Ensuring Cultural Competence and Sensitivity in Exercise Centers

Multicultural competencies increase the ability to effectively communicate and interact with others (Gill and Williams, 2008). As an employee of an exercise and fitness center, it is important to realize that every person who comes in to exercise is different and requires individual attention. Exercise programs need to be written specifically, and so does the process of interacting with the client. Both gender and cultural differences can pose a problem, and solutions must be found to make the client feel included and empowered. Cultural competence is defined by Nunez (2000) as: “a set of academic and interpersonal skills that allow individuals to increase their understanding and appreciation of cultural differences and similarities” (p. 72). Thus, it is important as a professional to improve cultural competence, and also increase the facilities competence. Not showing a positive level of competence to personal and cultural norms in a public setting will spell out failure as a professional and also for the exercise facility.

Cultural competence is not something that is accomplished immediately, but takes time and effort to achieve a greater awareness and ability to effectively deal with clients of all cultural domains. Sue (2001) insists that for a professional to be competent in cultural beliefs, they must become fluent in individual, group and universal aspects. Each area has its own unique structure that all must be acknowledged to be successful. Gill and Williams (2008) agree with Sue and in the physical activity domain, professionals are an integral part of prescribing and effectively managing programs for clients. Gender, age, cultural beliefs and health and body perceptions all have equal weight when dealing with society as a whole. It is important for professionals to have education and experience in all levels to ensure proper action is taken when dealing with clients. Accommodation is an essential part of providing knowledge, oversight and care to clients or patients as a professional (Paasche-Orlow, 2004). Not having the ability to adapt too many different cultures, beliefs and ways of life significantly decreases the ability to run an effective business, and promote healthy living. Being able to associate with all cultures and giving clients a sense of power and inclusion, with decision making, is essential to being a true professional and offering quality service. In the next section, I will discuss methods for developing cultural sensitivity and competence.

The first step to develop multicultural competency in an exercise facility will be to specifically look at the different cultures involved with membership. Observing and interacting with people who use the facility is the first step. Next, it will be important to note what background these clients come from. Researching the cultural beliefs via the internet and anthropology books will give a better insight to specific ways of life. Using the “RESPECTFUL” model produced by D’Andrea and Daniels located in Gill and Williams (2008), is a good start to becoming comfortable with at least 10 aspects of cultural differences. Opening exercise programs and services up to all ages, races, and ability levels is essential. Moving up the cultural competency continuum will take some time, but with careful planning and action taking, it should not be hard to achieve the proficiency level.

As a professional in an exercise facility setting, the company itself must take positive steps to become more culturally competent. The first step will be the same as improving individual competency, with observing all clientele and knowing what backgrounds the clients come from. Offering classes and instruction programs that will best suit the cultural abilities and beliefs of all clients is important. Cheap after school programs to help low income families will help keep these kids out of trouble and also live an active and healthy lifestyle. Staff guidelines need to be produced to ensure that all staff knows certain information and policies to help deal with all types of cultural differences. It should be noted in the staff guidelines that stereotypes are not acceptable and no staff will be allowed to have bias towards any of the cultures. All staff members should take mare in strategic planning meetings to help plan programs that will allow equal access for all participants. Program materials should be created and available to all genders, ages and ability levels to make sure that all clients will feel empowered and included in all types of activities. As an exercise facility, no family or individual should be excluded from participating in any of the activities offered.

Cultures differ not only by gender or location, but also by age, sexual orientation, language, physical and mental abilities. As a professional in the exercise world, it is important to recognize all of these differences that may be found within clients at an exercise facility. Successfully addressing these clients in the manner that will be suit their beliefs and abilities will not only make the exercise specialist look competent, but can also increase interpersonal relationships and professional appearance. Cultural competence will be achieved when understanding of different cultures occurs, and embraces the idea of pluralism, making accommodations based on beliefs and abilities (Paasche-Orlow, 2004). As a professional company, it is essential to have policies and standards that accommodate for all different culture types and beliefs. Individual employee actions only go so far, and for a business to be successful, all employees must be educated and held to the same standards. All clients must feel a sense of power and inclusion into decision making. Cultural competency is a subject that needs specific attention as more and more cultures are becoming intertwined in society.

Gill, D.L., & Williams, L. (2008). Psychological dynamics of sport and exercise (3rd Ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Paasche-Orlow, M. (2010). The ethics of cultural competence. Academic Medicine, 79(4), 347-350.

Nunez, A. (2000). Transforming cultural competence into cross-cultural efficacy in women’s health education. Academic Medicine, 75(11), 1071-1080.

Sue, D. W. (2001). Multidimensional facets of cultural competence. The Counseling Psychologist, 29(6), 790-821.

Workout together! It is better psychologically and physically!

Participation in regular exercise is one of, if not the most beneficial action to prevent chronic injuries and disease in older populations (Brassington, Atienza, Perczek, DiLorenzo & King, 2002). Adherence to exercise programs has often been a problem, and ways to increase adherence need to be researched. Social support is one way in which adherence to exercise can be accomplished in elderly populations. There are different strategies that can be used to use social support, and the most effective ways should be researched. It is important that social support is used by both exercise instructors and group members. The purpose of this paper will be to look at reasons for social support and strategies that should be used to increase exercise participation in group fitness programs for the elderly.

Elderly individuals are at increased risk for health problems, but social support can enhance life by increasing both physical and mental health. Gill and Williams (2008) define social support as “support of others” (p.251). Emotional, informational and tangible support, are all examples of ways in which instructors and group members help each other (Gill and Williams, 2008). Showing someone that you care about their choices or effort is important for fostering improvements in motivation and self-confidence. When commencing an exercise program or activity, society looks at social support for approval (Courneya, Plotnikoff, Hotz, & Birkett, 2000). The assistance that one receives from others via social support will yield a more positive experience for both the individual and group. It should be noted that social support will lead to increase cohesion between individuals and the group, which will also lead to increase team building and group dynamic skills. Increased cohesion leads to greater motivation, communication, task orientation and exercise adherence. Social support is also shown to have a large influence on reducing stress (Gill & Williams, 2008). In the exercise setting, the elderly individuals will increase their self-confidence, allowing for greater fitness gains and overall physical health. Competing in group exercise programs will also increase social networking and friend making. It is always better mentally to complete workouts in a group rather than individually.

In order to promote social support in an exercise program for elderly individuals, it will be important to foster strategies both as an instructor and between group members. As a group instructor it will be extremely important to show the individuals that they are welcome and respected when entering the exercise setting. Motivational signs with quotes and messages will help to increase positive attitude before exercise even begins. As the participants are known to be in good shape, it will not be as important to motivate for exercise improvement, as much as it will be to keep the participants coming back. Offering incentives to the person who has the best attendance, with gift certificates to local restaurants or sporting events will help. Changing the types of activities that the program offers will help to prevent boredom, and having the participants have a democratic input on possible activities should be used. As the instructor, you can only do so much, with other support options needing to come from others involved with the program.

Promoting social support between program participants is the next key step to an effective exercise program. The usage of this exercise program is for group dynamics, but there will be times for individuals to complete workouts and testing individually in front of the group. This will allow the group a chance to show support for their exercise partners. Differing models of support according to Gill and Williams (2008) include: listening, emotional, task appreciation, task challenge, tangible assistance and personal assistance. Allowing the group to acknowledge personal effort, give feedback and challenge each other to bigger and better accomplishments will help keep motivation levels high. Team competitions will be used to foster group cohesion and healthy social support aspects. A mock weight lifting meet will be used as a friendly competition. Group support will be a great addition to instructor support, and both will increase desire and exercise capabilities.

The major purpose of this paper was to explain the process of social support and come up with specific goals to help increase social support within an elderly exercise program. “Perceived social support is the key contributor to health and well-being” (Gill & Williams, 2008, p. 252). Using social support as an instructor and between program participants has beneficial effects on motivation and performance. Even though the participants are in good physical health, the added support may help achieve greater task orientation and a sense of happiness. The goal is to keep the participants both looking forward to and wanting to come back. If these exercisers know they have good friends and companions to help achieve personal goals, the program will be a success.

Barrera, M. (1986). Distinctions between social support concepts, measures, and models. American Journal of Community Psychology, 14(4), 413-445.

Courneya, K. S., Plotnikoff, R. C., Hotz, S. B., & Birkett, N. J. (2000). Social support and the theory of planned behavior in the exercise domain. American Journal of Healthy Behavior, 24(4), 300-308.

