How to Lead a Physically Fulfilling Lifestyle

Physical activity is an essential aspect of maintaining a healthy livelihood healthwise, but modern lifestyle and technology encourages sedentary patterns of behaviour to levels that are often unfavourable. It has been stated that up to 50% of Americans do not participate in adequate physical activity, enough to guarantee significant health benefits. So the pertinent question should revolve around the availability of proven ways we can alter this trend, especially as individuals who are motivated to achieve health gains.

It is true that to achieve physical activity entails modifying a complex behavioural pattern, so the key as highlighted by White and colleagues in a recent article published in the Health and Fitness Journal is that, "individuals must be motivated, make commitment to being active and understand the basic principles of exercise programs". A personal plan can be designed putting into consideration the following factors.

1. Strengthen your ability to complete exercise routine. This is an important starting point because success in a program improves your confidence in the process. So put in enough effort at the beginning and get a good result so that one's recollection of the exercise becomes positive. To achieve this, watching others, like in the gym encourages your effort and support from others, especially your spouse, is essential. Once activity has attained some consistency, it tends to persist.

2. Set a realistic initial physical activity goal. Doing too much initially is likely to exhaust you and in the end discourage further physical activity. Proper goal setting is a potent strategy. The goal should be challenging though, but equally possible to achieve it without unnecessary drain and one should direct attention to areas one can control such as how often one exercises and the duration and extent. When goals are appropriately set, motivation to attain greater heights is effectively encouraged.

3. Eliminate barriers to physical activity. A good of the observed declining trend in physical activity is actually based to some extent on these barriers which can become excuses to avoid activity. These barriers can vary markedly between individuals and as such is quite useful to define your barriers. These include time commitment, lack of social support and unsafe neighbourhood limiting movement. Different measures are available to walk around these barriers such as using videos at home when facilities are far away or indoor facilities in bad weather.

4. Assess your effort. Self monitoring is the aspect that brings all the other factors together. It is important to assess the yield from physical activity. This determines whether one you set out to achieve is attained.

Adequate physical activity is associated with significant health benefits, particularly cardiovascular health with reduced incidence in Stroke and Diabetes. Designing a personal activity program is will always be worthwhile venture.

White S, Mailey E.; McAuley E (2010). Leading a physically active lifestyle: Effective Individual Behaviour Change Strategies. Health and Fitness Journal. Vol 14 (1): 8-15.

Elder JP, Ayala GX, Harris S (1999). Theories and intervention approaches to health-behavior change in primary care. Am J Prev Med.17(4):275-84.