The problem of exercise adherence: Fighting sloth in nations with market economies

This paper overviews the problem of physical inactivity from the perspectiv e of exercise adherence. Five conundrums are described that have retarded a dvances in knowledge about the causal determinants of physical activity and successful interventions that increase long-term physical activity and exe rcise adherence: (a) The Revolving Door (i.e., adoption vs. maintenance); ( b) Marketing Change: What is the Message ? (e.g., social marketing vs. prod uct marketing; (c) Blind Intervention (i.e., what are the mediators of phys ical activity?); (d) Premature Theory (e.g., the fallacy of linear modeling and the promise of structural covariance modeling); and (e) The Missing De pendent Variable (i.e., defining and measuring physical activity).