Gill, D.L., & Williams, L. (2008). Psychological dynamics of sport and exercise (3rd Ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Come One, Come All to Enhance Attitude and Performance

The presence of others helps to create arousal and drive to perform tasks (Gill & Williams, 2008). There seems to be a strong correlation with task achievement when people are surrounded by others. In order to increase physical participation and performance, one must incorporate activities that will help develop interest and sustainability of the program. In designing a program to increase family membership to a local park and recreation department, it will be important to identify activities that will not only enhance physical fitness, but will increase a participant’s self-perception, self-confidence and self-efficacy. Theories of social influence should be investigated to determine proper methodology of implementing an effective program to enhance participation.

Exercise and activity programs through park and recreation departments are often geared toward family participation and cooperation. There are three main types of social influence that have influences on performance. Social facilitation deals with the influence of others on performance, social reinforcement occurs via evaluative comments and modeling is how we learn through observation (Gill & Williams, 2008). It seems social influence plays a large part in the behaviors or activities we engage in during our daily lives. The more participants present in exercise settings greatly influenced the percent of completion (Giles-Corti & Donovan, 2002). Increasing the number of participants will show an increase in overall success of the program. Those cities that have state of the art recreation services are those who don’t push for performance, instead, they strive for increasing positive attitudes and self-perception. Social support plays a significant role in activity adherence and compliance (Carron, Hausenblaus, & Mack, 1996). While there may be an increased cost of participation for family memberships, the overall positive effect it will have on family cohesiveness, physical fitness and positive attitudes should be deemed cost worthy.

Increasing the number of family memberships to a park and recreation department will beneficial for performance and positive attitude. Using Bandura’s social learning model, social behavior is learned by direct reinforcement and observational learning (Gill & Williams, 2008). The Families Together and Active program will be centered on increasing both inter and intra-family cohesiveness. Many activities will be incorporated into the program to effectively increase athletic and cognitive ability and performance. By pairing families together with other families, the process of modeling is used. Modeling affects performance by four measures: attention, retention, motor reproduction and motivation. The first two processes deal with acquisition of desired skills and the latter two with performance. (Gill & Williams, 2008). Parents have often taken part in many different activities in their lifetime, and being able to compete, instruct and reinforce their child directly will help increase the retention and ability of skill development.

Activities in the program will include skill and cognitive development, competition, and cohesiveness. “Family Feud” style question and answer games, followed with physical challenges will increase both cognitive and exercise ability. Family style sporting events such as football, baseball, softball, basketball and swimming relay races will be available. Fun game activities such as big tennis, monkey ball, walley ball, punt-pass-kick contests will also be used to keep children from becoming bored, but allow for skills to be acquired outside of normal bread and butter activities. Retention of skill will occur as parents show their children how to accomplish a task, and the children then practice and self-correct to the image of successful completion (Gill & Williams, 2008). Carron, Hausenblaus and Mack (1996) agree, but state that influence and modeling may occur more from non-family group. It should be stressed that families interact with other families on a regular basis. In order to keep membership up and families interested in participating in the program, there will be a group of prizes for different achievements. Two children that make the most progress in the program in each month will receive gift cards to different businesses or events such as sporting events. A prize for the most improved family will include prizes to local restaurants or sporting events. One grand prize drawing will occur at the end of the “program year” and will be a 3-day to be determined resort vacation package as a prize. This competition will be a stimulus but also an interactive process of cooperative behavior. (Gill & Williams, 2008). This stresses the importance of family participation with other families and groups, and a desire to improve.

The proposed fitness achievement program will help to increase family adhesion and also promote healthy living. Actively participating in this program will help adults and children stay active as well as help children increase their exercise ability and positive attitude. This improvement will occur using different theories of social influence. Modeling, reinforcement, self-observation are important factors in how a child learns how to properly complete activities. Social involvement of parents, peers, instructors makes a large contribution to program adherence and learning (Carron, Hausenblaus & Mack, 1996). The activities involved will push both parents and children to improve physical and cognitive ability. Rewards associated with the program can be used as positive reinforcement for participating and achieving goals. Reinforcement and rewards can help to increase intrinsic motivation to complete activities (White, Mailey & McAuley, 2010). This reinforcement will hopefully aid in the success of the program. Creating a situation where families can become closer with each other and with other families while increasing physical fitness, knocking out two birds with one stone.. This program will help increase membership and adherence to exercise.

