Understanding how health can influence physical activity

Health is a bigger motivator for me to be active. My family history is chock full of heart disease and cardiovascular issues, which I would like to fight off as long as I can.

When your health motivates you, it may be easy to assume it motivates others. This is not always the case.

Research has shown that a person’s health can be both a positive or negative influence on participation in physical activity.

We must remember that physical health, mental health, and perceptions of health all play an important role in an individual’s ability or willingness to participate in physical activity.

It is easy to forget that being active is not always easy, especially if they already have health issues.

As practitioners, we must be aware of how people’s health will affect their physical activity participation.

Things to consider:
- Whether or not their bodies can handle the activity. Such as: going for a walk but not having a park bench to rest on; being asked to sit on the floor to do exercises, but not given supports to help stand back up.

- Many medications can cause weight gain or other health-related side effects that may affect physical activity participation. For example, some blood pressure medication makes it more difficult for a person to regulate their core body temperature when they are active.

- Symptoms of a physical health condition that might make it difficult to participate in physical activity . For example, adults with Type 1 diabetes might not participate in physical activity because of the possibility of experiencing a low blood sugar level.

- Symptoms of a mental health condition that might make it difficult to participate in physical activity. For example, a person with an anxiety disorder may find it impossible to attend a group program.

Finally we also need to be aware of people’s perception of physical activity and their health. Concerns or fears about their health condition (whether they are based on fact or not) may actual deter people from participating.

* Fear that their existing health conditions might be made worse by becoming physically active or by doing too much.
* Fear of getting injured or re-injured.
* Fear of experiencing pain.
* Fear of participating in activities that aren’t appropriate for their age or, in some cases, for their health condition.

As practitioners, we need to be careful to listen and not belittle these fears.

That being said, promoting and educating the health benefits of physical activity is till important. We can help to motivate folks to move more, as long as we recognize their health situation and status. I believe, the key thing is taking the time to listen and understand the people we work with. How does their health currently influence them? How can you adapt your class, education, work, environment to better suit them?

For some other strategies on this topic check out this section of our website called Physical Activity for All:

Once again, I am open to hearing your ideas and experiences on this topic….

I wish good health to all of you!