Graeme’s story…how exercise has benefitted my life

I’ve always been sporty and loved playing football and cricket as a kid. My older brother (of 13 years) was a talented footballer and he always encouraged me to get involved in the school teams. I played rugby at a good level throughout senior school and trialled for...

Setting Health Related Goals

Goal setting has received a lot of attention over recent years and been applied within a number of setting including lifestyle, employment and health. This blog describes one goal setting approach and provides some helpful techniques. People often intend to change...

How to get started with exercise?

Theories and models can help identify where we are in terms of our motivation to change. We’ve also seen how our values and self-efficacy interact within the change process. Now let’s turn our attention to considering some of the practical things we can do to start...

Techniques for change

Consider the theory Two key things have been found to affect a person’s readiness to change. These are importance and self-efficacy. Importance is the value the person places on making the change. Self-efficacy is the person’s belief or confidence in their...

Making positive behavioural changes

“If physical activity were a drug, we would refer to it as a miracle cure, due to the great many illnesses it can prevent and help treat.” (UK Chief Medical Officers’ (CMOs) physical activity guidelines) This may help you to start thinking about ways of identifying...

So what stops us exercising?

TimeOne reason many people give for not exercising is time. Work, children, family, studies come first-then the day’s gone. While finding the time to exercise can be hard, doing it may help you with other activities by increasing your energy levels and lowering your...