Goal setting and exercise performance

In the past, goal-setting research in the exercise performance domain has been plagued with methodological problems, resulting in inconclusive support for the theory. This study attempts to overcome these problems and provide support for goal setting, as has been found in cognitively based tasks. Consistent with the predictions of the theory, the results show that specific, difficult goals lead to greater performance improvements than ''do your best'' goals or no goals. Further, participants with higher goal commitment and more self-report personal goals had the highest rates of improvement. Neither variations in the implementation of specific, difficult goals nor self-handicapping explained much variance in exercise performance. Results are discussed in relation to the general efficacy of goal theory in the exercise performance domain.