A review of the exercise behavior literature reveals that many researchers suggests designing exercise promotion programs that are "staged-based" to help people adopt and maintain regular exercise behavior. Derived from the Transtheoretical Model, these stages are defined by exercise behavior. The popularity of using the exercise stages-of-change as a dependent measure has grown tremendously. Many practitioners and researchers are using exercise stages-of-change to measure the success of their programs. Yet, progression through the stages may not reflect actual exercise behavior. It is important to have an accurate measure of exercise behavior. This study examined the relationship between exercise behavior and current exercise stage-of-change of 700 employed adults. The results show that over 60% of the participants were "misclassified" in terms of exercise behavior. By stage definition, employees in precontemplation, contemplation, and preparation should not report any regular exercise behavior. For this sample 29% reported engaging in regular exercise behavior. Similarly, 37% of employees in the action and maintenance stage reported no exercise behavior. If successful exercise promotion programs are to be designed, an accurate baseline measure of exercise behavior is necessary. These results show that the exercise stages of change do not accurately reflect exercise behavior in a sample of employed adults.
Learning Objectives: Define the five exercise stages of change according to the Transtheoretical Model. Describe the validity of the exercise stages of change instrument
Keywords: Exercise, Methodology
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.