Is Flow the Holy Grail of Health?
We can use flow theory to guide efforts to exercise more.
Posted May 19, 2026 | Reviewed by Hara Estroff Marano
What if everyone liked to exercise and did it regularly? Individual and collective health would improve, along with the staggering health costs involved in chronic diseases due to sedentary behavior.
Alas, such is not the case. At last count, only 28 percent of Americans are getting the recommended 150 minutes of cardiovascular exercise and two sessions of strength training per week.
Some anthropologists point out that it is not our fault. We evolved successfully because humans learned early on that conserving calories was important. That’s because they never knew when the next bout of calories was going to come along. And, hunting and gathering was hard work. Once the work stopped, it was time to conserve energy. Learning to do that was key to survival. So, you could say that our tendency to enjoy being sedentary comes naturally.
Now, of course, we have different problems. We have lots of enticing distractions that keep us sitting down and easy access to calories of all sorts. Our evolutionary tendency may be kicking in to help us enjoy a life of ease, and our environment conspires to help us with that.
What can help to get us moving? Are we doomed to play out this calorie-conserving scenario to our detriment?
Flow May Provide an Answer
An interesting counter argument comes to us from Wesson and Boniwell (2007). Their research is about flow theory and its relevance to coaching psychology. Flow theory was developed Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in the 1970s. He wanted to understand why people could become committed to an activity that seemingly provided no external reward.
He found that states of flow involve complete immersion in and focus on an activity that feels effortless. It brings satisfaction, pleasure, and even happiness combined with a sense of control over the activity. Time is suspended along with self-consciousness by the total absorption. The effort itself produces the reward. We see this in a flawless ice skating performance When a professional athlete is "in the zone", we may see the results in a flawless ice skating performance.
Coaching psychology encompasses training athletes of all sorts, including those who are not going to be professionals. This is important to note, because many of us could use a little guidance when it comes to exercise, especially when first starting out full of intention and hope that the effort will become consistent. What is going to keep us in the game?
Wesson and Boniwell noted that, along with evolving to conserve calories, there was something else. We had to interact successfully with our environment, which could be challenging or even hostile. We would have had to be creative and curious. Those who were the best hunters, builders of shelter, and the most alert to adversity would have survived, passing along those traits to us. Our physiology evolved to help us be vibrant participants in life.
Wesson and Boniwell connected such vibrancy to the occurrence of flow . In order to experience flow, our bodies and brains need to go through a long process of intention, follow-through, consistency, problem-solving, and focused practice. These traits show up when we are using our creative and curious sides.
The recommendation for 150 minutes of exercise plus two strength training sessions a week outlines a health behavior equivalent to flossing, eating fruits and vegetables, and getting enough sleep.
As with many health behaviors, the rewards we get from exercise may not show up right away. We may not feel or look different. And many of the benefits of exercise fall into the category of prevention. Prevention is not something that you can snuggle up to; it’s just an abstraction. Nevertheless, it requires a long-term commitment. There may be no visible external reward, especially at first. The process may be perceived not as flow but as a grind.
That grind is related to the processes leading to a flow experience, said Wesson and Boniwell. The principles and actions that culminate in flow can be used to turn grind into the successful adoption of consistent exercise.
They cited the seven conditions that Csikszentmihalyi and his colleagues thought essential to promoting engagement in an activity that could eventually lead to flow. They are:
How do flow and coaching psychology relate to establishing a day-to-day habit of exercise?
As with the Holy Grail, the experience of flow may remain elusive. A person wishing to establish an exercise habit may never reach the lofty state of flow. But, following the path that leads to flow may be the way to stay committed to a goal that brings health and well-being.
“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds that you plant.” Robert Louis Stevenson
Wesson, K., Boniwell, I. (2007). Flow theory – its application to coaching psychology. International Coaching Psychology Review. 2(1).
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Kristen Carter, M.S., is an exercise physiologist and the author of The End of Try Try Again: Overcome Your Weight Loss and Exercise Struggles for Good.
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This article is part of the Bringwise Psychology Journal — daily insights on human behavior, mental health, and personal growth.