Increasing Physical Activity T. B. Summer 2004 HSCI 586 Dr. Alemi

What happened to my routine? Previous routine of 45 minutes of aerobic exercise at least 5 times per week maintained for 10 years! Habit of formal exercise faded away when:  Enrolled in graduate studies Fall  Job responsibilities lead to increased hours spent at work.

A look at then….. Daily Routine Weekly routines A lot of control over evening hours Usually spent only 8 hours at work Regular exercise was more easily accomplished

A look at now….. Daily Routine Weekly routines Increased hours spent at work leaves less available hours in evening Most free hours are spent doing school work Leaving early from work for school on Wed leads to using personal time to finish work projects at home

Conclusions Motivation or the desire to exercise is the same now as it was then What changed was my environment:  More time spent at work  Time demands of graduate program Time spent in class Time spent doing assignments  Less available time to exercise

Reasons to change Health benefits of regular exercise:  Reduces risk of developing heart disease  Lowers blood pressure  Reduces risk for diabetes  Reduces risk for osteoporosis  Reduces risk for colon and breast cancer  Improves mood and mental functioning  Maintains healthy weight Personal reasons:  To maintain muscle mass and build physical endurance despite challenges of the normal aging process.

I need some help! Solicited a colleague at work to be involved in my quest for personal improvement (process owner), to assist me to:  Define my goals for increasing physical activity.  Streamline work processes to decrease time spent at work.  Identify opportunities in daily schedule to incorporate increased physical activity.  Support and celebrate my successes.

How much physical activity? Time constraints call for flexibility in methods used to improve physical fitness. Exclusive reliance in the past on aerobic exercise to meet exercise needs may not be successful with today’s schedule. With process owner:  Research physical benefits of exercise and determine desired level of physical activity.  Define goals for physical activity.

Goals for Increasing Physical Activity Successful Increase in Physical Activity will be measured by:  Meet daily goal: Aerobic exercise of at least 30 minutes per day, or Accumulate at least 8500 steps using a pedometer  Meet weekly goal: Aerobic exercise of at least 1 ½ hours per week  The term “exercise” is used to describe either goals for aerobic exercise or steps taken.

What changes can I make? Wear pedometer daily to assess goal of 8500 steps (or 4 miles). Move office from 3 rd Floor to 12 th Floor. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Arrive at work 30 minutes earlier (before clinic operations begin) to accomplish tasks/projects without interruptions. Leave work at 5 PM (1 hour earlier), unless work is required to meet imminent deadline.

Method Measure baseline or pre-implementation data for 1 week Implement proposed changes for following 3 weeks. Post weekly results to storyboard and display on office wall.

Results: Control Chart for Duration of Missed Exercise

Goal for Weekly Aerobic Exercise

Conclusions Performance improvement processes can be used successfully to facilitate lifestyle changes. Time-between control charts are very useful in evaluating the success of systemic changes on patterns of an exercise program.

Plans to maintain the gain Continue to monitor daily exercise for 3 months (“refreezing” of systemic change). Re-evaluate goals for exercise September 30  Consider setting the bar higher! Revisit exercise program when finished with graduate program at the end of the year.