Clinical trial NCT03634423: Enduring Exercise Habits
Official title: Enduring Exercise Habits
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Healthy
Keywords: Interest in exercising more
Lead sponsor: University of Pennsylvania
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2018-08-16
Enrollment: 32000
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 100
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Brief summary: 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.

Detailed 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.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Has 24 Hour Fitness Membership

Exclusion Criteria:

-

Primary outcomes:
measure: Each participant's number of gym visits per week
timeFrame: During the 4 intervention weeks
measure: Each participant's number of gym visits per week
timeFrame: During the 4 weeks post-intervention
measure: Each participant's number of gym visits per week
timeFrame: During the 10 weeks post-intervention
measure: Each participant's number of gym visits per week
timeFrame: During the 52 weeks post-intervention
measure: Binary variable capturing whether or not a participant had any gym visits in a given week
timeFrame: During the 4 intervention weeks
measure: Binary variable capturing whether or not a participant had any gym visits in a given week
timeFrame: During the 4 weeks post-intervention
measure: Binary variable capturing whether or not a participant had any gym visits in a given week
timeFrame: During the 10 weeks post-intervention
measure: Binary variable capturing whether or not a participant had any gym visits in a given week
timeFrame: During the 52 weeks post-intervention
measure: Each participant's number of gym visits per week at scheduled workout times
timeFrame: During the 4 intervention weeks
measure: Each participant's number of gym visits per week at scheduled workout times
timeFrame: During the 4 weeks post-intervention
measure: Each participant's number of gym visits per week at scheduled workout times
timeFrame: During the 10 weeks post-intervention
measure: Each participant's number of gym visits per week at scheduled workout times
timeFrame: During the 52 weeks post-intervention
measure: Binary variable capturing whether or not a participant had any gym visits in a given week at scheduled workout times
timeFrame: During the 4 intervention weeks
measure: Binary variable capturing whether or not a participant had any gym visits in a given week at scheduled workout times
timeFrame: During the 4 weeks post-intervention
measure: Binary variable capturing whether or not a participant had any gym visits in a given week at scheduled workout times
timeFrame: During the 10 weeks post-intervention
measure: Binary variable capturing whether or not a participant had any gym visits in a given week at scheduled workout times
timeFrame: During the 52 weeks post-intervention
measure: Each participant's number of gym visits per week outside of scheduled workout times
timeFrame: During the 4 intervention weeks
measure: Each participant's number of gym visits per week outside of scheduled workout times
timeFrame: During the 4 weeks post-intervention
measure: Each participant's number of gym visits per week outside of scheduled workout times
timeFrame: During the 10 weeks post-intervention
measure: Each participant's number of gym visits per week outside of scheduled workout times
timeFrame: During the 52 weeks post-intervention
measure: Binary variable capturing whether or not a participant had any gym visits in a given week outside of scheduled workout times
timeFrame: During the 4 intervention weeks
measure: Binary variable capturing whether or not a participant had any gym visits in a given week outside of scheduled workout times
timeFrame: During the 4 weeks post-intervention
measure: Binary variable capturing whether or not a participant had any gym visits in a given week outside of scheduled workout times
timeFrame: During the 10 weeks post-intervention
measure: Binary variable capturing whether or not a participant had any gym visits in a given week outside of scheduled workout times
timeFrame: During the 52 weeks post-intervention
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Philadelphia
country: United States
facility: University of Pennsylvania
state: Pennsylvania
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Pennsylvania
name: Katherine L. Milkman, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
affiliation: Harvard University
name: John Beshears, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: