The drive to exercise - is it MIA?

I hope that you managed to fill in both questionnaires that were included in my previous posts. These are your baseline measurements for your improved wellness. Now I am going to add some academic research that I looked at during my dissertation. Yes, it’s probably 10 years old and some of the papers I quote are older than that - but my point is...we’ve known for a long time now the value of being active and it’s knock on effect to our health and yet the health of the uk is still deteriorating. So, have a quick read, look up the papers if you wish and tomorrow I will set out some simple guidelines to follow.

Research shows us that physical activity in general is beneficial to both physical
(Blair et al., 2001) and mental health (Biddle et al., 2000). Despite knowing and understanding this, we still have barriers to exercise, both real and imagined, that stops us from starting an exercise programme.  So, lets look at motivation that might lead
to a positive change in behaviour that can lead to improvements to quality of life, health and well-being.

  I am going to introduce you to a theory called “Self Determination Theory” (SDT)
(Deci and Ryan, 2002).  We are going to
use this fab piece of research that I did my dissertation on towards the enjoyment
of exercise, making friendships and increasing self-confidence. SDT is a study
of human motivation, development and wellness. . Central to the theory is the
suggestion that there are three basic and universal requirements that need to
be satisfied. These are: (i) autonomy, or the control of your life; (ii)
competence, or the mastery of a skill, and (iii) relatedness, or
the way in which we relate to the outside world and in particular to groups
that are socially close. These three needs are central to facilitating natural
and optimal growth in social perception and personal well-being (Ryan and Deci,
2000).

 We understand exercise is valuable in keeping our
cardiovascular system healthy (ACSM, 2007) 
but also the link between body image and
self-esteem is a strong influencing factor on motivation for exercise.  Self-worth and self-esteem can improve even at a low 55% maximum training
heart rate when only slight increases in fitness and body fat were achieved (Elavsky and McAuley, 2007)  Exercise has value in underpinning physical
self-worth, self-perception and well-being (Fox, 2001). Self-worth can be described as how we see
ourselves (in a judgmental way) and includes our own beliefs, emotions and how
we behave. Whilst well-being can be thought of as happiness and mood. Interestingly, these two ideas
can also be defined as Hedonic (positive), which is linked to the basic
satisfaction that we get from feelings of pleasure and happiness; or Eudaemonic
which is more deeply rooted in fulfillment of human need - or the vast and
amazing realisation of your
potential.

Considering the range of positive benefits to exercise,
there appears little reason for us not to increase physical activity. But the
motivation to exercise is often what stops us. I am hoping that the
questionnaires will help you rethink...we know that this can of thought can
have a direct effect on exercise behaviour (Markland and Ingledew, 1997; Ryan et
al., 1984). 

 SDT is the intention of the motivation that
directs energy and behaviour. It uses motivational constructs to categorise
cognitive, affective and behavioural variables and reflects the source of
motivation rather than the amount of motivation as predictors for performance.
Intrinsic motivation combines our natural inquisitiveness about our world, and
the fundamental desire to nurture happiness and well-being (Deci and Ryan,
1995).  The pleasure we derive from tasks
which have no external gratification leads to true intrinsic motivation (Deci and
Ryan, 1995), and the freedom to choose what we do connects the basic needs
principles for SDT. Basically, this can be summed up as doing something you
love and enjoy!            

SDT
looks at your goals from a personal choice view point. If we want a long term commitment to exercise then it
is really important that they are personal, and gives us personal satisfaction from
exercise and the freedom to chose what we do, when we do it etc, rather than
pressure to complete tasks.  The feeling
of being in control of your environment is linked with intrinsic motivation
(internal) responsible for long term persistence behaviour and increased
psychological health (Wilson and Rodgers, 2002).

There
is more to come...just read this for now and think about what you like doing.

Wellness - what is it, and why is it important? Part 1

Back in the day...when I used to teach NVQ Level 2 Gym for
YMCA...we had a slide that would represent what “Total Fitness” meant.  This included four elements – Physical Fitness
( 5 elements), Nutrition (of course), Medical – including disease
and medical conditions that might affect fitness, and then the odd, and brushed
over “social and emotional fitness”

20 years later, we seem to understand more that each of these
are not simply elements of fitness that we train for, but elements that hold
hands, keep us functioning and each part is as important as the others.

