Stage 4: Action During the action stage, individuals are exercising! In fact, these people tend to be highly motivated early on and eagerly incorporate a regular, consistent exercise program into their daily life. An individual is said to be in the "action stage" when they have adopted regular exercise (30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity most days of the week) for less than six months. Of the five stages, the action stage seems to be the most unstable because people find it difficult to maintain this new exercise routine. That is, we are fighting not to fall back into our sedentary lifestyle.
Stage 5: Maintenance To achieve maintenance, individuals must have been exerclsmg consistently at optimal levels for at least six months. By this point, individuals do not find it difficult to maintain their exercise routine, and for the most part this regimen has become "habit." One of the best things about viewing exercise from this "stage" perspective is that how we motivate people to think about, incorporate and maintain exercise varies depending on which
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stage each individual is in. For example, we need to use different motivational strategies for pre-contemplators than we do for preparation individuals.
Strategies to help pre-contemplators to become contemplators • Education , education, education! We need to educate these individuals about the potential harmful effects of a sedentary lifestyle for themselves and their children. Once a month, gym owners could send home information flyers or handouts providing facts about how physical activity (e.g., gymnastics) can help offset obesity, depression, heart disease and other health-related problems. Additionally, regular exercise can help with mood state, self-esteem and general mental health. Another way to provide education to yo ur clientele would be to create posters with interesting facts about the benefits of physical activity in both the lobby and throughout the gym. • One issue that might keep pre-contemplators from thinking about exercise could be that they had a bad experience in the
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