Chapter #18: Personal Program Planning

Time to Set up your own Fitness Program! Take the Bull by the Horns! Collect Information Consider a Variety of Activities to do Set Goals Structure Your Program Plan & Write it Down Evaluate Your Program

Step #1: Collect Information Part 1: Fitness Profile: is a brief summary of your fitness self-assessment Choose assessments that you think give the best representation of your fitness Consider ratings for fitness from all five health-related fitness areas Useful when planning a program because it shows areas that need improvement Part 2: Construct a Physical Activity Profile: Consider all of the activities you do that are part of the Physical Activity Pyramid

Step #2: Consider a Variety of Activities Use the goals that you have set to help you decide what activities you will do in your program Choose activities that will improve your fitness goal (example: soccer to help improve your cardiovascular endurance) Choose activities you Enjoy!

Step #3: Goal Setting Goal setting: is deciding what you plan to accomplish and how to accomplish it. Long-Term Goals: From more than a month to a year Short-Term Goals: From a few days to a few weeks

Goal Setting Continued Long-Term Goals Long-term Physical Activity Goals: -Example: expend 1500 calories in activities from the Physical Activity Pyramid each week for the next 6 months -Choose Activities that you like to do so that you are more likely to experience success Long-term Physical Fitness Goals: -Example: goal of doing 15 minutes of flexibility stretching a day for three months -Dependent on doing the right kind of activities and doing it correctly Short-Term Goals Short-term Physical Activity Goals: -Example: walking 30 minutes a day for the next 2 weeks -Choose activities that you are familiar with and that will help you to reach your long-term goals Short-term Physical Fitness Goals: -Example: Increase the number of push-ups I can do in one minute by 5 push-ups in one month from now -The best way to meet short-term fitness goals is to do regular exercise and to allow yourself enough time to accomplish each goal

General Guidelines for Goal Setting Be realistic… realistic goals are ones that can be accomplished easily by those willing to give effort but difficult enough to be challenging…set goals you can attain Be specific…vague/general goals are hard to accomplish. Specific goals help you to determine if you have accomplished what you set out to do. Personalize…base your goals on your own individual needs and abilities. Set your health and performance standards based on what you want to accomplish. Know your reasons for setting your goals…if you set goals for reasons other than your own personal improvement, you probably will fail to meet them. Know “why” you want to meet these goals, and you will have a better chance following through and doing so.

General Guidelines for Goal Setting Consider activities for all parts of fitness…health and wellness benefits will be increased if you do activities that help improve all 5 health-related fitness areas Self-assess periodically or keep logs… both will help you to see if you are making progress towards your goals Set new goals periodically…achieving a personal goal is rewarding, don’t be afraid to reward yourself for your accomplishment, then set your sight on a new goal Revise if necessary… if your original goals are too hard to accomplish, don’t be afraid to revise the goal (example: going from being inactive to running an 8-minute mile…might be too hard at first…revise to trying to run a 10-minute mile, then try to improve once you get there)

Guidelines for Beginners Focus on Short-term Activity Goals …beginners may not know much about their own fitness to set meaningful fitness goals… start slow and keep building Reward Yourself…if you decide to walk everyday for two weeks (which might be your goal), tell people about it! Participate in activities with others who have similar abilities…friends can keep friends going and can give each other a pat on the back when a goal is achieved

Guidelines for Intermediates Focus on short- and long-term physical activity goals… expand to longer-term goals…keep track of total minutes of an activity, total calories burned, etc. Use your self-assessments to set realistic short-term fitness goals… after assessing your fitness needs, set goals in areas that you feel need the most improvement Focus on improvement… set goals at one level higher than your current fitness level (low fitness level up to the marginal level, and so on...)

Guidelines for Advanced Exercisers Consider using all four types of goals… is set properly, all four type of goals can motivate advanced exercisers Set comprehensive goals… make sure all parts of fitness are developed from all parts of the pyramid (don’t get stuck on just one area) Consider maintenance goals… at some point, “enough is enough”…following a regular workout schedule and maintaining fitness in the good fitness zone are reasonable goals for fit and active people

Step #4: Structure Your Program Plan and Write it Down Structure your program by listing warm-up, cool down, special exercises, and activities Explain any special activities you might do Soccer (shooting on goal, playing 3 vs 3, etc.) Describe what you would do in that activity Include what time of day you would do it

Step #5: Write it Down Activity Time of Day How Long Mon Tues Set it up as a an table type database List out the order of activities you would do each day… Warm-up (walking, jog, jump rope, etc.) Activity or Activities (B-ball, wt. training, yoga, tennis, dance, calisthenics, etc.) Cool-down (stretching, walking, light jog, etc.)

Step #6: Evaluate Your Program After you have tried your program for an extended period of time, go back through the first five steps to revise your program to better meet your fitness needs

Stages of Physical Activity Stage 1: Couch Potato People who do no regular physical activity from any of the first three levels of the physical activity pyramid Stage 2: Thinking About It This person is not active, but is thinking about becoming active

Stages of Physical Activity Stage 3: Planning to be Active This person has taken steps to get ready to be active, such as buying clothing or equipment for activity Stage 4: Sometimes Active This person is active, but participates inconsistently Stage 5: Active for Life This person is active on a regular basis. He or she can overcome obstacles tat may discourage others