Designing Fitness Programs with Personality and Mental Health in Mind

As personal trainers, we often focus on muscles, mobility, and metabolism, but emerging research shows psychology can matter just as much for client success. A notable 2025 study suggests that tailoring workouts to match a client’s personality traits and anxiety profile can significantly improve adherence, motivation, and long-term results (Ronca et al., 2025).

The Research Story: Why Personality Matters in Fitness

For decades, trainers and scientists alike have asked a simple question: why do some people stick with exercise while others drop out…even when they know it’s good for them? Traditional answers focused on discipline, scheduling, or willpower. But a team of researchers wanted to test a deeper idea: maybe the mismatch isn’t about effort, but about personality.

In 2025, researchers from University College London’s Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health published a groundbreaking study in Frontiers in Psychology exploring whether personality impacts workout enjoyment and commitment. Nearly 132 volunteers with varying fitness levels took part. They completed stress and personality assessments using the Big Five model, which includes extraversion, neuroticism, conscientiousness, openness, and agreeableness (Washington Post, 2025).

Participants were then split into two groups: one followed an eight-week home-based cycling and strength training program, while the other served as a control group and maintained their usual routines. By the study’s end, 86 people completed the program.

Key takeaways:

• Extroverts enjoyed high-intensity, social workouts (e.g., HIIT, spin) the most, although their consistency varied (The Times, 2025).
• Individuals high in neuroticism (often associated with anxiety) favored low-intensity solo sessions and also experienced the greatest stress reduction through exercise (The Times, 2025).
• Conscientious participants (known for planning and discipline) did well in terms of fitness and adherence, even without a strong preference for any particular format (The Times, 2025).
• Other traits followed logical patterns: Agreeable people gravitated toward gentle or social workouts (like group yoga), and Open individuals preferred variety and novelty (NY Post, 2025).

Dr. Flaminia Ronca, the study’s lead author, emphasized that personality-informed exercise recommendations could be key to helping people become...and stay more active, especially in an increasingly sedentary global population (Ronca et al., 2025).

So, in a nutshell, participants did the same workouts, but how much they liked them, and stuck with them, came back to who they were on the inside.

Extroverts, Introverts, and Ambiverts:

• Most people are ambiverts. Personality research suggests the majority of individuals fall somewhere in the middle, blending introverted and extroverted traits depending on the context. Estimates range from about two-thirds to as high as 90% (Scientific American).
• Introverts make up a substantial group, roughly 33–50% of Americans, according to author Susan Cain’s research in Quiet (Cain, 2012).
• Extroverts fill the balance, estimated at 50–67%, though exact figures vary.

Since most clients are ambiverts, assume they’ll thrive with a mix of group-based and solo training experiences. Extroverts often perform best in social, high-energy settings like boot camps or HIIT classes. Introverts prefer structured, quieter modalities such as weight training, yoga, or hiking. For ambiverts, alternating between formats may be the key to long-term engagement.

Client Case Files: Personality in Action

• Sarah the Introvert
  A quiet IT professional, Sarah vanished after just two crowded boot-camp sessions. However, once she switched to a calm, goal-driven strength program, she didn't just return; she thrived.

Lesson: Introverts excel with solo, structured approaches.

• James the Extrovert
  Solo treadmill routines bored him out of the program. Once placed in a social, competitive circuit class with music and teamwork, he not only stuck with it, he stayed longer and asked for more.

Lesson: Extroverts thrive on social energy and stimulation.

• Emma the Ambivert
  She liked spin classes…until she didn’t. She admitted she also needs downtime. A schedule alternating spin, solo strength, and Saturday yoga revitalized her consistency.

Lesson: Ambiverts need variety, balancing group energy with solo recovery.

The Anxiety Factor

The study also revealed how anxiety levels influence workout preferences and mental health benefits:

• Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. adults (19.1%) experience an anxiety disorder annually, and 31.1% across their lifetimes (NIMH, 2023).
• Situational anxiety is even more prevalent: 18% of U.S. adults reported anxiety symptoms in a two-week span in 2022—up from 6% in 2019 (CDC, 2023).
• Globally, around 4% of people (over 300 million) live with anxiety disorders (WHO, 2023).

Client Case Files: Anxiety in Motion

• Alex (Situational Anxiety)
  Stressed from a new job, Alex felt overwhelmed by new workouts. A program with familiar strength circuits, consistent machines, and breathing-heavy cooldowns helped him stick with it and de-stress.

