Most recently I talked to you about how to fight age with muscle. I focused on the scientific proof that keeping the muscle you have and rebuilding muscle you have lost can stave off the effects of aging. I asked you to adopt a pro-active attitude regarding resistance training.
This month I would like to help you develop that pro-active attitude, so you can begin to "fight age with muscle."
This is the perfect time to address an attitude change. It is "resolution season." Millions of us see this time of year as the perfect opportunity to get rid of a bad habit or pick up a good, one. This is what making resolutions is all about: a pledge to make a change.
It seems clear enough; make a choice of what needs to change and do it-right? Since more than half of all resolutions made are abandoned by mid-February, maybe it's not quite that simple. How do we go about making a change and making it stick?
This is a question that has been studied for years: how and why do humans change their behavior? There is even a model, developed through extensive scientific research, of how people change called the "Trans-theoretical Model of Change." The main model was developed in the '70s by J.O. Prochaska, but it has been re-examined by other scientists over the years.
Lately, this model has been investigated in relation to exercise and other health-related behaviors. It has helped shed light on how professionals like me can help people to adopt an exercise program and stick with it.
A well-educated personal trainer should be familiar with this model and have a basic understanding of human behavior so he/she can help you reach your goals. It is also beneficial for you, the client, to understand human behavior in general and what affects your specific ability to make changes toward a healthy lifestyle and maintain them.
It is important to realize that this model was developed by observation of human behavior. These are not stages that a scientist made up and thinks we should do. Even if you are not aware that this is how you go about making a change in your life, it is; please accept this.
The first stage, precontemplation, is pretty straightforward; you haven't even thought about it yet. There is no way you are going to change if you don't know that life could be better if you did. I seriously doubt many of you reading this article are at stage one, which is good. Let's move on.
Contemplation: now we are getting somewhere. You are at least thinking about it here. Many people go in an out of this stage for a while; they think about it and then it slips away. This stage is where many resolutions are made but, with no plans attached to them, they never progress. You need to experience this stage, but you also need to progress through this stage if you are going to find success.
The third stage of the model is preparation, or what I like to call "information gathering and plan making." This is the stage that I often first see the person attempting to change. They may not be ready to begin working out, but they are doing some legwork in preparation for that level. This is a crucial stage. This stage is where the scientific term "decisional balance" starts to come into play. This refers to an active weighing of the pro's and con's of making a change. In this stage you will start to gather information pertinent to your change; you will start to prepare to make a decision about what you will do next. You may call several trainers or read articles about working out, you may visit or call several health clubs or talk to people you know who work out regularly.
It is critical that, in this stage, you get accurate information and seek reliable sources to answer your questions. Too often, people end up talking themselves out of continuing on the path toward their change to a healthy lifestyle by gathering bad information. If you go to a club and see things that turn you off, you might convince yourself that this is not for you and halt the entire process. If you talk to a trainer who references "boot camp" and the "no pain, no gain" mentality, you may retreat to stage one very quickly. As you prepare, then, make sure that you seek out good information. Don't quit after one bad experience. Remember, not all gyms, personal trainers and programs are the same and not all will be right for you. Just because you find one that doesn't fit does not mean that there is not one out there that does.
A good stage three should lead you right into stage four: action. This is where you can and should expect help on your quest. Once you have committed to action, other people will be there to help you. These may be the friends you are walking or running with, people in your exercise class or your personal trainer. This stage should help validate the work you did in your previous stage. The people that have done the best job in stage three have the best feeling, regarding success, in stage four. Just as it is with many things in life, if you prepare properly, the rest is easy.
Stage five is a tough one. Not just because maintenance of any new habit is hard, but because so many people don't understand what it takes to be successful here. It does not take a tremendous amount of self-discipline, or toughness, what it does take is awareness that most humans do not have the skills needed to successfully maintain without help a new habit. The main reason that people do not maintain a new habit or behavior is because they do not seek out the support they need to do so. Many people think that needing help is a sign of weakness, so they don't get any, and they fail.
It is normal to need help in order to maintain a new habit or behavior. You are not a weak person if you cannot get motivated to go work out by yourself. Just because you learn what you are supposed to do, do not assume that the motivation to do it will be automatically built-in. Put some maintenance tools in place, even after you have gone through an educational phase of what to do and how to do it.
The last stage, termination, does not mean termination of the changed behavior. In other words, you do not complete the change by quitting your program. What this means is that you have terminated the previous attitude and mindset that kept you from succeeding. It means you have completed the circuit and now have a new attitude. It is a necessary part of the formula, but one that is not reached by everyone. Many people successfully make a change and maintain it for years, but have not terminated the old feeling. Take smoking, for instance. Many ex-smokers still want to smoke. They may refrain from smoking by using a maintenance tool such as gum or the patch for years. There is nothing wrong with using help to maintain your change.
For some of you, this may be an overly scientific approach to a relatively simple act, but it is how we humans work. Try to incorporate some of the information put forward here to help you make a successful change in 2008.