Erwin Apitzsch
Dept. of Psychology, Lund University

Exercise Pychology: Second Edition
527 sidor, inb., ill.
Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics 2013
ISBN 978-1-4504-0709-0
The second edition of Exercise Psychology contains three parts, โIntroduction and Basic Conceptsโ, โExercise and Mental Healthโ, and โThe Psychology of Physical Activity Behaviorโ, with in all 16 chapters. Three new chapters on the relation between exercise and cognition, fatigue, and pain have been added. The authors stress the importance of the biological foundations of exercise psychology in order to supplement the traditional cognitive, social, and environmental influences, thus broadening the perspectives of the subject area.
The content of the book chapters is organized in a logical way: Definition of the subject, historical background, conceptual framework, measurements, causes and correlates, epidemiological evidence, experimental evidence, mechanisms, and summary. In the end of each chapter, a list of relevant website references is provided.
Exercise Psychology gives a thorough presentation of the subject area, although sometimes very basic, contains numerous illustrative examples and references to different chapters, thought-provoking window highlights, and at the end a 14-page glossary. The book is quite heavy, but the hardcover binding facilitates an easy and convenient reading.
The pedagogical innovation is an image bank, which includes all of the figures, content photos, and tables from the text, sorted by chapter to be used to develop a customized presentation based on specific course requirements. A blank PowerPoint template is provided to teachers to insert images from the image bank to create their own presentations. This is an excellent idea.
It has been known for a long time that physical activity has positive effects on health related issues. However, what remains to be established are the mechanisms behind the effect, the type of exercise, the frequency, the intensity, and dosage. More research is needed, and an interdisciplinary approach, involving behavioral as well as medical researchers, would, in my opinion, be worthwhile. Exercise is not medically recognized as a treatment for depression according to the American Psychiatric Association, but might be when we know more about the underlying mechanisms.
The few editorial errors that I have noticed do not disturb a smooth reading โ โParticipation in daily school physical activity, and being physically activity in physical education classes did not change significantlyโ (p. 330) shall read โParticipation in daily school physical activity, and being physically activeโฆ.โ; โWhereas behaviorism contends that matter is the only reality and that reality is understood though the physical sciencesโฆ (p. 349) shall read โWhereas behaviorism contends that matter is the only reality and that reality is understood through the physical sciencesโฆโ; The tools for helping individuals, groups, and communities become and stay regularly activity have been studied extensively in various populationsโ (p. 382) shall read โThe tools for helping individuals, groups, and communities become and stay regularly activeโฆโ.
The references in the Bibliography section do not comply with the APA-style, which may be expected in a book on psychology, but the publisher is willing to give authors freedom in this respect. However, the reference style used is not coherent. References of chapters in edited books are mainly expressed as โedited by authors nameโฆโ, but also as โIn authors name (Ed.).
Exercise Psychology is a good starting point for those who are interested in the subject area, and, through the website references, a source for keeping up to date with new research.
Copyright ยฉย Erwin Apitzschย 2013