Volitional Phase: Action and Coping Planning
February 15th, 2010
photo by Adam Clark
Action planning. Over the first half of week two:
- Design a battery of 6-10 indirect flexibility tests to establish a starting benchmark and to use as final outcome measure (“Flexibility Tests”, 2010). The initial assessment should be implemented at an appointed time.
- Set-up a qualitative written reflection regarding my recent experiences of pain cycling and my daily levels of stress including the self-report of physical manifestations of stress. (This was omitted as it didn’t add anything new from the intention oriented reflection in the motivation phase)
- Design daily flexibility training and build it into my schedule using shorter 10-15 minute workouts for busy days and longer 15-30 minute workouts for more focused periods. A combination of self-initiated and class based stretches or exercises should be used to reduce the dependency on my own volition to implement the program. Some individual and class possibilities exist for this including yoga stretches for cyclists (Smeaton, 2009). Other options include developing several stretching routines that address flexibility in the trunk, hips, legs, upper body, and neck (“Lists of Stretches”, 2009). Stretches that can occur in very short periods of time when I have a spare fifteen minutes or for longer stretching sessions will both be of value for this program.
- Explore the pros and cons of the different yoga options in the community. (Complete – it came down to accessibility and scheduling over money)
- Utilize automated email reminders to my mobile phone to strengthen the effect of my intentions on my physical activity (Prestwich, Perugini, & Hurling, 2009). Motivational exercise related quotes will be included in these preset reminders to give each email an unique quality to maintain interest (“Motivational Quotes”, 2009).
- Create, at a minimum, a weekly blog post during this phase to share my self-reflections with my social network.
Coping planning. Over the remainder of week 2:
- Identify potential barriers (e.g. The faculty meeting runs late and I am pressed for time before dinner so my scheduled stretching session doesn’t happen)
- Identify available resources to help overcome each barrier (e.g. I usually have approximately 30 minutes or so before my family wakes up. If I set my alarm 15 minutes earlier I can create a window of focused time.)
- Draft specific plans of how each barrier will be overcome (e.g. If a faculty meeting runs late and I am unable to stretch at 5pm before dinner on Monday I will set my alarm 15 minutes earlier on Tuesday morning. As a reward producing change, I will set a separate weekly alarm on Tuesday for 6am instead of the usual 6:15 so that if I am able to stretch on Monday after the faculty meeting I can reward myself with an extra 15 minutes of sleep the following day.