Carron, A. V., Hausenblaus, H. A., & Mack, D. (1996). Social influence and exercise: A meta-analysis. In D. Smith & M. Bar-Eli (Eds.), Essential Readings in Sport and Exercise Psychology (pp. 372-377). Location: Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Giles-Corti, B., & Donovan, R. J. (2002). The relative influence of individual, social, and physical environment determinants of physical activity. Social Science and Medicine, 54, 1793-1812.

Gill, D.L., & Williams, L. (2008). Psychological dynamics of sport and exercise (3rd Ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

White, S. L., Mailey, E. L., & McAuley, E. (2010). Leading a physically active lifestyle: Effective individual behavior change strategies. Health and Fitness Journal, 14(1), 8-15.

Don’t worry! Your kids are safe with us.

Childhood obesity is currently a topic that needs to be addressed immediately. The rate at which children are becoming overweight is astronomical, and steps need to be taken to increase physical activity levels to prevent health problems. Physical inactivity has been linked with major health problems such as diabetes, heart disease and depression (Gill & Williams, 2008). With increased desire to play video games and watch television, children are losing the motivation to be outside and exercise. Often the kids don’t have enough internal motivation to try new things, and need a little bit of a boost to obtain this level. There are not enough adequate programs currently to offer fun programs that promote exercise and well-being. Urban, public school children often come from families of low income and education levels, which can decrease the ability to participate in exercise programs. If we can increase this number of programs available, kids will hopefully increase their desire to exercise while having fun, and get out of the “couch potato” habits that currently dominate our society.

Worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 60% of the current population doesn’t get enough physical activity. Another interesting fact is that those who start activity programs, 50% drop out within 6 months (Gill & Williams, 2008). These figures are both undesirable and unacceptable. The largest theoretical model used to understand motivation is the Transtheoretical Model. This model provides a relationship between readiness and exercise behavior. The stages include precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and maintenance. Children are often in the precontemplation or contemplation stages, where regular exercise isn’t desired or seriously planned (Gill & Williams, 2008). It is important for exercise programs to get these kids to graduate from contemplation stages and in to action stages. The TTH model has been shown to work well as it treats behavior change as dynamic rather than an all or out approach (Marshall & Biddle, 2001). This model does a good job of actually looking at behaviors and how they affect motivation. Feelings of self-confidence and efficacy seem to plan a large role in the exercise behaviors of children (Nigg & Courneya, 1998). If younger age children don’t find confidence in the activities they participate in, or don’t receive positive support from coaches/parents, there is a greater chance of decreased motivation for exercise. In order to create a successful afterschool program, one must use these models of behavior to establish the best course of action.

The goals of the afterschool program are to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Students in this school more than likely are in a pre-contemplation stage or contemplation stage of the Transtheoretical Model. It will be important to get these students into an active state. In developing the best plan of action for this afterschool program, I will start by evaluating the student’s current behavior levels, looking specifically at self-determination, self-confidence and efficacy. Once I am able to determine the level of help needed, a precise plan of action can be implemented. The overall approach of this program is of course to get more students to be physically active, but also to help these students experience many facets of activity, hopefully establishing permanent habits or goals.

An education program will first be used to educate the kids about physical exercise and how it affects health. Pointing out health problems that can arise from sedentary lifestyles will also occur. After simple but informative educational sessions, it will be important to implement strategies to help increase a desire to partake in the program. One of the biggest strategies will be for the students to increase self-confidence and social building skills. Increasing self-confidence will occur by using positive reinforcement techniques such as appraisal and self-talk. The students should hopefully develop increase intrinsic motivation throughout the course of this program. Not doing the activities to please their parents, but accomplishing tasks that make them feel better about themselves. The program will not be restricted in the types or amount of activities available. By trying to get kids to partake in only a few activities increases the chance of decreasing self-confidence if the child isn’t particularly good at that activity.

