Incorporating accountability and coordination in fitness plans to increase goal progress

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect the type of fitness plan had on frequency of workouts and fitness goal progress in a college population. It was hypothesized that students who utilized a workout plan that included accountability and/or coordination would have increased frequency of workouts and more goal progress than those who worked out with a plan that lacked these concepts. Participants completed a survey that focused on the type of fitness plan used, frequency of workouts, and progress towards a fitness goal. Results showed that students who used a trainer or a mobile application worked out more on average than students who reported just going to the gym and were more likely to be in an action phase of goal pursuit. These results support incorporating accountability and implicit coordination into plans to increase effort and motivation. Specifically, fitness goals that are made public or that require some form of accountability (i.e. using a trainer, mobile app, etc.) can increase physical activity in the college population.

Full text

Journal of Psychological Inquiry
2020, Vol.24, No. 2, pp. 37-41
©Great Plains Behavioral Research Association
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Abstract – The purpose of this study was to examine the effect the type of fitness plan had on frequency of workouts and
fitness goal progress in a college population. It was hypothesized that students who utilized a workout plan that included
accountability and/or coordination would have increased frequency of workouts and more goal progress than those who
worked out with a plan that lacked these concepts. Participants completed a survey that focused on the type of fitness plan
used, frequency of workouts, and progress towards a fitness goal. Results showed that students who used a trainer or a
mobile application worked out more on average than students who reported just going to the gym and were more likely to
be in an action phase of goal pursuit. These results support incorporating accountability and implicit coordination into
plans to increase effort and motivation. Specifically, fitness goals that are made public or that require some form of
accountability (i.e. using a trainer, mobile app, etc.) can increase physical activity in the college population.
Keywords: goal pursuit, goal progress, fitness, workout plans
Goals related to health and wellness are common progress when specific health plans are used. Thus, the
purpose of the present study was to provide insight into
in society. At the beginning of each new year, millions of
people establish new year’s resolutions that include losing how fitness plans impact fitness activities and goal
a set number of pounds, going on a diet, beginning a
workout plan, joining a gym or health facility, etc.
However, the individual pursuit of these resolutions will
pursuits.
According to Barnett et al. (2014), 49% of
surveyed college students do not meet minimal exercise
vary. They vary by things such as weight loss, weight gain, guidelines although many report going to the gym and
strength enhancement, or maintenance of overall fitness
and wellness. With these different focuses and objectives,
differing levels of motivation and effort can be expected.
Research has found variables such as age and gender can
affect the orientation of an individual's fitness goal
engaging in physical activity. This finding is suggestive
that college students set health goals, but fail to meet
these goals. And when compared to other age groups,
college students are not meeting health guidelines.
Although there is a strong perception that physical
(Ebner, Freund, & Baltes, 2006). For example, both males activity decreases with age, research suggests a
and females in older generations may focus solely on
overall well-being, while younger generations focus on
curvilinear relationship. Kozma, Stones, and Hannah
(1991), found that younger and older individuals tend to
specific outcomes. More specifically, the desire of males is be more active than the middle age group. However, it is
to gain muscle while females concentrate on weight loss
(Stults-Kolehmainen et. al., 2013). However, the majority
of fitness goals are oriented toward weight loss. Despite
the type of goals, there are many obstacles that can
prevent individuals from achieving their health goal. One
major obstacle is not having a fitness or health plan.
Various studies have shown that having a plan or
not known whether having a workout plan specifically
leads younger people to actively pursue a fitness goal
based on the research examining age differences. We
cannot assume that if a goal is actively being pursued that
the goal will be met due to many reasons for goal failure.
However, one factor that could have a large impact on the
goal outcome in the college population could very well be
“implementation intention” leads to effortful goal pursuit. what type of fitness plan is utilized during the pursuit.
But does the type of fitness plan used lead to more goal
progress? Specifically, would working with a trainer who
can provide accountability or using a cell phone health
application that provides opportunity coordinated
workouts produce more progress in health goals than just
going to the gym without accountability or coordination?
