Personal exercise adherence factors and strategies

Adherence means to stick to a task. In this case the task was the six week training
programme and in this case it would mean sticking to the six week training
programme. The adherence factors would be the things that stopped us, or could stop
other people, sticking to our training programme as well as we could possible stick to
it.

What factor could, and possibly did, prevent me from getting the most out of
your training programme?

Cost

Cost is a factor that could have prevented me from getting the most out of my training
programme. But as I was able to do some training sessions in the school, I could use
the facilities and the equipment needed for circuit training which I wouldn’t have
been able to do outside of school where the facilities are available. This could be an
issue though for somebody who hasn’t got a school to access, and is unable to afford
expensive gym equipment or a gym membership. This could be because of the credit
crunch and as the price of things go up, people buy less luxury equipment and going
to the gym could be considered as a luxury. Also with the recession and the credit
crunch there is more people becoming unemployed This wouldn’t have been a factor
for me, as I had lessons in school and could have used lunchtime or after school to do
things circuit training where the cost of equipment is quiet expensive and something I
wouldn’t have been able to afford so that I could do the training outside of school.

It could well be a factor that would stop people from getting the most out of there
training programme.

Average weekly Earnings (Great Britain) Average Weekly Pay for January 2011 (£)
Total pay (Including bonuses) £453
Total pay (Excluding bonuses) £432

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/lmsuk0311.pdf

The average monthly cost of gym membership varies from £20 to £100 a month.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2006/jul/29/moneysupplement3
The cost of gym equipment can be very expensive, and having to buy enough gym
equipment to be able to do training sessions like circuit training, interval training,
continuous training or plyometric training.

http://www.comparebuyandsave.com/product_search_health_and_beauty/gym_and_fi
tness_equipment.htm

The cost of gym membership is high, and the cost of gym equipment is even higher
and as there is a credit crunch at this time it’s going to be hard for people to afford to
buy gym membership or equipment for them to do certain types of training. If
somebody is looking to improve there strength, and can’t afford to buy weights or
other gym equipment or a gym membership then they can’t do any real training. But if
somebody is looking to improve there cv endurance and can’t afford to buy any gym
equipment or a gym membership to do things like plyometric training then as long as
they have a mat and they can do things like burpies, sit-ups and press-ups to do things
like continuous training or interval training.

“These days, being a member of a gym or a health club is an expensive business. But
a lack of finances is no reason not to exercise. There are many activities which one
can do to exercise which cost little or no money and that can be done without having
to purchase expensive equipment.

Walking, jogging or running can all be done in your own neighbourhood or in your
local park for free. Cycling can also be relatively inexpensive with the purchase of a
2nd hand bicycle. There are also ways of using everyday household objects, such as
tinned foods as weights or the stairs in your house, to exercise.”

http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwfit/adherence.html
Personality

Personality was a factor that stopped me making the most of my 6 week training
programme. Personality can be an adherence factor, as if you need the company to
train with friends or are too shy or lacking confidence to train then you might not be
able to do as much as training as you could do. During my 6 week training
programme, I trained with friends rather than training by myself. During the training
in lesson times you are able to train with friends but I possible could have improved
on my training programme if I had done training outside of school by myself. I was
able to train outside of school with Cameron, but if he was unable to do the session
then I might not have trained or might have trained with less intensity.

The sorts of people who might have been lacking confidence are overweight or obese
people. If they are training in a public place like in a gym or running in the streets
they might be conscience of people who might be looking at them which might make
them not want to train in a public place. If they are self-conscience then they may
train less frequently which will have a big affect on their training. If they want to get
the most out of their training programme then they will need to improve on there
confidence and be less self-conscience of themselves when training in a public place
to get the most out of there training.

In achieving your prior successes or overcoming prior challenges, are there things
you did that might help you stick with your exercise program?  Do you know others
who have successfully added the habit of exercise into their lives?  Are there others
who can give you support and encouragement?  Finally, are you aware of your
emotional arousal?  Or do you only appreciate after the fact how you may have felt
worried or confidently under control, anxious or relaxed, aroused or bored?  Your
awareness of and your ability to regulate such emotions can improve your self-
confidence or self-efficacy and increase the likelihood that you’ll stick with your
exercise program.

http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwfit/adherence.html#Awareness
Access

Access is a possible adherence factor for some people, although for me this was not a
factor. This adherence factor is whether you are able to have the access to facilities to
be able to do certain types of training, such as a gym or equipment. As I was able to
do some training inside of school, I was able to have access to things like kettle bells
which improved the interval training I did during lessons. In school you are also able
to do things like speed interval training outside, which I did in my training
programme and the facilities to do football skills training. This meant that this
wouldn’t have been an adherence factor for me as I had all the facilities I would have
needed to do the types of training I would have wanted to do in my training
programme. I could have made better use of the facilities though, by coming back
during a lunch time or after school which would have improved the success of my
training programme as i would have been training more frequently.

This would have affected other people looking to train though, as they might not have
the facilities to do certain types of training. People living in remote areas or don’t
have cars might not be able to go to a gym so wouldn’t be able to do things like
weight training in a gym if they are unable to afford the gym equipment for it. They
should be able to do other types of training, even if there aren’t appropriate facilities
to do things like skills training. If there is no facilities to do things like this then they
can do a continuous run or things like burpies, sit-ups and press-ups where no
equipment is needed. People with no cars might have to use public transport which
isn’t as simple as being able to quickly walk or drive down to places like a gym which
might mean they are less likely to go down to a gym then if they were close to a gym
or had a car.

