improve your quality of life with exercise

get fit and live longer

1st, we have shown that exercise and physical activity have a long-term effect on important aspects of psychosocial functioning because of the fact that exercise can influence our quality of life, self-esteem and self-efficacy.

2nd, there is a growing awareness of the strong relationship between quality of life and physical activity, especially when people get older. However, much of this work seems to indicate that there is a  direct link between the two. Our work takes this approach, and is well supported by the data, that exercise and physical activity improve our quality of life.

A related, 2-year study conducted in McAuley's laboratory examined the roles played by health status, physical activity and self-efficacy in determining "global quality of life," or satisfaction with life among the older generation. The research focused on a different sample of two hundred and forty nine older white and black women. Results from this study will be published in an article titled "Physical Activity and Quality of Life in Older Adults: Influence of Health Status and Self-Efficacy" in a forthcoming edition of the Annals of Behavioral Medicine.