Peer-reviewed research
Acute and Chronic Physical Activity Increases Creative Ideation Performance: A Systematic Review and Multilevel Meta-analysis
Christian Rominger et al., Sports Medicine - Open, 2022 · DOI 10.1186/s40798-022-00444-9
Read the originalRead on October 16, 2026
- What it is
- A systematic review and multilevel meta-analysis that pooled 28 physical activity intervention studies and their creative ideation results. It covers exercise and physical activity in general, and it reports a separate pooled effect for interventions that were acute (one bout) and for those that were chronic (days or weeks).
- How much weight it carries
- Peer-reviewed, open access and recent. Its studies vary in design, population and creativity measure, and it does not isolate walking. Treat the pooled effect as evidence that physical activity helps idea generation in general, not as a measure of drafting.
Facts taken from this source
- A meta-analysis of 28 physical activity intervention studies found a medium pooled effect on creative ideation performance, Hedges' g = 0.47.
“The pooled effects of 28 intervention studies, providing 115 effect sizes, indicated a medium effect size of Hedges’ g = 0.47” (Abstract, Results)