“Finding the right facilities in which to exercise is vital for the enjoyment and hence
adherence to exercise. In general, this relates to a gym or a health club. In choosing
a place to exercise, the facilities must be affordable and in a convenient location,
perhaps close to your home or to your workplace.”

http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwfit/adherence.html#Facilities
Motivation

Physical

A physical adherence factor to our training programme is being unable to do the

training programme, or being unable to do the training programme at full intensity
because of either illness or injury. This adherence factor affected my training
programme, as I was ill during my training programme. This would have meant that I
wouldn’t have been able to do the training programme during school times, and if I
did do training when feeling ill I might not have putting everything into the sessions.
This would have meant that I would have not been able to get the best out of my
training programme, as the amount of training sessions I would have done was less
and the amount of training sessions I did at my maximum intensity would have also
been far less. This wasn’t a major factor that stopped me sticking to my training
programme though as I was only ill for a couple of days during the six weeks and it
would have been a much bigger factor if I had missed a week or even longer because
of illness.

I was not affected by injury, although it could have affected someone else during the
six week training programme. Any sort of injury during the training programme could
have stopped me training, and might have stopped me training at full intensity. Injury
is an adherence factor which you can prevent from being a major factor to stopping
you getting the most out of your training programme though as you should be able to
avoid training that involves the area of your injury and do some sort of training that
doesn’t involve that area of your injury. For example if you have an injured knee and
wanted to improve on your c/v endurance, rather than doing a continuous run you
should be able to do some activities like press-ups and sit-ups in a circuit training
session. I wasn’t injured during the six week training programme though, which
meant that this was not a factor that prevented me from getting the most out my
training programme.

An example of a sportsman that has had trouble with injury, and as a result hasn’t
been able to do football training is Ferrie Bodde. He’s been hit with injuries ever since
picking up his first major injury in November 2008 in Swansea’s defeat to
Birmingham City at the Liberty Stadium. Since then he’s picked up some further
injuries and has been unable to train since recently. He wouldn’t have been able to do
any sort of training so would have been left frustrating and might have lost a lot of
match fitness since then which he’s going to need to recover before eventually
returning from injury.
Facilities

This adherence factor was a factor that wouldn’t have affected me during my six week
training programme. This adherence factor will mainly apply to specialist sports such
as ice hockey, skating, snowboarding, gymnastics and sports that will need special
courts or equipment in order for you to train. This doesn’t just apply to specialist
sports though as it might be the case there’s nowhere for you to train in your area, and
you may not be within walking distance of somewhere for you to train. This would
affect you as if your looking to improve on a certain area of your game in a specialist
sport, but you are unable to practise that area of your game as you need specialist
equipment for the sport to do and you don’t have that equipment then you will be
unable to practise. This mainly didn’t affect my six week training programme as the
sport I would be doing skills training for is football, where no special court of
equipment is needed. I would be able to use the school football pitches during lessons,
or during lunchtime and there is a couple of places I could play football in, such as
Ashley Road which I would be able to walk to.

An example of somebody who might this might be an adherence factor for would be a
gymnast. To improve and practise in their own sport, outside of any team training
would be hard to do for most people as it isn’t common to have many facilities with
gymnastics equipment. This would mean that during a training programme they won’t
be able to do any skills sessions which is something that is needed, especially in a
training programme like ours where there is a long term goal involving your sport
which you are going to need practise in your sport to achieve as well as a short term
goal which also involves a certain of area in your sport which you would like to
improve on to help towards your long term goal. This wasn’t a factor for me, but this
could be a major factor which might have stopped somebody getting the most out of
there six week training programme.

Other Commitments

Other commitments were a factor that would have affected me during my six week
training programme. During the training programme things such as homework and
revision for exams would have affected me during my six week training programme.
During my six week training programme, things like the mock exams meant that I
would have been unable to train for as much time as I usually would the night before
exams as it would be better for me to be revising for the exams. The mock exams also
affected me as we didn’t do one of the training sessions during school as I had a mock
exam during the lesson so exams would have stopped me getting the most from my
training programme. Homework would have also stopped me getting the most out of
my training programme as if I had a lot of homework during the week, it would take
time for me to do it and I might not have been able to find the time to do the training.

There was other type of other commitments that didn’t really affect me, but could
have affected somebody else. The best example would be having a job, and trying to
fit the training around your job. Although school days are long, jobs can have long
hours and some people might work quiet late so you might be unable to find the time
to do some training and be able to stick to your training programme. Another
commitment that didn’t affect me but might affect someone else during a training
programme would be commitments to family which means the amount of time you
have to train will be far less and you might not get around to training, which will
mean you won’t get the best out of your training programme.

“Time management is an important part of everyone's life and finding time to

exercise is vital if an exercise program is to be adhered to. According to ACSM
guidelines, workout time should be approximately 20 to 60 minutes, although this can
be revised depending on whether an individual exercises more than 3-5 times a week
or less than 3-5 times a week. Having said that, exercise adherence is compromised if
workout times exceed 60 minutes.

In scheduling your workout time it is important to allow a good period of time before
and after your workout for travel time, changing, showering etc. These considerations
should be incorporated into your overall time set aside for exercise. If you are not
relaxed or feel hurried when working out you are less likely to enjoy you workout and
so will be less likely to adhere to your program in the future.”

http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwfit/adherence.html#Time

“Role conflict refers to time management. It can be in the form of work related
commitments, family commitments or other extra-curricular commitments.
Unfortunately the time available in any day is not unlimited so scheduling your
activities is vital if you are to find time to regularly exercise.”

http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwfit/adherence.html#Role

Consider discussing as many factors as possible that may help to overcome

barriers to training. E.g. the role of: Government, school, influential others,
media, role models etc.

Government – 5x60, dragon sports

School – P.E, P.S.E healthy diet, facilities in school, sports clubs
Influential others – friends, parents, family, brothers/sisters
Role models – footballers, Ryan Giggs/Scott Sinclair