Training for “Physical Fitness” is fairly easy and
straightforward. We apply a training method, look for the visible “gains” and
congratulate ourselves on being able to make recognisable changes. Likewise
changes to diet and eating habits can have an effect within 7 days. Why then
are we now so aware and concerned about the “social and emotional” side of
being totally fit...

Without good solid mental health and well being, we rarely
have the drive or motivation to pursue the other elements of fitness. But, why
is it so difficult to implement, see change and be vocal about what we are
doing. Can mental health be trained? Can we get “gains”?

The good news is yes. Positive steps towards the social and
emotional sides of our fitness can show results that are measurable. 

Much like the fitness notions of “no pain
no gain” or “if it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you”,  the
step into wellbeing is not just challenge to you personally, but it requires courage to be vocal about what you are doing - and for it to be taken seriously, congratulated on , be seen as inspirational and maybe not as chasing rainbows ...

Luckily, as I refer to the first part of my blog, these
elements tend to be linked, to hold hands, to influence each other.  This is great news. Because you can now call
your “Wellness Training” as a fitness programme – people readily accept fitness
programmes, it can be measured! You can see change!

First part, like physical fitness training, is to take
measurements. You can keep these confidential of course. Below are two well know and recognised mental health questionnaires that I used in my dissertation. These psychological
profiles will measure your feelings towards exercise and how your felt whilst
exercises – so, err, sorry, but you do need to do the physical training to go along with understanding how physical exercise affects your well being. 

As you can probably tell, this is just the first step. Please be honest when answering and keep a copy as we will retest at the end of the month. More to come !

		Not true for me		Sometimes true for me	Very true for me
1	I exercise because other people say I should	0	1	2	3	4
2	I feel guilty when I don’t exercise	0	1	2	3	4
3	I value the benefits of exercise	0	1	2	3	4
4	I exercise because it’s fun	0	1	2	3	4
5	I don’t see why I should have to exercise	0	1	2	3	4
6	I take part in exercise because my friends/family/partner say I should	0	1	2	3	4
7	I feel ashamed when I miss an exercise session	0	1	2	3	4
8	It’s important to me to exercise regularly	0	1	2	3	4
9	I can’t see why I should bother exercising	0	1	2	3	4
10	I enjoy my exercise sessions	0	1	2	3	4
11	I exercise because others will not be pleased with me if I don’t	0	1	2	3	4
12	I don’t see the point of exercising	0	1	2	3	4
13	I feel like a failure when I haven’t exercised in a while	0	1	2	3	4
14	I think it is important to make the effort to exercise regularly	0	1	2	3	4
15	I find exercise a pleasurable activity	0	1	2	3	4
16	I feel under pressure from my friends/family to exercise	0	1	2	3	4
17	I get restless if I don’t exercise regularly	0	1	2	3	4
18	I get pleasure and satisfaction from participating in exercise	0	1	2	3	4
19	I think exercising is a waste of time	0	1	2	3	4

		Not true for me		Sometimes true for me	Very true for me
1	Having to exercise is a bind but it has to be done	0	1	2	3	4
2	I feel confident that I can do the exercises	0	1	2	3	4
3	In the exercise environment I feel accepted	0	1	2	3	4
4	I think I was pretty good at the exercise I have just done	0	1	2	3	4
5	Exercise is not something I would necessarily choose to do, rather it is something I feel I ought to do	0	1	2	3	4
6	I know what I have to do in order to perform the exercises	0	1	2	3	4
7	I feel like I belong in the exercise environment	0	1	2	3	4
8	I exercise because I want to rather than because I feel I have to	0	1	2	3	4
9	In the exercise environment I feel supported	0	1	2	3	4

1.      
Biddle, S.J. Fox, K.R., Boucher, S.H.
(2000) - Physical Activity and Psychological Well-being How much activity is
good for health? Annual Review of Public Health

2.      
Prestwich, A. Lawton, R.Conner, M.
(2003) -The use of implementation intentions and the decision balance sheet in
promoting exercise behaviour.

3.       Prochaska, J. O., & Marcus, B. H.
(1994). The Transtheoretical Model: Applications to Exercise.

4.      
Wilson, P.M., Rodgers, W.M. (2002) –
The Relationship Between Exercise Motives and Physical Self-Esteem in Female
Exercise Participants: An Application of Self-Determination Theory. Journal
of Applied Biobehavioural Research. 7 (1), 30-43

5.      
BREQ-2 scoring chart

6.      
Needs Satisfaction scoring
chart