Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the ugliest of us all?

    Wall-to-wall mirrors in gyms and dance studios might stop women getting the exercise they need because women who work out in front of a mirror get discouraged and feel tired, Canadian researchers said.

    The study, published in the journal Health Psychology, focused on young women who exercised less than 15 minutes a week. It found that, regardless of how they viewed their bodies, women who worked out in front of a mirror felt worse, or no better, and less at peace after 20 minutes of activity.

    "The mirrors make women more self-aware, they think of their shortcomings. Things like: 'I look fat, I should be more active'," said Kathleen Martin Ginis, lead author of the study, and a professor at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario."When women are more introspective, they might feel 'I'm not that great' unfortunately."

    The survey questioned 58 women with an average age of 22--young enough to be concerned about body image.

    Participants took turns on stationary bicycles, working out either in front of a mirror or with the mirror curtained over.

    And whether the participant felt comfortable about her body or not, the outcome was the same--women who did not have to watch themselves exercise felt calmer, more positive and more revitalized at the end of their session.

    Still, Martin Ginis stressed that mirrors can be positive and functional. "I don't want to convey the idea that we should rip out gym mirrors," she said, noting that exercisers often needed to see their form, or assess if they are using the correct muscles groups during strength training.

    But things were different for beginners. "For beginner exercisers, mirrors can be daunting," she said.
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    Martin Ginis suggested gyms provide areas without mirrors to encourage novice exercisers.

    "Women don't need to exercise in a gym," she said. "Thirty minutes of walking, or hiking is good too. There are other ways to get your exercise."

    鏡子啊鏡子，墻上的鏡子，誰是我們當中最丑的一個？

    健身房和舞蹈房內四周的鏡子可能會妨礙婦女們得到她們所需要的鍛煉，因為當她們面對鏡子鍛煉身體時，會感到灰心喪氣，精疲力竭。這是加拿大研究人員作出的結論。

    該論文發表在《健康心理學》雜志上，主要研究對象是每周鍛煉時間不足15分鐘的婦女。經研究發現，無論她們如何看待自己的體形，在鏡子前進行鍛煉的婦女會感覺更糟或者不好，鍛煉20分鐘過后，她們就感覺不那么心平氣和。

    該論文的主要作者，安大略州漢彌頓市麥克馬司特大學的教授凱瑟琳·馬丁·吉尼說：“鏡子使女人更有自知之明，讓她們想起自己的短處，比如‘我看上去很胖，我應該多運動’。當婦女變得更加自省的時候，她們可能會很遺憾地認為‘我沒有那么好’。”

    此項調查詢問了58位女性，她們的平均年齡為22歲——正是關心體形的年紀。

    參加調查的人輪流在健身腳踏車上進行鍛煉，有的面對著鏡子，有的則把鏡子掩蓋起來。

    無論參加者對她們自己的體形感到滿意與否，結果都是一樣的——那些不用照鏡子的人在運動結束時更平靜，更自信，更加充滿活力。

    盡管如此，馬丁·吉尼強調說鏡子也可以發揮積極有效的作用。她說：“我不是說我們應該詛咒健身房里的鏡子。”她談到鍛煉者經常需要看到自己的形態，或者在進行力量訓練時觀察自己運用的肌肉組織是否正確。

    但是這對于初學者來說就不一樣了。她說：“鏡子會令初學者感到畏懼。

    馬丁·吉尼建議健身房應該提供周圍沒有鏡子的場地來鼓勵新手。

    她說：“婦女們其實并不需要在健身房中進行鍛煉。散步30分鐘或徒步旅行也不錯，鍛煉還有許多其它的方法。”