Why Physical Activity Needs More Than Individual Willpower

Physical inactivity continues to rise worldwide, and its impact is felt across almost every major chronic condition, from Type 2 Diabetes and cardiovascular disease to poor mental health. A recent 2025 paper reinforces a central point: we cannot solve this problem by relying on individual motivation alone.

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For decades, physical activity guidance has focused on what people should do: walk more, sit less, move more. Yet the environments in which people live, and work make these goals extremely difficult to achieve. The paper highlights why it’s time to shift the responsibility away from individuals and toward the systems that shape their daily lives.

 

Sedentary Workplaces: A Major Contributor to Inactivity

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One key reason the authors focus on work time is that previous research shows office workers are sedentary for up to 71% of their working hours. This means even someone who exercises regularly is still spending the majority of their day sitting, simply because modern work requires it.

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Today’s working environments often involve long periods of screen time, back-to-back meetings, limited flexibility to take breaks and workloads that make stepping away difficult. In other words, people aren’t choosing to be inactive; their days are designed that way.

 

Movement Strategies Must Be Inclusive and Flexible

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The authors emphasise that any attempt to increase physical activity within workplaces must be adaptable. Different roles come with different physical demands, people live with a wide range of health conditions and abilities, and not everyone has equal access to facilities or safe spaces to be active. When these differences aren’t considered, one-size-fits-all programmes often end up excluding the very people who could benefit the most. This is a crucial point. If we want movement initiatives to work, they must be designed with equity in mind, not as generic guidelines that only suit a small portion of the workforce.

 

Why Individual-Focused Strategies Have Limited Impact

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So far, most public health messaging has centred on personal responsibility:

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• “Find time to exercise.”

• “Sit less during the day.”

• “Make healthier choices.”

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But behavioural science is clear: Environments shape behaviour far more powerfully than individual intention. A person cannot simply will themselves to move more if their job requires eight hours of sitting, their schedule leaves no space for activity, workplace culture discourages taking breaks, or movement is viewed as unproductive or inappropriate.

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Expecting individuals to overcome these structural barriers through willpower alone is neither fair nor effective.

 

​Why the Shift Needs to Be Environmental, Not Just Personal

 

The paper argues that meaningful change requires workplaces and governments to take a more active, structural role in supporting movement. That includes:

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• ​providing protected time for physical activity during work hours,

• creating work environments that allow movement without penalty,

• redesigning spaces to reduce sedentary norms, and

• embedding physical activity into organisational culture, not personal “extras.”

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These approaches do more than improve health. They reduce sickness absence, enhance productivity, support mental wellbeing, and create healthier communities long-term.

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And importantly, they remove the unrealistic expectation that individuals must somehow “fit everything in” around increasingly demanding lives.

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Takeaway

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If you’ve found it hard to move more, especially while managing work, family, or health challenges, this research makes something clear: The system, not your willpower, is the problem.

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Physical activity shouldn’t be another task people are expected to manage alone. It should be supported by the places where we spend most of our time. 

 

When environments change, behaviours follow. Until then, individuals are doing the best they can in systems that were never designed with their wellbeing in mind.