Children will be given many opportunities to experience both individual and team building techniques. Certain techniques and activates include but are not restricted to: rope climbing, basketball, football, baseball, running, cycling, jump rope, and weight training. During these activities, it will be essential to be as involved with the children as possible. Helping a student find an activity that they really enjoy and working to develop a sense of self-control for continuing to exercise is important. As stated above: 60% of people leave exercise programs after 6 months. While it is important to find a passion for exercise, children must not try to specialize at early ages as this can lead to future burnout. It must be shown that experiencing many different forms of exercise should be used to prevent this. After a few weeks in the program, each student will be assessed to see how self-confidence levels are progressing. Activities and options for growth will be constantly reviewed in order to keep kids motivated and enthusiastic about exercise. One opinion would be to try and locate local athletes or figures that have “celebrity” status, to come in and talk to the kids about the benefits of exercise and activity.

Hopefully with the implement of this program, these children will spend less time indoors playing video games or sitting on the couch, and will participate in more sport and exercise activities. Not only will this help increase physical health, the children will hopefully make some new friends and also increase their personal self-confidence, efficacy and motivation. If the children benefit from the program, hopefully there will be a spillover of interest by parents, teachers, and citizens to increase general exercise behaviors around the local area.

The main purpose of this paper was to assess the danger of childhood obesity and implement an after school program for overweight children to help increase physical and cognitive behaviors. Most children are in the pre-contemplation or contemplation stage of the Transtheoretical Model, and thus have no desire or relatively no desire to become active. Progressing into the active and maintenance phase is important. Self efficacy scores are lower in the contemplation stage than in active stage (Nigg & Courneya, 1998). It will be essential to address the self-concept and self-confidence issues of children to ensure that everyone should be allowed to exercise regardless of ability. It should be a time of not just healthy activity, but also a time to make friends and explore different types of activities. Positive progression in child program will hopefully spread interest into the local community and increase total exercise activity and healthy habits in general. The time to act on child health problems is now.

Gill, D.L., & Williams, L. (2008). Psychological dynamics of sport and exercise (3rd Ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Marshall, S. J., & Biddle, J. H. (2001). The transtheoretical model of behavior change: A meta-analysis of applications to physical activity and exercise. Annals of Behavior Medicine, 23(4), 229-246.

Nigg, C., & Courneya, K. S. (1998). Transtheoretical model: Examining adolescent exercise behavior. Journal of Adolescent Health, 22, 214-224.

Switch it up. A little change can go a long way!

Exercise and motivation are often correlated strongly with one another. People have the desire to seek out and engage in challenging tasks (Gill & Williams, 2008). Often, people will begin an exercise program and see immediate gains, but after a bit, gains level off and motivation may start to diminish. If subjects start to see a lack of fitness or personal gains (social, life, etc.), they see no reason to keep using valuable time to exercise. Research has shown that even if exercise programs are started by subjects, the adherence is low and attrition rate can reach as high as 50% (Richard, Frederick, Lepes, Rubio & Sheldon, 1997). Finding the internal or external motivation ques to keep exercising is important, and desirable to follow Gill and Williams (2008) found that challenging tasks are what drive people. In the case of Jack, he seems to be losing the motivation for the reason that he is getting bored with activity repetition. Motivation is essential to exercise program completion, but many lose this desire when no reward is seen as a result of hard work.

When looking at motivation, it is important to see that there are many forces acting to influence the levels of determination. Motivation requires the consideration of individual differences and situational factors (Gill & Williams, 2008). Every person has their own reason for implementing a workout program, whether it is for fitness gains, weight loss, cardiovascular health benefit, or even an increase in social life. Intrinsic motivational factors are often times the most important when it comes to engaging in motivation. People engage in physical activity for the satisfaction one gains for performing the task (Richard, 1997). Gill and Williams (2008) also agree with this statement by stating that when people feel competent and becoming more motivated with interesting and challenging tasks. Developing a sense of success and reward is needed, and will increase the desire to keep up with an activity, such as exercise.

Motivation levels will lead to increased self-determination. A person’s self perceptions of competence and autonomy are found to play large mediation roles in physical domains (Gill & Williams, 2008). It also seems as though Jack as a sense of learned helplessness affecting his motivation to exercise. If Jack no longer sees desired gains, he may lose motivation to continue working out. Helplessness has negative effect on motivation (Shamloo & Cox, 2010). It is therefore, extremely important to keep activities spontaneous and allow for the pursuit of challenging goals to keep the drive. One must be able to persist over the fact that plateaus may occur, but continuing to work towards a goal will lead to more gains and rewards. People often attribute success internally, while externally attributing failure (Gill & Williams, 2008). In order to maintain drive, it is important to find success in activity to keep the internal motivation alive.

