Evaluation of individually tailored interventions on exercise adherence

Abstract

This study's purpose was to test the effects of a reversal theory-driven individualized exercise prescription on exercise consistency, weight, percentage body fat, and exercise motivation for a group of faculty, students, and staff at a southwestern university. Participants were randomly assigned to 5-week education plus monitoring or monitoring-only treatment groups. The hypothesis was that participants in the education plus monitoring group would have more consistent exercisers, higher exercise motivation scores, and greater overall weight loss and decrease in percentage of body fat than would those in the monitoring-only group. Consistent exercisers will score higher than inconsistent exercisers on exercise motivation scores. More participants were exercising at recommended levels in the education plus monitoring group than in the monitoring-only group after the study intervention. Consistent exercisers had significantly higher motivation scores than did inconsistent exercisers. Thus, individualized exercise prescriptions using reversal theory can be beneficial in promoting a consistent exercise program.