Section 3: Planning and delivering inclusive, safe and fun physical activity sessions for inactive people

This section focuses upon the importance of the relationship between programme design and activity delivery to maximise engagement with inactive people and ensuring it is inclusive, safe, effective and fun. To create the best chance of motivating and influencing participants to achieve their goals, careful and thorough planning is needed. As with any other health-related exercise session, the objectives of the session must be clearly defined.

Session design

If a session is to be effective, it must be planned to have a structure that not only targets the participants’ goals but also includes plenty of opportunities for fun and enjoyment.

Exercise programming

Programming Considerations

Mobility • Gradual increase in range of movement in session and over time. • Promote good posture and abdominal engagement throughout. • Offer support or seated options if balance is an issue. • Side effects from any medication, level of pain or discomfort.

Pulse raising • Extended pulse raiser to gently prepare for main activity. • Be sensitive to individuals’ emotions.

Flexibility • May have more muscle stiffness in the mornings. • Can combine with mobility. Cardiovascular • Avoid excessive reps- stress on joints, functional limitations. • Limit high impact and work at moderate intensity. • Slow transitions- bulk, size or coordination may impact ability. • Consider chair-based options.

Strengthen big muscle groups • Consider functional movement. • Focus on body weight exercises – gradually increase lever length and reps over time. • Switch between upper and lower body exercise and include active rest. • Promote good techniques and offer options/adaptations.

Cool-down • Extended cool-down, gradual decrease in intensity. • Seated or lying stretches to avoid balance issues if tired.

Ways to make the session more enjoyable

Although once the exercise instructor gets to know their participants, they will be able to develop a rapport and find individual ways to make their sessions fun and friendly, the following examples are often good ways to start: • Encouraging fun imagery.

• Asking individuals to share any funny anecdotes or success stories from their week.

• Relating activities to everyday tasks.

• Counting reps together, possibly in time to beat of music.

• Considering using alternative exercises and equipment to those associated with gyms.

• Encouraging partner or small group work to promote the social aspect.

• Giving plenty of positive feedback and encouragement.

Session plan

Once the exercise instructor has determined the content of their intended session then they should record them in either a written or electronic format. Although this will often be far less “formal” than mainstream ones such as circuits, exercise to music etc., the format should still follow the same structure of warm-up, main session, cool-down.

Also, as with any planned fitness sessions, this content should include (as a minimum) all activities, together with timings, alternatives and teaching points, as well as any equipment or facilities required.

However, as inactive participants will often have a different level of motivation than mainstream participants, then making a note of possible motivating “triggers” alongside the more general teaching points, would be a useful addition.

Session delivery

Delivering an inclusive, safe, effective and fun session for inactive people is the key to success with this target group of participants. Working with inactive people is, in many ways, exactly the same as mainstream sessions since it follows a standard session structure

Overview of session delivery

Introduction • Welcome participants from the outset using effective communication to help them feel comfortable and at ease. Perhaps introducing them to others is appropriate. • Perform a verbal health check prior to starting the session as it may be several days or weeks since you completed the PAR-Q. • Check how they have got on since last contact. Confirm or revise plans with participants as appropriate.

Session content • Establish and maintain appropriate exercise intensity for each component. • Monitor and improve the performance of participants where appropriate. • Implement adaptations to maximise engagement and motivation. • Use appropriate methods to correct and reinforce technique for safety and effectiveness. • Use motivational styles appropriate to the participants and the exercise format. • Use effective communication with participants throughout and make sure they can see you clearly during the session. Conclusion • Give participants feedback at the end to support and motivate them and gather their feedback so you can effectively evaluate the session.

Alternatives

Pre-planning alternative activities or exercises will help ensure that the session/activity runs smoothly and effectively by helping ensure that: • All participants are engaged and motivated

• The ‘fun’ element is maintained

• Every activity is pitched at the appropriate level each participant

• The needs of each participant are met.

A flexible approach gives the greatest chance of retaining participants and supporting their behaviour change process.

Importance of feedback

Effective feedback is key to promoting retention and changes in behaviour. Giving participants feedback is an effective way to help them understand where their strengths and areas for development are. It’s also a good chance to give praise for their performance during the session and positive reinforcement related to their goals. Asking for feedback from participants can be a useful tool in determining their current goals and motivators (as they may change from time to time), how successful they feel about their progress toward them and their overall enjoyment levels. This could be done verbally at the end of each session or written in the form of notes about things like: • What they liked

• What they found difficult

• How many reps and sets they achieved?

• How long they were able to work at a certain level before taking active rest.

Self-evaluation

Ultimately, the goal of the exercise instructor is to enable and encourage participants to continue being physically active in the future without direct supervision.

By analysing and reflecting on conversations, approach and progress of the participants in their activity programmes; together with the popularity and retention levels will give valuable feedback on how successful they are in achieving this

Summary

• Key things to remember are:

• That you need to agree and set achievable goals.

• Actively listen to your participants.

• Have empathy, plan and deliver achievable sessions and be a positive role model.

• You can also call on the support of others to help motivate individuals to make progress and stay on programme.

• This can be empowering for individuals to understand how they are moving towards achieving their aims.