The facilitation of important personal goals through exercise.

In a sample of 1287 adolescents, it appeared that weekly exercise facilitates a variety of goals; particularly those related to being or remaining healthy, feeling relaxed, not being bored, feeling physically good, not being stressed, and attaining high achievements were endorsed. Sedentary and active adolescents reported a similar order of 10 specific goals with respect to the likelihood of being positively influenced by exercise. The frequency of reported facilitation for each of the goals, however, was higher among the active adolescernts. This suggests that the more exercise is incorporated in daily life, the more it can be regarded as an integral part of the personal goal structure.