CH.

6-EXERCISE
ALL CONTENT IN THIS PPT COMES DIRECTLY FROM THE BOOK HEALTH
PSYCHOLOGY BY JANE AUSTIN
WHAT IS EXERCISE- DIFFERENT DEFINITIONS

• Intention- exercise is planned, structured and repetitive bodily movements done to improve or maintain
one or more components of physical fitness vs. physical activity which is just any bodily movement that
expends energy
• Outcome- difference in physical exercise that improves fitness and physical exercise that improves
health. Demonstrates the shift in emphasis from intensive cardio to moderate fitness with more mild
changes
• Location- occupational activity vs leisure activity
MEASURING EXERCISE

• Subjective self reports- ask people to record ow much exercise they’ve done in say a week
• Recall bias, variable interpretation of terms, ambiguous, people don’t remember small tasks they’ve done that
constitute exercise
• More objective measures- fit bit, pedometers, hear rate monitors
• Not really feasible for large scale studies though
• Laboratory studies- using bikes or treadmills
• Can’t be used large scale either and not naturalistic
• Some studies measure the opposite, sedentary behavior
CURRENT RECOMMENDATIONS

• Recommendations have changed over time and vary between countries based upon how sedentary
that culture is
• US recommends 150 minutes a week of moderate intensity exercise of 75 minutes a week of intense
exercise.
• Ideal is 300 minutes= 1 hour 5 days a week
WHO EXERCISES?

• The health people program showed that only 23% of adults in the US engaged in light to moderate
physical activity 5x per week and up to 1/3 of people remained completely sedentary across all
industrialized countries
• The most common forms of exercise: walking (46%), swimming (35%), yoga (22%), cycling (19%),
pool/billiards (17%).
• Overall 75% of adults had taken part in some sport/game/activity in the past 12 months
• More likely in men than women
• Activity decreased with age
• Lowest income bracket is least active
• The majority of people who do meet the recommended targets for activity
PEOPLE WHO ARE SEDENTARY DURING THE WEEK
BASED ON AGE

• 70%
• 60%
• 50%
• 40%
• 30%
• 20%
• 10%
• 0%
16-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65-74 75+
WHY EXERCISE?

• Physical benefits: improved health and longevity, reduction of illness, improves subjective health status
and is a treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome (and depression)
• Longevity- individual with a weekly expenditure of more than 2,000kcal on exercise lived about 2.5
years longer than those with 500kcal or less expenditure a week
• Increased fitness and activity can result in significant reductions in the risk of disease and mortality
• Even in overweight men and women, exercising is a protective factors against the risks of being overweight
• Chronic illness- evidence for exercise in the treatment of CHD, vascular disease, obesity, osteoarthritis
and lower back pain
EXERCISE INFLUENCES HEALTH IN THE FOLLOWING
WAYS:
• Increased muscular activity protects the heart by stimulating muscles that support the heart
• Increased exercise may increase the electrical activity of the heart
• Increased exercise may increase and individual's resistance to ventricular fibrillation
• Exercise may be protective against other risk factors for CHD
• Exercise helps the laying down of calcium in the bones to prevent bone thinning
• Exercise strengthens muscles, improving body posture and thereby lower back pain
• Exercise may improve immune functioning
• Exercise may help smoking cessation thereby reducing the risks of smoking related diseases
OTHER PHYSICAL BENEFITS

• Self-rated health
• More active people rates themselves higher in SRH, leisure activities only predicted higher SRH in younger
participants, active strenuous jobs actually led to lower SRH (maybe bad working conditions)
• Treatment for CFS
• New research saying exercise may help
PSYCHOLOGICAL BENEFITS
• Depression- correlation between the amount of exercise a person does and their level of depression
• Aerobic exercise related to a decrease in depression for those who had higher levels of depression to begin with (one
study's findings)
• Other study shows a causal link- increased exercise led to decreased depression
• Positive and negative mood
• Exercise shown to increase mood
• Mid exercise however there is a brief deterioration of mood
• May be why people fail to stay with it
• Long-term/pro-longed exercise improves mood
• New exercisers may feel displeasure if pushed too hard (Cross fit may be a bad idea for beginners)
• Response to stress
• Either may serve as a distraction from stress or a coping strategy
MORE PSYCHOLOGICAL BENEFITS

• Body image and self-esteem

• Exercisers have amore positive body image than non-exercisers
• Changes in actual body shape, the effect of exercise on mood, changes in energy levels

• Smoking withdrawal
• Those who exercised reported significantly decreased amount of withdrawal symptoms lasting up to 15
minutes post exercise
• May only be effective in moderate to intense exercise (not light)
WHAT FACTORS PREDICT EXERCISE?

• Demographic determinants
• Age, education, smoking, ease of access to facilities, body fat/weight and self-motivation are good predictors
• Best predictors: low body fat, low weight and high self-motivation

• Active individuals during leisure time tend to be younger, better educated, more affluent and more likely male
• Less affluent may be more active at work

• Even when controlling for income and education, blacks (especially black women) tend to be less active than
whites
WHAT FACTORS PREDICT EXERCISE?

• Social determinants
• Main factors motivating exercise are the beliefs that it is enjoyable and provides social contact
• Non-exercisers often believe it requires too much time, too much discipline and they did not believe in the
positive effects also had a lower belief that exercise was valued by their significant other
• In older adults a key factor for exercising is the role of other people who help keep them motivated
• For women especially (in a study at a college) exercise was more likely when it is supported socially
COGNITIVE AND EMOTIONAL DETERMINANTS

• Cost and benefits of exercise

• Exercisers and non-exercisers differ in their beliefs about the benefits
• Exercisers report a higher rating for the health value of exercise and perceived exercise programs to be more easily available
• Self-efficacy
• Consistently a good predictor of exercise
• Attitudes to exercise and health knowledge were the best predictors of initiation and maintenance of vigorous/moderate exercise for 1 year
• Another study found that intentions to participate and actual participation in an exercise program were attitudes of continued participation,
perceived social norms and perceived behavioral control
• Past behavior
• Best predictor of future behavior is past behavior
• Implementation intentions only predicted future behavior in those who showed low level of activity in the past
• Value on health
• Affect
• Planning
IMPROVING EXERCISE BEHAVIOR

• Social and political factors

• Increased reliance on technology and reduced daily activity in paid and domestic work has led to more
sedentary lifestyles
• Some initiatives:
• Town planning to make walking and cycling easier

• Charging more for car use in residential areas and encouraging use of public transportation

• Limiting use of escalator and elevators to those who cant take the stairs

• Bike shares
IMPROVING EXERCISE BEHAVIOR CONTINUED

• Exercise prescription schemes

• Recent approach is the GP referring targeted patients for exercise
• Stair climbing
• Interventions to promote stair use are cheap and can target the most sedentary members of society who are
less likely to adopt other forms of exercise
• Motivational posters

• Behavioral strategies
• Social support, learning and social cognition strategies, self-monitoring, school-based interventions, work based
interventions, Mass media campaigns, new technologies
EXERCISE ADHERENCES AND RELAPSE

• Relapse rates are highest among blue collar workers, smokers and those who believe that exercise is an
effort
• Rates are lowest in those who have a history of participating in exercise, high self motivation, have
support form a spouse, have available time, access to facilities and those who value good health