When Motivation Melts or Freezes: The Real Reason You Might Not Be Moving Your Butt Enough

I don’t know about you, but sometimes dragging myself out to exercise feels like negotiating a ceasefire between my laziness and my self-loathing. And heaven forbid the weather has anything to say about it. Too cold? “You’ll freeze your glutes off!” Too hot? "Are you TRYING to die of heatstroke?"

I live in a place where we routinely get all four seasons in one day, which means my motivation also gets the full meteorological experience: fresh in the morning, melting by noon, stormy by afternoon, and completely blown away by dinner time. And no, a motivational Instagram quote about “becoming the best version of yourself” is not going to do the trick. Not when my sofa whispers sweet nothings like, "C'mon, just one more episode."

So, where does motivation actually come from? Are some people just born with an inner drill sergeant yelling, “Get moving, you maggot!” while others are stuck binge-watching series and snacks?

Well, a group of Romanian researchers decided to dig into this question, studying a decent sample of 813 university students (yes, the future of humanity) to figure out how motivation, body weight, and actual physical activity all connect. Warning: it’s a mess. But a fascinating mess.

Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation: Why You Work Out or Why You Pretend To

The study used a handy little tool called the RM 4-FM to measure whether students exercised because they wanted to (intrinsic motivation), or because they felt they had to (extrinsic motivation). Think of it like this:

• Intrinsic: 'I love moving my body. It makes me feel alive!'

• Extrinsic: 'I’ll look like a potato in shorts if I skip the gym again.'

Guess what? Women scored higher on intrinsic motivation. They were more likely to work out because it made them feel good, not because someone on TikTok told them to do so. Meanwhile, men were more extrinsically motivated, meaning that guilt, peer pressure, or the promise of poster abs were stronger drivers. Not that surprising when you think of how many gym bros treat leg day like a moral obligation.

But Who Moves More?

Despite women being more driven by their own enjoyment, men actually had higher physical activity levels overall. That might be because they engage in more high-intensity activities... or maybe they're just better at pretending to be busy.

But here comes the twist. Women with high intrinsic motivation had better BMI scores, suggesting that enjoying your movement actually correlates with healthier body weight. Meanwhile, some of the highly active lads had higher BMI scores, perhaps from confusing "bulking season" with "eternal justification to eat like a bear before hibernation." Trust me, I come from the world of handball. Straight from the shower to KFC... Enough said.

So What?

Here’s the deal. If you're dragging yourself out to exercise because you feel guilty, ashamed, or pressured... it's not going to stick. At least not for long. You might make it a few weeks before your brain mutinies and your sofa and remote win the war.

But if you can find something you genuinely enjoy, even if it's just dancing around the kitchen like you're auditioning for the neighbourhood musical, you're far more likely to keep at it. Once again, intrinsic motivation is the not-so-secret weapon for adherence and long-term health.

To conclude

It seems that women move for joy. Men move for pressure. At least among university Romanians.

Men exercise more, but women apparently do it smarter.

Guilt doesn’t burn calories. Fun does. I'll die saying this.

So the next time it’s pouring rain or sweltering hot and you’re arguing with your inner sloth, remember this: the trick isn’t pushing harder. It’s doing something you actually want to do. Unless that thing is staying in bed. Then... maybe push just a little.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go convince myself that pulling weeds in the garden counts as cardio. It does, actually.

For more information: Stănescu, M., Măirean, C., Chasandra, M., Diac, G., Nanu, C., Cazan, A. M., & Iacob, A. E. (2025). The Relationship between Motivation, Physical Activity, and Body Weight with Physical Education Students. Sports, 13(1), 96.