In the case of Jack, it is not something that is surprising, many non-athletes and athletes alike experience the same problem. I have even experienced the same type of drawbacks personally. The first thing that should be done is to have Jack sit down and explain his workout plan and desired goals. Once the plan and goals are known, it will be easier to implement strategies to keep motivation levels up. Jack had inquired about group aerobic training, but Ben insisted on only weight training. The first item on my agenda would be to tell Jack to look into different forms of training. Strength and aerobic training will offer different fitness gains, which will give rewards in both areas. Cardiovascular benefits and endurance are found with aerobic fitness and increasing fat free body mass and muscle definition can be seen with strength training. Five days of resistance training will never let the body go through the workout process of progressive overload. Keeping strength training workouts at 2-3 days a week will allow the muscles to recover, and rebuild stronger. By competing in different workout regimes, Jack can see fitness gains and keep his mind fresh as well.

From personal experience, in order to keep motivation levels high, I must do different activities to prevent boredom. This seems to be the biggest factor inhibiting Jack from wanting to keep exercising. If he can attribute fitness gains by alternating days of different programs, he will once again become motivated. Depending on the season, always changing up the types of exercise will also occur. During the summer months, more time outside can be used doing swimming, hiking, running, biking to decrease time inside. Colder months can use weight training and group aerobic classes. Jack can once again regain his motivation by taking part in different activities that will provide differing goals and challenges to keep the mind motivated to succeed.

The purpose of this review was to try and keep Jacks motivational levels from dipping to exercise “halting” levels. He was starting to experience a lack of motivation, believing that he wouldn’t make any fitness gains. He should know that fitness can be gained by taking part in many differing activities. Intrinsic motivation with positive feedback led to increased perceived competence and thus increased motivation (Gill & Williams, 2008). Both internal and external factors influence motivation, and rewards in each area can influence how the attribution of success occurs. Body image can externally motivate one to maintain exercise, and feeling good after completing a hard workout will internally increase the drive to complete another session. It is important to keep the body guessing, and by only going to the gym for five days a week and participating in strength training, boredom seemed to have set in for Jack. If Jack can re-shape goals to increase his motivation levels, he will once again find exercising enjoyable.

Gill, D.L., & Williams, L. (2008). Psychological dynamics of sport and exercise (3^rd Ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Ryan, R. M., Frederick, C. M., Lepes, D., Rubio, N., & Sheldon, K. M. (1997). Intrinsic motivation and exercise adherence. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 28, 335-354.

Shamloo, Z. H., & Cox, W. M. (2010). The relationship between motivational structure, sense of control, intrinsic motivation and university students’ alcohol consumption. Addictive Behaviors, 35, 140-146.

Behavioral Management Skills – Developing Personal Self-Regulation

Motivation to maintain an exercise program is sometimes very easy, but also can be one of the more stressing parts of daily decision making. Motivation is a type of behavior that affects our mind and body. Behavior consists of muscular and electrical activity, learned and maintained through conditioning processes (Gill & Williams, 2008). Often, behaviors are shaped by desired outcomes, or goals in life. Goals play an important role in regulating our daily lives and behaviors, especially emotional and well-being aspects (Shah & Kruglanski, 2003). We set goals which in turn shape our behaviors. The problem with goals and behaviors, are that they can be ever changing, depending on commitments to other areas of life. If motivation is low, or more “important” commitments arise, we often fail to meet our goals. Exercise is a great example of something that is often first on a priority list, but then gradually falls down the list.

Exercise is a behavior that many people set out to partake in, but, often neglect after motivation falls. It is seen as a luxury, but also can drastically change the life of a person if health problems arise. A steady exercise program can decrease the chance of health problems and enhance the quality of life. Behavior is modified based on classical and operant conditioning processes. Classical conditioning involves learning by associating with existing response, where operant involves the acquisition of new skills followed by reinforcement (Gill & Williams, 2008). Positive and negative reinforcement can be used in order to change behavior. Standard research has shown there are certain ways of “lighting the fire” to motivate exercise. Reward by reinforcement is one of if not the greatest influencing factor to initiate or maintain exercise programs (Resnick, 2000). Often times, rewards come in monetary or material ways, but also can occur via verbal communication. Self-efficacy and outcome expectations play a large role with the adaptation and maintenance of exercise behavior (Resnick, 2000). In order to maintain an exercise regime, a behavior plan should be implemented that will keep the subject destined to adhere to program.