Research has yet to examine the difference in goal
Approaching a fitness goal without a plan would
be the surest way to fail. Numerous studies have shown
that plans are essential to overcome obstacles that would
impede progress toward the goal. For example, when
individuals are aware of obstacles that may interfere with
their goal pursuit, they are more apt to maintain goal-
directed intentions (Gollwitzer, 1999). Furthermore,
NCORPORATING ACCOUNTABILITY AND COORDINATION
IN FITNESS PLANS TO INCREASE GOAL PROGRESS
W , K R
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DANYELLE ELLS AITLYN UPP MANDA ARTIN AND ARSHON
NIVERSITY OF ENTRAL RKANSAS
ANDERSON

Wells, Rupp, Martin & Anderson
individuals that use a predetermined plan are more likely
to actively pursue their goals. Research also suggests that
to be properly equipped for goal pursuit individuals
should spend time evaluating the advantages and
disadvantages in the goal setting phase, determine the
necessary actions to take in the planning phase, and to
maintain mental representations of the goal outcome
while executing the course of action in the process phase
(Gollwitzer, 1990, Pham & Taylor, 1999). Some common
obstacles to pursuing health related goals in the college
population include lack of time, working, sleep, or family
obligations. So, having a plan in place to overcome such
obstacles would minimize the effect of the obstacle on the
health goal.
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college population. Based on review of past research and
literature, two outcomes were hypothesized. First,
students with a fitness plan that included accountability
and/or coordination (such as personal trainers, group
exercise classes, and mobile applications would show a
significant increase in frequency of workouts in pursuit of
their fitness goal. Second, students that utilized a fitness
plan that included accountability and/or coordination
would be more apt to be in the action or maintenance
stage of pursuing their fitness goal (Bayuk, 2015)
compared to the pre-contemplation or contemplation
phases. The reasoning behind these predictions are
connected to work focused on accountability and
coordination (Sheeynberg & Galinsky, 2011; Converse,
Piccone, Lockamy, Miloslavic, Mysiak, & Pathak, 2014).
Having accountability built into the fitness plan should
Another strategy to increase the likelihood of
success during goal pursuit is to make the goal public (i.e.
telling someone or documenting the goal in written form). aid in progress towards the goal outcome due to increases
This strategy is said to increase success because it
provides a level of accountability by way of others asking
about the progress of the goal or the pursuer being faced
with the written proclamation of the goal. There is even
evidence that sharing intentionality with similar others
leads to implicit coordination, which manifest itself in
in effort. Implicit coordination leads to individuals
working on the same goal when in close relationships
such as friendships or dating relationships. It is expected
that college students spend a significant amount of time
with friends with similar goals, which will increase the
amount of time they spend participating in physical
goal-congruent behaviors (Shteynberg, & Galinsky, 2011). activity. Without following a plan that includes
College students have the option of making their health
goals public by sharing them with friends, family, or
documenting them in a personal journal. Similarly,
students could publicize their health goal by employing a
personal trainer. Personal trainers provide a significant
level of accountability by providing their client’s pre and
post body analyses, putting their clients on a weekly
workout schedule that they coach them through, and
monitoring their client’s progress through weigh ins and
measurements. Additionally, students using mobile
fitness applications can be held accountable for their
health goals by receiving text notifications or alerts to
remind them to complete their workout and provide
weekly updates on their workout frequency. Using
personal trainers or mobile fitness applications can also
accountability and/or coordination, we predict that the
individuals will spend less time participating in physical
activity and will remain in the contemplation phase of
goal pursuit.
Method
Participants
G*Power is a tool to compute statistical power
analyses for many different t tests, F tests, χ2 tests, Z tests
and some exact tests. This software revealed a sample size
of 42 participants were needed to achieve eighty percent
power and to detect a large (.80) effect size. The total
number of participants included 43 undergraduate
students (14 males, 29 females) enrolled in Psychology
courses at a four-year university. Of those participants, 6
provide students the opportunity to coordinate their goals were freshmen, 9 were sophomores, 9 were juniors, and
with their peers by joining personal training groups or
signing up for mobile app challenges.
