Maltagliati S.†, Fessler, L. †, Yu, Q., Zhang, Z., Chen, Y., Dupuy, O., Falck R., Owen, N., Zou, L., Cheval, B. (2025). Effort Minimization: A Permanent, Dynamic, and Surmountable Influence on Physical Activity. Journal of Sport and Health Science, Article e100971. doi.org/10.1016/j.jshs.2024.100971 

†These two authors contributed equally to this article.

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Today, most people know that physical activity (PA) is beneficial for their health, and aspire to engage in regular PA. However, despite their awareness of the importance of PA, it is evident that the transition from intention to action is challenging—a situation that has important public health implications. According to the World Health Organization, person dies every 6 s worldwide from causes related to physical inactivity, which underscores the urgency of addressing this situation. Many factors have been identified that influence the translation of PA intentions into behaviors.6 However, there is still considerable room for improvement in our understanding of this intention–behavior gap. In this endeavor, the Theory of Effort Minimization in PA (TEMPA) has recently emerged as a heuristic theoretical framework capable of shedding light on the mechanisms underlying individuals' (in)ability to translate their intentions into actions.

To expand TEMPA, in this paper, we first aimed to clarify 2 fundamental phenomena: (a) the permanent evolutionary drive to conserve energy, which is juxtaposed with (b) seemingly contradictory examples showing that some individuals have a natural urge to move more, especially children. We then highlighted how the strength of these general tendencies could evolve across the lifespan and as a function of biological sex. Finally, we elucidate the key roles of executive function and affective associations in overcoming the drive to minimize physical effort and promoting engagement in PA, and how these roles may vary across the lifespan and sex.