'Come for the weight loss, stay for the enjoyment' - Exploring attributions for initiating and maintaining exercise

The potential benefits from engaging in physical activity and exercise in terms of both physical and mental health are well established. Regular exercise has been demonstrated to have preventative effects for several chronic illnesses, and it is generally agreed that there is a strong relation between exercise and psychological health. Despite this, exercise levels in the community are generally low. Irish National Health Strategy targets are to increase exercising rates by 20-30%. Approximately 50% of adults who commence exercise programmes drop out within six months indicating that, if exercise promotion strategies are to be successful, it is necessary to know both how to get people to adopt exercise, and how to get people to maintain their exercise activity. With a view to informing health promotion practice at community level, this study aimed to identify why regular exercisers continue to exercise, and to determine whether important gender differences exist.