19 were seniors. Participants’ ranged in age from 18 to 22,
with a mean age of 20. All participants were required to
have a fitness goal to participant in the study. Participants
received course credit for their participation in study.
Materials
There are various strategies that individuals can
use to achieve their fitness goals that include personal
trainers, mobile applications (i.e. MyFitnessPal,
MapMyRun, etc.), fitness classes/instructors, online
workouts (i.e. Pinterest & blogs), and online challenges.
While trainers and fitness classes are still widely used,
they are not as modern as phone applications and online
workouts. And because phone applications and online
workouts are contemporary, there is limited research
covering them. Many tools claim to be the most successful Demographic questions were asked that included gender,
Participants completed a demographic survey
and the Trans Theoretical Model (TTM) questionnaire
developed by Prochaska and DiClemente (1983). The
demographic survey included ten questions. The first
question asked, “Do you have a fitness goal?”
with helping to lose 10 pounds or getting fit for spring
break, but it can be difficult to filter through so many
options and determine the most effective strategy.
age, race, ethnicity, and class. Other questions asked
included, “Do you have a fitness plan?”, “What type of
fitness plan do you use?”, “How many days a week on
average do you work out?”, and “How much have you
progressed towards your fitness goal?” The response to
The purpose of this study was to examine
differences in goal progress across fitness plans used in a

Wells, Rupp, Martin & Anderson
the second question about the type of fitness plan used
was the quasi-independent variable that categorized into
two groups of responses. The first group included
responses with personal trainers, fitness classes, or fitness Design and Analysis
39
questions that asked their frequency of workouts and goal
progress.
mobile applications. The second group included
responses of not have a fitness plan or “other”.
This study used a quasi-experimental design
where we examined how a fitness plan
impacts fitness goal pursuit. Goal progress and frequency
served as dependent variables while fitness plan served as
the quasi-independent variable. The two levels of the
independent variable were fitness plans that included
accountability or coordination and plans without
accountability or coordination. Independent sample t-
tests were used to analyze the frequency of workouts and
progression towards the goal pursuit across the two
levels.
The TTM was used to assess goal progress, which
was the primary dependent variable. The TTM was
originally developed to measure the process of smoking
cessation and it focuses on intentional change using the
assumption that behaviors are not changed quickly or
decisively. The TTM includes five stages of change, which
occur continuously through a cyclical process (Prochaska
& DiClemente, 1983). The first stage is Pre-
contemplation; people who selected this category do not
intend to change a behavior or are possibly unaware that
they need to change. The second stage is Contemplation;
people who selected this category do intend to change a
behavior within six months. The third stage is
Preparation; people who selected this category are
intending to make a behavioral change in the next thirty
days. The fourth stage is Action; people who selected this
category have changed their behavior in the last six
months and are continually working toward their goal.
The fifth stage is Maintenance; people who selected this
category have changed their behavior more than six
Results
Our first research question examined the effect of
utilizing a fitness plan that included accountability and/or
coordination on frequency of workouts. There was a
significant difference between the students who utilized
plans that included accountability or coordination, and
those that did not, t(41) = 5.64, p < 01, d = 1.86. The data
revealed that students who utilize a trainer, fitness
classes, and mobile applications worked out an average of
4.2 days a week (SD =1.70), while students who reported
just going to the gym, running or walking worked out an
months ago and are aware of the actions that are required average of 1.71 days a week (SD = .82). This suggest those
to maintain their lifestyle. using a plan that incorporated accountability or
coordination worked out twice as much as those who did
not. Our second research question examined the effect of
the type of plan on progress towards a fitness goal. There
was a significant difference in TTM ratings depending on
if the plan used included accountability or coordination,
t(41) = 5.77, p < .05, d = 1.82. Participants utilizing a
trainer or mobile application reported being in the Action
Phase, whereas those who just went to the gym reported
being in the Contemplation Phase. This suggests having
accountability and/or coordination infused in the plan
increased the progression toward the goal.
