Seeing Exercise Behavior as a Process
The first thing we need to realize is that exercise behavior is a dynamic process. The reasons that initially drove you to join 1-2-3 fit are different from those that keep you there. In addition, the barriers that influence your behavior constantly change. Unlike other healthy behaviors (like wearing sunscreen or eating more vegetables), maintaining exercise behavior takes flexibility and sometimes, a willingness to compromise. What do we mean by flexibility and compromise? Perhaps a few specific examples will best explain.
Typical Barriers for Exercisers
Here are 3 barriers known to impact exercisers once they’ve begun:
- Changes in one’s schedule.
- Boredom with exercise routine.
- Failure to see any “real” change.
Sound familiar? These happen to most exercisers. The difference between those who persist and those who drop out is not what the barriers are, but how you deal with them. If you have read our previous newsletter articles, you should know what we’re going to talk about next…a plan. In this case, it’s about recognizing what the problem is, and then setting about to develop a strategy (or strategies) to deal with it. In behavior change lingo, it’s called relapse prevention, but you can call it being smart!
How Can I Overcome My Barriers?
Maybe you have been able to find time to go to the club 3 days a week before work. All of a sudden, your schedule has changed. That’s the problem – what is the solution? It’s important to remember that you have choices here. Write these choices down – perhaps you could wake up earlier, or you could change the time of your workout. For each alternative, think about who you will need to assist you (spouse, friend, other family member), and perhaps what else can be rescheduled or eliminated. It’s also important at this point to remind yourself why you are doing this – you don’t want to lose those hard-earned benefits gained from becoming physically active. Remember that time is a constraint for everyone – exercisers and non exercisers. The difference is that exercisers make exercise a priority. It may be helpful to sit down with your calendar and look at your typical schedule for the next few weeks. Maybe there are some days (not all, of course) where you have very little free time – it’s ok to skip those days, as long as you can keep with your goal of averaging the same number of trips to the club each week. The trap to avoid is to turn a change in schedule into an insurmountable problem. Think it through and you’ll come up with a flexible plan to deal with inevitable schedule changes.
Next we have boredom. No matter what activity you’re doing, it’s not at all unusual to get bored. Typically, this happens when we mindlessly go through the motions of exercise without experiencing it. For example, you could concentrate on your technique with a particular machine (technique can always be improved), or make a game out of the activity you do between machines. There are lots of ways you can add variety or challenge (intensity, for instance) into your routine. We encourage you to share your ideas with your fellow exercisers – helping others is actually a great way to motivate yourself! Second, it may help to see your 1-2-3 Fit routine as your baseline activity – NOT your only activity! Remember that the fitness you gain from your 1-2-3 Fit workouts may help your performance in (and your enjoyment of) other activities that you do, such as tennis, running, or kayaking. To keep things fresh, sign up for an upcoming physical activity event. For example, register for a 5K run that benefits your favorite local or national charity. By doing this, you have added a ‘means to an end” and given yourself renewed motivation to do that routine. To make this more fun, get some of your friends to register for the event, too. Now not only have you made a commitment to yourself, but you have a commitment to your friends. With athletes, we often say that you may not be able to change the situation, but you can always change your reaction to the situation. The same thing holds here – your routine may be fairly stable, but how and what you think about your routine can always change!
Our third barrier deals with not seeing change. The first question we would ask focuses on your goals – remember the first article on New Years’ resolutions? How did you picture success? Optimally, we want multiple indicators – the way clothes fit, how good I feel after exercising, the energy I have in the evening…not all of these are easily measured, but all are potential indicators of change. Sure, many of us would like to see changes on the scale or in our BMI, but we also know these may take time. Take a moment to think about any positive changes you may have noticed since you became more physically active. For example … improvements in mood, energy, sleep, and memory are also typical from regular exercise, and likely become evident before some physical changes. If you do feel frustrated about the lack of physical change, then by all means DO something about it. Talk with your coach – maybe it’s about your intensity level or technique. Again, take control of your behavior and you will feel less anxiety and less frustration. Here again we see the issue of flexibility – in this case, it’s in how we perceive change – and being flexible and varied in how we perceive change will pay off in the end.
In summary, we need to remember that regular exercise is not easy. It’s something we have to work at and sometimes struggle with. But the rewards are great and far-reaching. Allowing ourselves the flexibility to adapt to change, and yes, sometimes even to miss a workout will help us maintain that activity over time. Maintaining exercise behavior is truly about flexibility and compromise…hmm…sounds like life, doesn’t it??
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This article was contributed by Diane Whaley and Blake Rushin of the University of Virginia. Copyright 2007.
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