Are You Ready to Make a Change?
I must admit that this section was one that really caught my attention. Specifically, understanding who is going to be more successful at adopting a new exercise program. And no, this has nothing to do with measuring your ‘willpower’ - ugh! The older I get, the more I’m convinced that every day I wake up with a certain amount of willpower and once it’s used up, I’m done. So for me, that can mean playing ‘keep away’ from a sweet treat. If I’m successful at that, then I don’t have any will power to spread around to other things that ‘are good for me’.
Instead, in this section I learned about TTM (Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change), also known as the Stages-of-Change Model. This model explains that not all exercisers are ready to start a regular exercise program. TTM explains that the process of starting and maintaining behavioral change is comprised of four parts:
Stages of Change
Precontemplation Stage
This is when someone is mostly sedentary and not even thinking about an exercise program. In fact, at this stage some think being physically active isn't really important at all and therefore, not relevant to their lives.
Contemplation Stage
People are still sedentary at this stage but they are starting to see that physical exercise is important and are beginning to see the implications of being inactive. However, they still aren’t committed to make a change.
Preparation Stage
this stage is marked by some physical activity, as individuals are mentally and physically preparing to adopt an activity program. Activities at this stage might include a sporadic walk or trip to the gym. The bottom line here though is that people in this stage are ready to adopt and live an active lifestyle.
Action Stage
Yeah to Action Stage - these are all of you who are doing regular physical activity…for less than 6 months.
Maintenance Stage
Double Yeah here - this is all of you doing regular physical activity for more than 6 months.
2. Processes of Change
The most effective change strategies address the specific stages above. For instance, providing interventions that can meet the goals for change in each change:
Precontemplation - find ways to make inactivity a relevant issue and to start thinking about being active.
2. Contemplation - consider taking some action here, get involved in some kind of activity…something that is easily achievable for you.
3. Preparation - find what will make a regular no-brainer/can hardly wait to do it physical activity.
4. Action - you guessed it, keep it up…what will it take to make your physical activity a non-negotiable for you
5. Maintenance - you’ve come this far, don’t go backwards…be careful with injuries/holidays/hang nails…anything that can be used as an excuse to slip back into a less active lifestyle.
3. Self-Efficacy
As discussed in a previous post, your self-efficacy is your belief in your own capability to engage in a physical exercise program. This may come as no great surprise, but if you fall in the action or maintenance stage, you may have higher self-efficacy than someone in the precontemplator or contemplator stage. Not to worry though if you fall in the lower self-efficacy stage, search out the small wins…something you enjoy and can easily do with the minimum amount of pain.
4. Decisional Balance
Decisional balance refers to the number of pros and cons perceived in adopting and/or maintaining a physical activity program. Again, this is another ‘no great surprise’ moment, if you’re in the action/management stage, your decisional balance around physical activity likely sees far more pros than cons to physical exercise. However, if you’re a precontemplator/contemplator, you may see more cons than pros. This is where it’s really useful to break physical exercise down into much smaller activities, a walk to the end of the drive way and back…and be proud of the accomplishment
So, this is the theory. I think sometimes we can get a little ahead of ourselves when we think about physical activity. If we start thinking about going for a run, we think about a 20 or 30 minute run, when we should be setting our sights on a 10 minute walk around the block. This is especially true not only because it’s sooo important to start out with smaller achievable goals to build our self efficay (yup - there’s that belief in yourself again…) but you may find that walking/jogging/running isn’t your thing…at all! That’s okay - there are loads of other physical activities you could be doing…playing baseball, ballroom dancing, the hula hoop…seriously….loads of other activities :)!!
SOURCE: American Council on Exercise (ACE) Personal Trainer Manual Chapter 4