOTW: High incentive control condition; Behavioral: Think Twice: Treatment condition

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03634423

827107

Details and patient eligibility

About

The objective of this study is to test whether the interventions offering short-term incentives (points redeemable for prizes), specific cued plans, and science-backed tips can help with creating enduring exercise habits. There are four (4) sub-studies within this protocol.

Full description

The four sub-studies are:

1. Sweet spot

   Past studies have shown that steady routines associated with stable cues are a hallmark of successful habits. However, recent research has demonstrated that incentivizing an overly rigid routine (e.g., every workout must be at the same time each day) creates a less lasting exercise habit than incentivizing a flexible exercise routine (e.g., workouts can be at any time of day). In this study, the investigators examine whether offering higher rewards for exercise that occurs at a planned, routine time than for exercise at other times, but still offering some rewards for exercise outside of these planned moments, may improve over total flexibility for producing lasting habits.

2. Falling off the Wagon (FOTW)

   In the long run, missing one workout won't make much difference to a person's overall health. Psychologically, however, missing a workout may lead people to feel they've already failed at meeting their fitness goals, zapping their motivation to exercise in the future. In this study, the investigators examine whether offering 50% larger incentive for exercise to people after they miss a planned workout leads to more sustained exercise habits than incentivizing all workouts equally.

3. Think Twice

   Studies have shown that people tend to fall into the planning fallacy -- optimistically overestimating their performance in some future activity. In this study, the investigators examine whether people who the investigators taught about the planning fallacy would make more realistic exercise plans and adhere to those plans better.

4. Weekly vs. Daily Routines (WDR)

This study will examine whether incentivizing people to create a daily routine that is consistent every day for a month or a weekly routine that is consistent every week for a month helps people build a more lasting exercise habit. In the daily routines condition, participants will be required to schedule workouts (and associated text reminders) at the same time of day on every weekday, and the same time of day on each weekend throughout our four week treatment period. In the weekly routines condition, participants will be allowed to schedule workouts (and associated text reminders) at different times on different days of the week, but their schedule must be the same for each of the four weeks of our four week treatment period.

Enrollment: 32,000 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 100 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Has 24 Hour Fitness Membership

Exclusion criteria

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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32,000 participants in 12 patient groups

Sweet Spot: Flexible high incentive condition

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will receive 500 points if they make a gym visit within a pre-specified window of time and 490 points if they make a gym visit at any other time. 7000 points convert to $25

Treatment:

Behavioral: Sweet Spot: Flexible high incentive condition

Sweet Spot: Flexible low incentive condition

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will receive 300 points if they make a gym visit within a pre-specified window of time and 290 points if they make a gym visit at any other time. 7000 points convert to $25

Treatment:

Behavioral: Sweet Spot: Flexible low incentive condition

Sweet Spot: Rigid high incentive condition

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will receive 500 points if they make a gym visit within a pre-specified window of time and 250 points if they make a gym visit at any other time. 7000 points convert to $25

Treatment:

Behavioral: Sweet Spot: Rigid high incentive condition

Sweet Spot: Rigid low incentive condition

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will receive 300 points if they make a gym visit within a pre-specified window of time and 150 points if they make a gym visit at any other time. 7000 points convert to $25

Treatment:

Behavioral: Sweet Spot: Rigid low incentive condition

FOTW: High incentive control condition

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will receive 750 points if they make a gym visit within a pre-specified window of time and 250 points if they make a gym visit at any other time. 7000 points convert to $5

Treatment:

Behavioral: FOTW: High incentive control condition

FOTW: Low incentive control condition

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will receive 450 points if they make a gym visit within a pre-specified window of time and 150 points if they make a gym visit at any other time. 7000 points convert to $5

Treatment:

Behavioral: FOTW: Low incentive control condition

FOTW: High incentive treatment condition

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will receive 500 points if they make a gym visit within a pre-specified window of time and 250 points if they make a gym visit at any other time. Additionally, if a participant misses a scheduled gym visit, they will receive 750 points the next time they visit the gym within the pre-specified window. 7000 points convert to $5

Treatment:

Behavioral: FOTW: High incentive treatment condition

FOTW: Low incentive treatment condition

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will receive 300 points if they make a gym visit within a pre-specified window of time and 150 points if they make a gym visit at any other time. Additionally, if a participant misses a scheduled gym visit, they will receive 450 points the next time they visit the gym within the pre-specified window. 7000 points convert to $5

Treatment:

Behavioral: FOTW: Low incentive treatment condition

Think Twice: Control condition

Experimental group

Description:

Participants get 300 points per gym visit. 7000 points convert to $5

Treatment:

Behavioral: Think Twice: Control condition

Think Twice: Treatment condition

Experimental group

Description:

Participants get 300 points per gym visit and are taught about the planning fallacy. 7000 points convert to $5

Treatment:

Behavioral: Think Twice: Treatment condition

WDR: Control condition

Experimental group

Description:

Participants get 300 points per gym visit and are allowed to vary their gym schedules in different days. 7000 points convert to $5

Treatment:

Behavioral: WDR: Control condition

WDR: Treatment condition

Experimental group

Description:

Participants get 300 points per gym visit. Participants are required to select a single exercise time for the weekdays (Monday - Friday) and a single exercise time for the weekends (Saturday - Sunday). 7000 points convert to $5

Treatment:

Behavioral: WDR: Treatment condition