In order to develop a strong behavior plan for maintaining an exercise program, it is important develop a set of steps to follow. Clarify the problem, formulate goals, target behaviors, conditions for maintaining, treatment plans, how I will implement the plan and evaluation (Gill & Williams, 2008). The problem I have with my training program is motivation to train hard when solo on the bike. It is too easy to skip a training session if tired and no one is there to push you. Both short term and long term goals should be used to maintain motivation. Short term goals for training regardless of partners would be an increase in fitness and increased self-esteem. Being able to train hard by yourself will increase mental capacity for winning a race, as you won’t have to rely on others. Long term goals for training include: working hard to be in peak shape for the most important races of the season. “Do the work now, get the results later.”

Target behaviors will allow goals to be met, are clearly defined, and easily measured (Gill & Williams, 2008). Coming up with target behaviors for interval training on the bike can be difficult. During different training periods of the season, intensity will change. On steady-state days, I need to be able to ride two hours at a specific duration. Lactic threshold days need to have between 40 and 60 minutes at this intensity. Maximal oxygen capacity days need to be 15 minutes or so in duration. Early in the season, the physiological aspects of the body don’t necessarily allow for these durations to be successfully completed, so starting out with shorter time intervals is enough to start. The given durations need to be achieved after a couple months of training. Consistent training will allow these intensities to be achieved. Completing these workouts will increase my chances of developing as a cyclist and getting the results I need to be recognized by professional squads.

Using the ABC model of maintaining behavior conditions will help assess goals and success. Antecedents occur before performing a behavior. Behavior is the behavior itself, and consequences or events occur as a result of the behavior (Gill & Williams, 2008). I will be able to maintain target behaviors by using self-assessment and recording my behaviors. Self-monitoring and goal setting are successful in rewarding exercise behavior (Resnick, 2000). In order to monitor behaviors, I will write down emotions and cognitive strategies used to help commence exercise or keep exercise intensity up during the interval. It will be important to decipher which behaviors help best with motivation.

Target behaviors can be easy to state, but actually doing the task can be hard work for some. Using reinforcement helps motivate behavior. Reinforcement is a stimulus presented follows a response and increases likelihood of the response (Gill & Williams, 2008). Completing a hard workout on the bike, and accomplishing all interval durations and intensities can be rewarded with an additional desert at dinner for instance. Social reinforcement may occur at races, when spectators or other racers see an increase in fitness and ability. Mental reinforcement may be the most beneficial, as I will believe in myself more and more after completing hard workouts, and will increase the likelihood of completing further intervals down the road. Rewarding one’s actions using reinforcement helps to establish effective behavior management. Finally, when the goals are established, a plan designed, and implemented, it is time to evaluate the effectiveness.

It was very interesting designing a program to track cognitive approaches to my own personal workout plan over the course of a week. It really did help to set small goals for what I wanted to achieve. Even though the weather was absolutely amazing, there were a couple days where I just wanted to hang out and relax. The goals I set for myself kept me on my bike, and motivated! Starting with a “bottom up” approach to goal setting offers better insight as to what is needed for long term goal satisfaction (Shah & Kruglanski, 2003). Reinforcement is also a large factor in accomplishing desired tasks. Working hard on the bike for two hours resulted in a caloric burn of 1500kcals, and so I was able to go and have The OP pizza without feeling bad about myself! Over the course of this winter, when the weather is worse, and the daylight shorter, I know just how I will motivate myself to train. I would highly recommend a behavior plan for anyone wishing to achieve both short and long term goals and achieve better mental and physical health.

Gill, D. L., & Williams, L. (2008). Psychological dynamics of sport and exercise (3^rd Ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Resnick, B. (2000). A seven step approach to starting an exercise program for older adults. Patient Education and Counseling, 39, 243-252.

Shay, J. Y., & Kruglanski, A. W. (2003). When opportunity knocks: Bottom up priming of goals by means and its effects on self-regulation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(6), 1109-1122.

Relax, Relax, Relax. Just let it play out!

