The positive effects of effort visibility

In an eight-week long study, we examined the motivation, performance and happiness of people exercising in different types of groups. Half of these groups could see their Myzone effort tiles on the screen while exercising and the other half could not. Within these broader conditions we had two different ability levels and two different group compositions. We had beginners and same level groups, advanced and same level groups as well as mixed groups, which included beginners and advanced together.

The findings.

Findings show that effort visibility strengthens the effect of motivation on performance. For all the groups who could see their effort, the effect of motivation on performance is positive and significant, this was not the case for groups who could not see their effort.

Happiness. The findings also show that exercising with effort visibility makes people happier. All the groups that could see their effort were significantly happier than the groups who could not see their effort. This effect was not seen directly at week one, which could mean that people need a bit of time to understand and interiorize how effort visibility works across different ability levels. However, at week four and after that, all groups that could see their effort were significantly happier while exercising than those who could not see their effort.

Motivation. The statistics show that effort visibility is a very powerful tool to increase motivation. Three out of four groups were more motivated exercising with effort visibility than the same groups without effort visibility. This increase was particularly noticeable for beginners who maintained a very steady level of motivation over time when they could see their effort. Beginners who couldn’t see their effort experienced a constant decline in motivation over time.

Recommendations and actions.

In summary, effort visibility positively impacts motivation, performance and happiness.

Beginners benefit most from effort visibility, but we need to acknowledge that beginners might feel intimidated by the MZ-3 belt or reluctant to try them. To break down this barrier, we recommend taster sessions or trial periods of Myzone belts with support and education on how to use them. This will help you increase new member motivation, happiness and performance early on in their gym experience, reducing beginner drops out.

For more information on how Myzone can increase effort visibility in your club, visit here.

Research credit: Dr. Karen Tejedor Bowen, Leeds University