The Journal of the American Board of Sport Psychology

Exercise psychology has become an emerging field of scholarly research, prolific conference presentations, and of increasing relevance to a world that is experiencing a health paradox. Vastly improved medical care, at least in most of the western world, has been accompanied by a paucity of healthy habits (e.g., a deep propensity to avoid physical activity, intake of large portions of high fat food). The result is decreased health and increased health care costs for all age groups, ethnicities, and genders. While reasons for the negative attitude toward exercise abound, the combination of ubiquitous rates of obesity and the resultant poor health and high health care costs has resulted in a flurry of activity by researchers and practitioners to improve exercise and nutritional habits. Perhaps not surprisingly, then, the field of exercise psychology has become increasingly relevant. Therefore, it is surprising that a companion field of exercise psychology has not been given more prominence in the literature. Defining the conceptual framework for applied exercise psychology is overdue. The purpose of this article, then, is to provide a structure for scholars and practitioners in the study and application of applied exercise psychology. The framework is based on the extant literature, which has focused on the factors that contribute to describing, explaining, predicting, and improving exercise behavior in a culture whose sedentary, generally unhealthy lifestyle is resulting in increasingly poorer health. The need for additional research and practice in applied exercise psychology has never been timelier. Guidelines for future directions in the field are also offered.