Lesson: Predictability and calm help clients with temporary stress.

• Maria (Chronic Anxiety)
  She found boot camps exhausting. A program centered on yoga, tai chi, swimming, and mindful cooldowns reframed exercise as a calming ritual, improving both her physical and emotional well-being.

Lesson: Clients with chronic anxiety need low-stimulus, restorative movement.

Personal Training Applications: Making Personality Work 1-on-1

While much of the research looked at group dynamics, most fitness professionals work primarily in personal training. Here’s how you can apply personality alignment when it’s just you and your client:

• Extroverted Clients (1-on-1)

• Keep the energy high, play upbeat music, use enthusiastic coaching cues, and celebrate small wins out loud.
• Build in elements of competition: timed circuits, personal best challenges, or tracking leaderboards (even if it’s just them versus their past self).
• Occasionally, integrate partner drills (with you as the partner) to give them the interaction they crave.

• Introverted Clients (1-on-1)

• Focus on predictability and structure. Share the plan ahead of time so they know what to expect.
• Provide calm, clear instruction. Avoid overloading with chatter or hype.
• Respect their quiet focus. Sometimes the best coaching is short, precise cues.

• Ambivert Clients (1-on-1)

• Mix things up: some sessions can be high-energy and social, others quieter and technical.
• Ask them directly: “Do you want a push today, or have a more focused skill day?” Giving them control can boost engagement.
• Encourage variety in their weekly routine, maybe one solo cardio day and one social class outside your 1:1 sessions.
• Clients with Anxiety (1-on-1)
• Situational anxiety: Keep workouts simple and predictable; repeat movements and machines they’re comfortable with before introducing new ones.
• Chronic anxiety: Use exercise as a calming anchor. Prioritize breathing, posture, and restorative cooldowns to help them associate training with relief rather than stress.
• Watch body language. If a client seems uneasy, scale down intensity or stimulus before pushing forward.

Conclusion: Bringing It All Together

For personal trainers, the lesson is clear: the most effective programs go beyond sets and reps, they meet clients where they are psychologically. Matching workouts to personality type helps clients feel at home in their training, whether that means structured solitude for an introvert, high-energy interaction for an extrovert, or a balanced mix for the many ambiverts in between. Factoring in anxiety is just as important, since nearly one in five adults experiences it each year, and its presence can dramatically alter how a client perceives and sticks with exercise.

Building in flexibility, offering predictable structure where it’s needed, and prioritizing recovery practices such as stretching, mindful cooldowns, and low-stimulus movement can make training more sustainable for everyone…especially those who are anxiety-sensitive. And perhaps most importantly, adapt your coaching style in the one-on-one setting: use your energy, language, and programming structure to mirror what engages your client most. The key to client success isn’t just in the program you design, but in how well it aligns with their personality, mindset, and needs.

Train the body, honor the mind, and you’ll unlock results that truly last.

Use the insights from this IFPA FitBit to connect back to what you studied in your personal training textbook on Phase One: The Client Consult and Assessment Phase. Remember. Phase One is all about recruiting and retaining clients. The most successful trainers excel at both. When you apply the information here, along with what you’ve already learned in your IFPA personal training course, you will be well on your way to becoming highly successful yourself.

References

_{^{Cain, S. (2012). Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can’t stop talking. Crown Publishing Group.}}

_{^{Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023). Anxiety and depression: Household Pulse Survey, 2019–2022. National Center for Health Statistics. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr213.pdf}}

_{^{National Institute of Mental Health. (2023). Any anxiety disorder. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/any-anxiety-disorder}}

_{^{Ronca, F., et al. (2025). Personality traits predict exercise adherence and enjoyment in an eight-week home-based training program. Frontiers in Psychology, 16, 1559322. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1559322}}

_{^{Scientific American. (2017, May 19). Most people are ambiverts. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/extrovert-or-introvert-most-people-are-actually-ambiverts/}}

_{^{The Times. (2025, July 8). Why your personality type might be to blame for skipping the gym. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/why-your-personality-type-might-be-to-blame-for-skipping-the-gym-9mgtjhzqg}}

_{^{U.S. News & World Report (via Washington Post). (2025, July 9). Exercise and personality type: What science says. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2025/07/09/exercise-personality-type-stress}}

_{^{World Health Organization. (2023). Anxiety disorders: Fact sheet. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/anxiety-disorders}}