Emotions in life, especially in sport often follow an up and down path of a roller coaster. Emotions play a large part in the performance of athletes (Jones, 2003). Individual emotions in team sport situations often don’t have as big of an effect mentally, as other teammates to help out. Emotional twists can often occur if an athlete competes in an individual sport, such as tennis or golf. Getting upset when calls don’t go ones way or personal errors occur, can decrease performance and affect the outcome of the match. Gill and Williams (2008) state that both emotions and stress can induce powerful influences on physical activity. One promising junior player rarely plays up to his potential, especially when competition is at its highest because he often gets upset at both negative and positive aspects of his tennis match. By being on edge, his nerves often consume his thoughts and his performance suffers. It is important for a counselor working at this camp to improve the ability of this player to control his emotions.

In order to improve emotional control, one must be able to determine the causation of stress and anxiety. Emotion consists of physiological changes, subjective experiences and action tendencies (Jones, 2003). Internal and external decisions can be enhanced or depressed based on emotion. In sport, emotional instability has been the subject of study for years, and it is still hard to decipher what exactly affects an athlete. According to Smith’s model of stress management, cognitive and behavior coping strategies are needed to prevent stress responses (Gill & Williams, 2008). Altering arousal for emotional control is essential for the role physiological arousal can play on experience and emotion itself. (Jones, 2003). Being emotional during a sport activity is not something that should be shunned by an athlete, as long as they can make the arousal work in a positive manner. Being on edge when things go well in a match should never happen; the athlete should relax and increase positive thought. Certain aspects of sport can or can’t be controlled; you should never let the un-controllable factors influence cognitive thought. Stress management techniques can be used to effectively decrease negative emotions during competition, which will inadvertently lead to increased performance when it is needed the most.

Stress management techniques can be simple but very effective if used by an athlete. Successful performers control anxiety and stay on task with cognitive interactions (Gill & Williams, 2008). One simple and effective way to decrease tension for the tennis player during competition will be breathing exercises. Having the athlete inhale for five seconds through the nose and then exhaling for the same duration through the mouth. This process will result in decrease cardiovascular stress and mental stability. After breathing techniques are used, meditation should be used next. “Relaxing the mind will allow the body to follow (Gill & Williams, 2008). During practice and a match, the tennis athlete should take time, close his eyes, and state the word “calm or relax” to himself while breathing deeply will calm nerves. Repetition of the word will alter focus to that word itself and away from stressors.

When an athlete is able to successfully employ breathing and cognitive techniques, more progressive exercises can be used. Progressive tensing and relaxation of the body musculature can help easy anxiety (Gill & Williams, 2008). As muscle tension can lead to physical and mental fatigue, keeping calm during later rounds of a tournament is essential. I would work with the tennis athlete to tense and relax his shoulder, arm and quad muscles to relax his mind and body. Once the mind and body are relaxed, the athlete can use imagery to mentally picture what should happen with a clear mind. Focusing on what should happen during the next point or series of games will improve performance. Imagery not only “psyched up” an athlete, but was also used to maintain composure (Jones, 2003). Deciphering what moves the opposition makes and deciding the best course of action to counter these will help win points.

As an athlete, one must realize that numerous things are out of personal control. Opponent actions, official calls, and weather are all factors that must be seen as natural, and shouldn’t cause emotional stress. Performance can decrease steadily with increased arousal and stress placed on the mind, and can leave the athlete feeling physically depleted. Tennis matches can last 2 hours or more, and if the body and mind are constantly battling each other, fatigue will affect performance. Maintaining a positive attitude and not allowing negative emotion to overrule is important to being successful. Using cognitive actions of controlled breathing and meditation will allow the athlete to forget negative emotion, relax and just play the match. Physical muscle relaxation is an element of control that can be used to relieve physical stress. Contracting muscles for a few seconds and then relaxing will allow the athlete to feel “loose” and quick. With a clear mind, imagery can occur without impedance allowing for essential focus. Participating in sport should be fun, especially at the junior level. In order to keep athletes interested in sport and improve performance, emotional stability is important. Keeping emotion in check involves simple procedures easily accomplished and after some practice, can become second nature.

Gill, D.L., & Williams, L. (2008). Psychological dynamics of sport and exercise (3^rd Ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Jones, M. V. (2003). Controlling emotions in sport. The Sport Psychologist, 17, 471-486.