Matching workouts to your personality can boost both enjoyment and results.
Extroverts tend to enjoy high-intensity or group sessions, while those high in neuroticism prefer shorter, private workouts and get more stress relief.
Personality traits like conscientiousness link to baseline fitness and activity levels, and neuroticism predicts greater drops in stress after training.
A new study from University College London asked a simple question: Do our personalities influence what workouts we enjoy — and how well they work?
The research focused on the "Big Five" traits — extroversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, and openness — and tested whether those traits related to fitness levels, session enjoyment, and stress reduction.
“We found that our personality can influence how we engage with exercise, and particularly which forms of exercise we enjoy the most,” researcher Dr. Flaminia Ronca said in a news release.
The study
For the study, the researchers had 86 volunteers complete the full program. All participants completed surveys measuring stress and Big Five traits before the intervention.
Researchers measured peak oxygen uptake, which is the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use during intense exercise, as well as heart‑rate measures and general fitness.
An intervention group did home-based cycling and strength training for the duration of the eight-week trial, while a control group maintained their usual routines. Enjoyment of each session was logged via questionnaire.
The results
Ultimately, the researchers identified a link between the Big Five traits and overall fitness.
Conscientiousness: Participants high in this trait tended to start with better general fitness and logged more weekly activity.
Extroversion: This trait was linked to higher peak oxygen uptake and peak power output, as well as greater enjoyment of high‑intensity sessions.
Neuroticism: This trait was correlated with poorer heart-rate recovery and less enjoyment of sustained, intense workouts.
The study also revealed links between the Big Five personality traits and exercise enjoyment.
Extroverts preferred explosive, high-energy sessions like high intensity interval training (HIIT). On the other hand, highly neurotic individuals felt less enjoyment from longer lab-based or sustained efforts, but they experienced the greatest stress reduction from aerobic training.
Participants who ranked highest in openness actually reported lower enjoyment for very intense workouts — an unexpected finding that challenges earlier assumptions.
Those with the most agreeableness aligned with more enjoyment for easy, longer sessions.
What It Means for You
This study shows that recognizing your personality traits can help you pick workouts you’ll actually enjoy — and, in turn, stick with.
If you thrive in high-energy, social environments, try high-intensity or group sessions.
If you're sensitive to stress or self-conscious, start with short, private workouts — your mental health might thank you.
Do you prefer structure? A regular routine might feel right.
Rather than pushing through discomfort, pay attention to what feels energizing (or not) — it might just lead to better results and well-being.
“We hope that if people can find physical activities that they enjoy they will more readily choose to do them,” senior author Prof. Paul Burgess said in the news release.
“After all, we don’t have to nag dogs to go for a walk: being so physically inactive that we start to feel miserable might be a peculiarly human thing to do. In effect, our body punishes us by making us miserable. But for some reason, many of us humans seem poor at picking up on these messages it is sending to our brain.”