exercise behavior and adherence as a society we are not exercising regularly this lack of physical activity could be due to many reasons despite the physiological and psychological benefits that are associated with exercise only a small percentage of children and adults participate in exercise programs regularly so how does this affect us as athletic trainers many of us will choose to work in athletic training in the high school or middle school setting this means that many of the individuals that will be trying out for sports teams may not have a good exercise background nor experience playing Sport and thus the risk for injury is increased for these individuals additionally what happens when individuals stop playing sport either because they do not play at the Collegiate level after graduating high school or they're at the Collegiate level and they don't go on to the professional level what's the likelihood that those individuals will remain in some sort of exercise or physical activity once they're done with their sport these are important questions to think about so why study exercise Behavior why is this important despite the current sciental emphasis on Fitness most American adults do not exercise regularly and only half of those who begin exercise programs continue their participation some of the top reasons people exercise include weight control reduce risk of cardiovascular disease reduction of stress and depression enjoyment enhancement of self-esteem socialization and other areas such as such as cosmetic or competition reasons some of the top reasons people do not exercise include a lack of time this is the top reason why people report not exercising 69 percent of non-attending exercisers report a lack of time as the reason also a lack of energy approximately 59 of non-exercisors report that this is a significant barrier for them and a lack of motivation for many individuals it's very easy to put other things before you and your personal health here are the top 10 Common barriers to exercise once people start exercising it can be difficult to maintain an exercise program many people find it easier to start an exercise program than to stick with it about 50 percent of participants drop out of exercise programs within the first six months this graph illustrates the Steep decrease in exercise participation within the first six months the number then levels off until approximately 18 months later there are some reasons why people have an issue with exercise adherence even though it is both physiologically and psychologically beneficial these include the following exercise prescriptions or EPS often ignore Readiness the protocols and prescriptions are often based solely on Fitness data rather than an individual which ignores people's physiological and psychological Readiness to exercise exercise prescriptions are often too restrictive and do not enhance motivation for regular exercise prescriptions are too challenging sometimes for participants it is not uncommon to find exercise prescriptions that are based on the principles of intensity duration and frequency that may be above a participant's current level traditional exercise prescriptions do not promote self-responsibility or Empower people to make long-term changes to their behaviors there's a problem of exercise adherence first the transition from a sedentary state to exercise adoption we don't really understand why there's such a big variation in why people are successful and unsuccessful in exercise adoption it is important to stress self-efficacy those with high self-efficacy experience lower perceptions of effort during exercise and they also report positive affect with vigorous exercise so how do we encourage the transition from exercise adoption to a maintenance of a routine we can do this by having participants engage in group exercises a cohesion develops and helps to increase adherence remember cohesion we talked about it earlier in this class increasing accessibility this results in an increased likelihood of the adherence and also addressing intrinsic motivation individuals with higher internal motivation are more likely to adopt and maintain an exercise program as opposed to those with an external motivation age can also be a factor there is a moderate relationship between social physique anxiety and exercise adherence and lastly there is a p factor in order for physical activity to be meaningful it must have a purpose there are some barriers to adherence based on cultural social economic and personality variables for example demographic variables can affect exercise adherence research has demonstrated that blue-collar workers typically have lower exercise adherence rate than do y-collar workers however increased choices can increase their adherence rates for exercise cognitive and personality variables of all the variables tested self-efficacy and self-motivation have been found to be the most consistent predictors of physical activity and adherence behaviors early environment and Sport and physical activity should be encouraged because a positive relationship exists between childhood exercise and adult physical activity patterns environmental factors factors include the social environment family and our peers the physical environment such as the weather time pressures and distance from facilities and the characteristics of the physical activity such as the intensity and duration of the exercise bout effect adherence social environment spousal support or family support is critical to enhancing adherence rates for people in exercise programs spouses should be involved in orientation sessions or in Peril exercise programs the same could be said with family and friends the physical environment although lack of time has been cited as a major reason for physical inactivity home exercise equipment has not solved the inactivity problem so why do some people who start an exercise program fail to stick with it whereas others continue to make it part of their lifestyle here are some theories that may help to explain the answer to this question the health benefit model this model suggests that the likelihood of an individual engaging in preventative health behaviors depends on the person's perception of the severity of the health risks and the costs and risks of not taking action it also depends on the individual's perception of the costs and risks of taking the action this is a very enduring and successful model however it is focused on disease more so than exercise so it doesn't well predict exercise behavior in the long run another theory is the theory of planned behavior that was established in 1986 this Theory suggests that the intention to perform a behavior is fundamental to exercise and best predicts exercise Behavior this model places a strong emphasis on the social attitudes towards