Emai Lourd R.
Sano
Exercise and Sport Psychology
Block 6/ BPED / 3rd Year
EXERCISE INITIATION AND ADHERENCE
Learning Objectives
a. Explain why people choose to not exercise compared to why they should exercise
b. Explain the determinants of exercise adherence
c. Identify strategies for increasing exercise adherence
What is Exercise Initiation and Adherence?
Exercise Initiation is a total body workout that recruits every major muscle group you have.
It starts off feeling light and easy but the load on the muscles soon begins to pile up and you
do need to dig deep in order to continue delivering great form.
Exercise Adherence refers to the strength of an individuals commitment to performing
physical exerciseHigh among people that have achievable goals but also challenging with
the supervision of a trainer or coach.
Why People Don’t Exercise
● Lack of Time
● Lack of Energy
● Lack of Motivation
● Lack of Social Support
● Lack of Money
Why They Should Exercise!
● Weight Control
● Reduced Risk of Cardiovascular Disease
● Reduction is Stress and Depression
● Enjoyment
● Enhancement of Self Esteem
● Opportunities to Socialize
Determinants Personal Factors Demographic Variables
Cognitive and personality variables
Behaviors
Demographic variables
Demographic variables that have been associated with physical activity traditionally include
education, income, and social economic status. Research has shown people with white
collar jobs tend to show more exercise adherence. Recent studies used non white
participants, because groups who are non white are absent from the literature, and at risk for
low levels for activity.
Cognitive and personality variables
Self- efficacy and self-motivation have been found to be the most consistent predictors of
physical activity.
Campaigns have been put in place to modify knowledge, attitudes, values and beliefs
regarding physical activity to try and influence a persons interest to be active.
Behaviors
Behavior plays a vital role in the amount of physical activity one has, research has shown
that children who were encouraged at a younger age to be physically active tend to be
physically active through adulthood.
Determinants Environmental Factors Social Environment
Physical Environment
Physical Activity Characteristics
Social Environment
Social support from friends and family have been consistently linked to increased physical
activity.
Spousal Support plays a critical role in exercise adherence.
Spouses' attitudes can influence someone more than their own.
Social support has also been proven to help injuries and rehabilitation
Physical environment
Proximity to home is important to whether a person chooses to exercise.
Closer the person workout facility is the more likely they are to stick to a program.
Climate and season also plays a significant role, low levels of activity in the winter while high
activity in the summer based on location.
Physical activity characteristics
The most important factors include intensity, frequency, and duration of exercise.
Discomfort during exercise can affect adherence to a program.
The recommended duration of time during a moderate intense workout is anywhere between
30min1hr More vigorous activity shows greater risk for injury.
Increasing Exercise Adherence
Behavioral Modification Approaches
Reinforcement Approaches
Cognitive-Behavioral Approaches
Decision-Making Approaches
Social Support Approaches
Intrinsic Approaches
Behavior modification approaches
Behavior modification may have an impact on something in the physical environment that
acts as a cue for habits of behaviors. A prompt is a cue that initiates a behavior. Fading is
how prompts can causally be eliminated and people increase in independence
Reinforcement approaches
Reinforcement can be either positive or negative, use of. incentives or rewards to increase
adherence, and charting attendance and participation.
Performance feedback is important in the reinforcement process, putting the information in a
chart shows visual improvements showing if they are reaching there goals. Feedback on
their progression has shown to increase motivational benefits
Cognitive approaches
Assumes that internal events such as thinking have an important role in change.
Goal setting is a useful technique in improving adherence and behavior, once people reach
goals that they have set they feel better about themselves rising self-esteem, psychological
needs, satisfaction, exercise behavior and lower levels of anxiety.
Decision-making approaches
A decision balance sheet makes people more aware of the potential benefits and cost of an
exercise program.
Individuals write anticipated consequences of exercise participation in terms of gains to self,
loses to self, gains of improvement to others, losses of improvement to others, approval of
others, disapproval of others, self approval and self-disapproval.
This has shown that when participants are involved in the decision making process
attendance and positive outcomes have increased.
Social support approaches
Social support refers to an individual’s favorable attitude toward someone else’s involvement
in an exercise program.
Family, friends, spouses help cue exercise through verbal reminders, also by being a model
if they exercise through behavior and companionship during exercise. Another way would be
through transportation, leading of clothes, and measuring exercise routes.
Social support has been proven to enhance physical activity and adherence with structured
exercise programs
Intrinsic approaches
Intrinsic motivation comes from within and has been proven to be the longest lasting and
most meaningful
Focuses on the experience itself rather than the external goals such as losing weight
Be focused on the process rather than the product of the movement activities, people who
focus on the external outcomes face societal and physical barriers so become a life long
exercisers individuals must become more process orient ended
Works Cited
Weinberg, Robert, Gould, Daniel. Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology. 2011
