How Exercise Shapes the Way We Make Decisions

Most of us know that exercise is good for our bodies and minds. It makes us stronger, keeps the heart healthy, and helps manage stress, but research is starting to show that movement also changes the way we think—and even the way we make decisions.

A new study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise looked at 84 adults (about 62% women/38% men, 55% White/45% Non-White, mean age = 28 ± 9 years) who had gone through trauma and measured how their exercise habits influenced decision-making. Participants reported their physical activity levels and completed decision-making tasks that assessed two strategies: Model-free and Model-based decision making. The selection of this demographic is important to note, because trauma and PTSD are often linked to struggles with choices such as reacting to threats, missing out on opportunities, or getting stuck in patterns that aren’t helpful.

What was done?

Researchers from the kinesiology and psychology departments at University of Alabama and University of Colorado Denver focused on the two different strategies we use to make decisions.

• Model-free decision-making relies on habitual, automatic responses. These choices are often immediate and reward-seeking but do not account for long-term consequences. For example, selecting fast food out of convenience is a model-free choice.

• Model-based decision-making involves planning, weighing options, and anticipating outcomes. This form of decision-making is more deliberate and considers long-term benefits, such as preparing a healthy meal to improve future well-being or not taking the fast-food route to prevent long term health issues.

What They Found

Participants who engaged in higher levels of physical activity were significantly more likely to use model-based strategies meaning that active individuals tended to plan ahead, weigh consequences, and pursue long-term benefits instead of reacting impulsively. However, the data also showed a plateau effect: once participants reached a certain level of activity, additional exercise did not yield stronger decision-making benefits. In other words, consistent, moderate-to-vigorous activity was enough.

What Does This Mean For You?

For trauma-exposed adults, decision-making can be especially challenging. Stress and PTSD symptoms often bias the brain toward short-term, reactive thinking. So committing to your workouts are doing more than just shaping your body. They’re literally reshaping how the brain’s reward and planning systems interact. Especially when you sign up for a class or stick to a workout even if you don't feel 100%. Dopamine, a key neurotransmitter, helps encode reward prediction errors and signal whether an outcome is better or worse than expected, shaping both habit-based and goal-directed choices (Schultz, Dayan, & Montague, 1997). Model-based decision-making in particular relies on the prefrontal cortex and striatum, which simulate future outcomes and require healthy dopaminergic signaling (Daw et al., 2011). Exercise supports this process by enhancing dopamine function, improving blood flow to the brain, and reducing inflammation, thereby strengthening the neural circuits that promote thoughtful, future-oriented choices (Gorrell et al., 2022; Hird et al., 2024).

Key Strategies to Takeaway

So what can you do? While exercise itself strengthens the brain systems behind better decision-making, there are also everyday strategies that can help reinforce model-based thinking:

1. Pair Movement With Decision Points - Even short bouts of activity (like a brisk walk) before making an important choice can help clear stress and prime the prefrontal cortex for planning.

2. Practice “Pause and Plan” - When you feel the urge to make an impulsive choice, pause for 60 seconds and ask: “How will this decision affect me tomorrow or next week?” This slows down model-free reactions and engages model-based circuits.

3. Build If–Then Habits - Create simple rules such as, “If I feel stressed, then I’ll take five deep breaths before I act.” These structured responses make it easier to override automatic impulses.

4. Use Environmental Cues - Surround yourself with prompts that support long-term thinking like keeping healthy snacks visible and junk food out of sight or better yet out of the house, or placing workout clothes by the door as a visual nudge. Personally for me, post it notes go a long way.

5. Reflect and Reward - Keep a short journal or checklist of times you chose the future-oriented option. Rewarding yourself reinforces the brain’s dopamine system and makes goal-directed strategies more natural over time.

Movement creates momentum. When you train your body, you train your mind to make clearer, more confident decisions. Take the next step—book a class or start your membership and build the habits that move you forward.

As always my friends, your mind body connection is so real! Stay consistent and let me know in the comments ways you might be changing the way you make decisions! Stay happy and healthy fam!

References

1. Akam, T., Rodrigues-Vaz, I., Zhang, X., Pereira, M., Dayan, P., & Costa, R. M. (2021). The role of dopamine in the arbitration between model-based and model-free learning. Neuron, 109(4), 754–767. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2020.12.015

2. Chakroun, K., Mathar, D., Wiehler, A., Ganzer, F., Peters, J., & Paulus, W. (2023). Dopaminergic modulation of decision thresholds in model-based and model-free learning. Neuropsychopharmacology, 48(3), 548–558. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-022-01486-2

3. Daw, N. D., Niv, Y., & Dayan, P. (2005). Uncertainty-based competition between prefrontal and dorsolateral striatal systems for behavioral control. Nature Neuroscience, 8(12), 1704–1711. https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1560

4. Daw, N. D., Gershman, S. J., Seymour, B., Dayan, P., & Dolan, R. J. (2011). Model-based influences on humans’ choices and striatal prediction errors. Neuron, 69(6), 1204–1215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2011.02.027

5. Gorrell, L., Wren, E., & Ainslie, P. N. (2022). Exercise and the brain: Mechanisms of neuroplasticity and relevance to clinical populations. Frontiers in Physiology, 13, 878420. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2022.878420

6. Hird, E. J., Edwards, K. A., & Jefferys, J. G. R. (2024). Neuroinflammation and exercise: How physical activity modulates brain immunity and cognitive function. Brain Research Bulletin, 207, 110–124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainresbull.2024.04.009

7. Schultz, W., Dayan, P., & Montague, P. R. (1997). A neural substrate of prediction and reward. Science, 275(5306), 1593–1599. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.275.5306.1593

8. Weng, H. Y., Price, R. B., Bui, E., Pedrelli, P., Wilkins, K. C., Simon, N. M., & Aupperle, R. L. (2023). Physical activity and model-based decision-making among trauma-exposed adults. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 55(7), 1134–1142. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000003122