Health Behavior Change Research

Introduction

It is a known fact that exercise is important for both mind as well as body functioning. By exercising regularly we can also maintain a healthy weight which has a direct impact on our self esteem. There have been several times that I have tried to include exercise in my daily routine for the above reasons but have failed to continue it. I believe that my motivation was not strong enough.

Recently I had a close relative who had a cardiac arrest and the reason his doctor gave him was that although he was a healthy eater and did not smoke, he did not engage in any physical activity, which probably contributed to the blockage of his arteries.

This incident had a major impact on me and I decided to take exercising more seriously. In the present age of technology, it is very easy to adopt an inactive life-style as we end up spending huge amounts of time in front of our television screens or phones.

I decided to do a little research on exercising in order to know the kind and amount of exercise that I needed to adopt as well as the benefits of exercising.

Research Summary

Exercise has positive effects on our body as well as mood. A research article which is studied, aimed at finding the impact of exercise on mood. Participants were randomly assigned to two conditions and were asked to fill a mood profile twice; the first time without engaging in any exercise and the second time after one week after engaging in exercise for various amounts of time periods.

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Results indicated that as exercise had a positive mood change regardless of the exercise duration or recovery period. The results also indicated that for most groups exercise lead to lower scores for ‘hostility’. The results of this research contributed to my learning as I had previously known that exercise had positive effects on physical health but was not aware of its impact on mood (Crush, Frith & Loprinzi, 2018).

The article on exercise from the encyclopedia of human development gives a summary about the recommendations for exercise for different age groups across the life span. For instance, adults should engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity such as brisk walking, swimming or dancing, at least five times a week. The article also gives an outline of the benefits of exercising for each age group. Regular exercising not only helps prevent chronic illnesses but also helps in managing stress. People who are depressed many also benefit from exercise. ( Fondow, Emery, C. F., & Emery, 2006 as cited in Salkind, 2006)

Conclusion

The articles I read gave me an insight to the importance of exercise in the physical as well as psychological health of individuals. I realized that by exercising I will not only be able to adopt a healthy life-style, it will also keep me away from the wrong company. I am a person who works better if I have a partner who has similar goals or interests, therefore I decided to ask a friend who was willing to exercise to make a plan and try to implement it. We decided to spend our savings on a gym membership and go there in the evenings for aerobics.

The reason why we took aerobics was that both of us found it interesting and it was also useful for losing weight. Going regularly to the gym is a big challenge for me and my friend but we have promised each other to keep encouraging each other and also because we have paid for it, we are likely to follow it up. We have decided to go thrice a week for 1 hour which is in accordance with our age group. I am sure, once we will go for a few months, it will become part of our life style and I will see many favourable changes in my life due to exercising.

References

1. Crush, E., Frith, E., & Loprinzi, P. (2018). Experimental effects of acute exercise duration and exercise recovery on mood state. Journal Of Affective Disorders, 229, 282-287. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2017.12.092
2. Fondow, Emery, C. F., & Emery. (2006). Exercise. In N. J. Salkind (2006), Encyclopedia of human development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Retrieved from https://nuls.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/sagehd/exercise/0?institutionId=861