exercise the theory also notes that others expectations of you may influence exercise Behavior this theory has been effective in explaining familial exercise patterns or exercise patterns of the family the social cognitive theory by bandura in 1986 1997 and 2005. this Theory suggests that individuals who are dissatisfied with their current behavior who have high self-efficacy who set exercise goals and also those who generally achieve their goals this model has received good support for research as a singular aspect of exercise Behavior the self-determination theory is related to its influence on Sports motivation and performance this Theory suggests that people are inherently motivated to feel connected to others within a group to function effectively and to have personal initiative research shows that successful people have strong support systems that help them to adhere to exercise programs with examining all these other models the biggest issue with most of the previous models is that they tend to focus on One Moment In Time rather than the bigger picture the transtheoretical model proposed by prakashka De Clemente and Norcross in 1992. this Theory does not focus on One Moment In Time as do the other theories rather it argues that individuals progress through stages of change and that movement across the stages is cyclical rather than linear because many people do not succeed in their efforts at establishing and maintaining Lifestyle Changes this Theory recommends an individualized approach for each individual there are six stages to the trans-theoretical model stage one a pre-contemplation stage is also known as the couch Surfer individuals do not intend to start exercising in the next six months individuals may be demoralized about their ability to change they may be defensive due to social pressures and may also be uninformed or may also be uninformed of the long-term consequences of their continued Behavior stage two is contemplation during this stage people seriously intend to exercise within the next few months they have had thoughts of exercise and may even exercise sometimes this stage lasts about two years according to most research stage 3 is preparation people at this stage are exercising some but are not regular in their exercise they are considered sporadic exercisers stage 4 is action individuals at this stage exercise regularly but they have been doing so for less than six months this is the least stable stage it tends to correspond with the highest risk for relapse stage five is the maintenance stage the individual has been exercising regularly for more than six months although they are likely to maintain regular exercise throughout their lifespan boredom and loss of focus can become a problem stage six is then termination once an exerciser has stayed in the terminal stage for five years the individual is considered to have exited from the cycle of change and relapse simply does not occur the one criticism is that this Theory shows that we can identify people's stages however an individual's intervention is not always clear nor is their intention for exercise if we could identify proper interventions at specific stages we might be able to increase an individual's exercise adherence the physical activity maintenance model was proposed in 2008. this is the only model that actually predicts adherence to an exerciser's routine the key aspects are goal setting including commitment attainment and satisfaction self-motivation or persistence in the pursuit of Behavioral goals independent of any situational constraints self-efficacy or confidence to overcome barriers and to avoid relapse physical activity environment such as access Aesthetics or attractiveness enjoyable scenery social support and life stress which could be recent life changes and or everyday hassles this Theory provides greater depth of explanation as to the many factors that are involved with exercise adherence so what keeps an individual in an exercise program the simple answer is there's numerous factors each person is motivated by something a little different behavior modification is the planned systematic application of learning principles to the modification of behavior behavior modification approaches may have an effect of something in the physical environment that acts as a cue for habits of behavior a prompt is a cue that initiates a behavior prompts can be verbal prompts can be verbal physical or symbolic cues that initiate a behavior Contracting is another way to change exercise Behavior this is to have participants enter into contracts with exercise leaders these contracts should include realistic goals dates by which goals should be reached and the consequences for not meeting goals reinforcement approaches are either positive or negative to increase exercise adherence incentives or rewards can be given for staying within a program rewards besides simply charting attendance and participation records some Studies have used rewards to enhance exercise adherence and improve attendance but this must be done on a regular basis and must be persistent feedback providing Progressive feedback to participants can have motivational benefits the more individualized the feedback is the more likely the individual is to succeed self-monitoring participants can keep written records of their attendance and track their own progress as well goal setting and cognitive approaches cognitive behavioral approaches assume that internal events such as thinking have an important role in behavioral change exercise related goals should be self-set rather than instructor set they should be flexible rather than fixed and they should be time based rather than distance based some decision-making approaches they involve exercisers making decisions regarding program structure we can consider a decision balance sheet whether to start an exercise program can often be an extremely difficult decision a decision balance sheet can be a helpful tool this technique allows individuals to examine the potential gains to their self and also the losses to their self associated with an exercise routine this tool can make individuals more aware of the potential benefits and the costs that are associated with an exercise program this exercise and Tool allows the individual to be a more active participant in the decision-making process when committing to engaging in exercise social support approaches social support refers to an individual's favorable attitude towards someone else's involvement in an exercise program social support is most likely the most important factor for exercise participation social support can come from small groups buddy systems loved ones and our friends please see your textbook for a summary of adherence improving guidelines there's quite a few of them and it helps to have an individual approach