Abstract
Staying physically active is one of the core foundations of a healthy lifestyle. Helping patients change their behavior toward a balanced, active lifestyle that meets national guidelines for physical activity is one of the core challenges of practicing lifestyle medicine. Having resources available that assist in this process is extremely valuable, and knowing how to use these resources is critical for every lifestyle medicine physician. The American College of Sports Medicine’s Behavioral Aspects of Physical Activity and Exercise by Claudio R. Nigg is a practical and comprehensive text in this arena that is useful for anyone who is regularly involved in helping individuals change their physical activity health behaviors.
Behavioral Aspects of Physical Activity and Exercise contains 10 chapters. Chapter 1 reviews the relevant physical activity behavior change theories. Chapter 2 discusses how to assess, measure, and create useful data on those people who are being motivated to change. Chapters 3 through 6 provide a series of skills that are useful for patients and providers as they assess readiness to change, acquire necessary skills, and communicate effectively using various media. Chapters 7 through 9 discuss changing environmental influences, working with a variety of different populations, and successful evaluation of physical activity programs. Chapter 10 focuses on a variety of practical applications that facilitate physical activity behavioral change.
This book focuses not only on why people change their behaviors but also on how and what they do that helps them successfully change behavior over time. The strength of this book is its educational and practical value. Each chapter begins with a concept overview, followed by a review of the evidence. Once this has been established, however, it is filled with practical tools, step-by-step applications, and case scenarios. Each of these brings a fresh, real-life experience to the theoretical foundations. The tools, techniques, and strategies for motivating people and promoting physical activity found in Behavioral Aspects of Physical Activity and Exercise are useful for clinicians, but the format of the book is perhaps best suited for the student who is looking for a comprehensive overview of physical activity health behavior change.
Additional resources connected to the book are available on its companion Web site. Further resources for instructors as well as students are also accessible for those who have purchased this text and obtained the appropriate passcode. All told, Behavioral Aspects of Physical Activity and Exercise is a practical, thorough contribution to the lifestyle medicine literature and is recommended for practitioners, teachers, and students who are serious about positively changing the physical activity habits of others.