| Activity
MEN, LET’S GET
PHYSICAL — PHYSICALLY ACTIVE!
BY SUSAN GAY, M.A.ED., MCHES®
M
any, if not all, of us have heard of or know the benefits of physical activity. We probably also have heard that adults need at least 150 minutes (2 ½ hours) of moderate-intensity aerobic activity per week and should engage in muscle-strengthening activity at least two days a week.1 I presume American Indian men are among those who possess that knowledge. The problem is, most times, knowledge doesn’t easily translate into action. For one, to act on what we know takes effort. In addition, a whole heap of other variables often must also be taken into consideration. Let’s admit it: behavior change is difficult, even when the desired outcome is in our best interest. So, men, my goal is not to lecture you on all the reasons why you should be physically active or bore you with a lot of statistics. I
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A M E R I C A N I N D I A N & A L A S K A N AT I V E L I V I N G
would much rather use this space to help you overcome barriers that may be preventing you from being physically active, by sharing health behavior change tips and helping you explore ways to incorporate physical activity into your daily routines, moving you from knowledge to action and adjusting your perception of it from dread and drudgery to achievable, fun, and culturally relevant. In the technological world, there’s an app for just about everything. Similarly, in the field of health education, there are numerous models that assist with understanding, predicting, and explaining health behavior. The Transtheoretical2 is also known as the Stages of Change Model, because it takes into account that behavior change happens over time — in stages — and
