There's been a lot of discussion in the exercise psychology world about why people don't get enough exercise. Only 59% of Americans actually get even the minimum recommended amounts of physical activity (Center for Disease Control, 2007). That includes things like running on the treadmill and Pilates, but also sweeping the driveway, parking your car further away from the entrance to the mall, or taking the stairs.
Our nation's public health policy has been to recommend people walk for 30 minutes most days of the week, and it has not been a hit. Most folks find it bo-ring... it's much more interesting to sit and watch that rerun. "Lucy! I'm home!"
I just read a paper that discussed recommending strength training to the general public instead of walking. They had many great reasons why we should recommend strength training: - to normalize blood pressure, reduce insulin resistance, reduce abdominal fat, increase metabolism, reduce loss of bone density and improve one's capacity for work. This paper was primarily interested in focusing on older adults, but these benefits are the same for all age groups. They did find that for older adults, 2 decades of age-related loss of strength and muscle mass could be regained in about 2 months of resistance training. Wow.
But most people aren't interested in exercising. They find so many other things that are more compelling, like earning a living, or taking care of children, or that crazy Lucy Ricardo. Winett, Williams and Davy suggest the very things that make strength training challenging (you've got to focus your attention, set goals, measure your progress, you get immediate feedback and a sense of personal control and mastery) are the same things that will make it a meaningful experience that people will want to recreate on their own. They will want to repeat their workout, not just because they're afraid of getting weak or of developing heart disease, but because they enjoy the experience. The authors write:
"These final points suggest a new direction for health behaviour interventions. Rather than attempting to keep people adhering to behaviours they find aversive, an unlikely possibility, maintenance programmes can focus on tailoring programmes so that engaging in specific health behaviours such as resistance training is intrinsically reinforcing."
So for those of us in movement education and personal training like Pilates and Gyrotonic, we should thank our stars that these methods have a purpose in and of themselves. Our clients benefit from learning a work-out that is self-reinforcing through its characteristics: requires focus, is fun, provides feedback and a sense of mastery (that's after you learn Figure 8s on the Handle Unit - wink).
Reference: Winett, R.A., Williams, D.M., & Davy, B.M. (2009). Initiating and maintaining resistance training in older adults: a social cognitive theory-based approach. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 43, 114-9.
If you would like to read the original paper, e-mail me and I can send you a PDF for your personal use.