## 4 Discussion  
This study is one of the first to investigate whether self-control and distinct aspects of emotion regulation play an intermediate role in the relationship between involvement in regular physical activity and life satisfaction. We found that the level of involvement in physical activity based on average weekly training time was indirectly related to life satisfaction through indirect pathways leading through self-control and cognitive reappraisal. Regular physical activity has been associated with improvements in life satisfaction, partly because of its effects on self-control and cognitive reappraisal. This relationship is rooted in the psychological benefits of physical activity, which enhance an individual's ability to manage emotions effectively and prioritize long-term goals over immediate impulses [26; 34; 35]. As outlined in [PERSON]'s strength model, self-control functions as a muscle that can be strengthened through consistent physical exercise, resulting in improved goal achievement and emotional stability [30]. This means that regular training is related to high self-control and cognitive reappraisal, which consequently increases life satisfaction. The results obtained are consistent with those of previous studies, which showed that physical activity plays a critical role in enhancing self-control, emotion regulation, and overall psychological well-being. Regular exercise is an effective strategy for maintaining mental health and emotional resilience by promoting positive emotional states, reducing stress, and lowering the risk of depression, and is an effective strategy for maintaining mental health and emotional resilience [7; 12; 60]. Training intensity is also positively associated with well-being and positive affect and negatively associated with depression [61; 62; 63]. Regular physical activity may enhance self-control and adaptive emotion regulation strategies [42; 43; 44; 45; 46; 47]. Sports practitioners often use more flexible and effective strategies for emotion regulation, adapting them to the demands of the situation [45]. The link between regular physical activity and self-control has been documented, with evidence suggesting that consistent exercise fosters self-regulation skills and the ability to adapt emotion regulation strategies to dynamic challenges [39; 45]. Previous findings have also shown that cognitive regulatory strategies such as reappraisal can improve mood and promote emotional  
Figure 1: Path diagram presenting mediation model with standardized estimates and bootstrapped 95% confidence intervals. Green: positive effects; red: negative effects; solid lines: significant effect; dashed lines: insignificant effects. well-being [35]. Cognitive reappraisal, a key component of adaptive emotion regulation, enables individuals to reinterpret stressful situations positively, which when combined with physical activity contributes to elevated life satisfaction [34]. People who prefer reappraisal can cope more effectively with negative emotions, and expressive suppression is associated with reduced well-being [34,64]. An R-squared value of approximately 30% indicated that engagement in regular physical activity and the mediating variables (self-control, cognitive reappraisal, and expressive suppression) together accounted for a moderate amount of variance in life satisfaction. This finding highlights the importance of both behavioral (physical activity) and psychological (self-control and emotion regulation) factors as pathways to well-being, and emphasizes the indirect effects in the causal chain. This underscores the complexity of life satisfaction and suggests that interventions that promote physical activity alongside psychological skills, such as self-control and adaptive emotion regulation, could significantly improve overall well-being. The results further broaden the understanding of the mechanisms underlying the relationship between physical activity and life satisfaction by identifying self-control and cognitive reappraisal as key mediators.