The current study utilized this model based on its
stage theory, which is similar to implementation
intentions and goal planning work by Gollwitzer (1999).
By editing the original smoking cessation questions, the
TTM was used to determine participant’s progress on
their fitness goal. The responses given on the progress
questions were categorized as follows: 1=
Precontemplation, 2 = Contemplation, 3 = Preparation, 4
= Action, and 5 = Maintenance. Both the demographic
survey and the TTM questionnaire were taken by
participants using qualtrics.com, which is software
platform that allows researchers to capture and analyze
survey data from users inside or outside of their
organization. Participants completed both surveys using
campus computer access.
Procedure
Discussion
The purpose of this study was to investigate the
effects of fitness plans on individual’s pursuit to their
fitness goals. We hypothesized that individuals who
utilized a fitness plan that included accountability and/or
coordination would have a higher frequency of workouts,
which our results supported. There was a significant
difference between the students who utilized plans that
included trainers and mobile applications compared to
those who did not. The second hypothesis stated,
individuals who utilized a fitness plan with accountability
and/or coordination would be more likely to be in the
action or maintenance stage of the TTM. This hypothesis
was also supported. There was a difference in reported
The participants first provided informed consent
and then completed the survey. Students participating in
the study were required to have a fitness goal. The
students who selected “no” to having a goal were finished
with the survey, while those who selected “yes” continued
with the survey. Next, demographic questions were
completed. If the participant answered no to having a
fitness plan, then they were automatically directed to the
progress questions, while participants who answered yes
were directed to select the option that best described their stages of progression across the fitness plan
fitness plan. After selecting a detailed option or the
“other” category, participants were directed to answer
categorization. Taken together, these results suggest
having a fitness plan that includes accountability and/or

Wells, Rupp, Martin & Anderson
implicit coordination not only increases physical activity
but also moves a person closer to their health outcomes.
40
differences to determine the best plan to help them
achieve their fitness goals. Knowing these differences
could help professionals promote fitness plans to fit
specific gender and age categories that lead to increased
The results of the current study also provide
evidence for the use of fitness plans that include
accountability and/or coordination to increase motivation progress towards fitness goals.
via awards and rewards. Domangue and Solmon (2010)
found that award-based systems increased student’s In conclusion, individuals who use fitness plans
that include accountability and/or coordination are more
activity motivation. While our study did not inquire about likely to workout frequently and make greater progress
reward systems, this could have been a key component for towards their goals. This progression was shown by
some student’s motivation, particularly those using
trainers or mobile applications. For example, if a student
has a goal to lose ten pounds, they might reward
themselves by purchasing something they have had their
eye on. Other reward systems could include monetary
values, tangible items, or even words of encouragement.
Particularly, students who used trainers or mobile
applications could receive rewards from their trainer,
gym, or health store that might include free gym
memberships, discounts on apparel or health drinks, or
other prizes. Future studies could examine how rewards
and incentives built into fitness plans (apps, gym
membership perks, etc.) impact the use of those plans
across age and gender. Interestingly, Ebner et al. (2006)
found that younger adults tend to have goals in the
planning or action phase, while older adults tend to have
goals in the maintenance phase. This aligns with our
results as there were more participants that reported
being in the action stage of TTM rather than the
maintenance stage, and our population was centered on
college aged students.
frequency and duration of time spent towards goal. Other
ways to measure progress towards fitness goals could
include amount of weight loss or gained, muscle mass loss
or gained, cholesterol levels, and other health measures.
This would further indicate that having a plan with
accountability or coordination significantly helps
individuals progress towards their goal. While our
hypotheses were supported, there are many fitness goal
pursuit factors that are left to research including the type
of fitness plan that leads to these increases.
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