Are the attitudes of exercise instructors who work with older adults influenced by training and personal characteristics?

Little is known about the relationship between attitudes and characteristics of instructors and uptake and adherence of older people to exercise classes. This article explores these issues.Methods:The authors surveyed 731 UK exercise instructors with specialist older adult exercise qualifications. A questionnaire investigated instructors’ characteristics and attitudes toward older adults’ participation in exercise.Results:For mostly seated classes, EXTEND qualification (B = 0.36, p = .005) had a positive effect on instructors’ attitudes. Later Life Training qualification (B = −2.80, p = .003), clinical background (B = −3.99, p = .005), and delivering classes in National Health Services (B = −3.12, p &lt; .001), leisure centers (B = −2.75, p = .002), or nursing homes (B = −2.29, p = .005) had a negative effect on attitudes. For mostly standing classes, experience (B = 0.20, p = .003) and delivering in leisure centers (B = 0.46, p = .032) had a positive and clinical background (B = −1.78, p = .018) had a negative effect on instructors’ attitudes.Conclusions:Most instructors have positive attitudes, but training and work context can influence attitudes toward older people’s participation in exercise classes both positively and negatively.</jats:sec

An Evaluation of the Holyoke High School Commercial Department.

Thesis (M.S.

Open Access and Scientific Societies

Societies are encouraged to consider their own open-access experiments within the context of the communities they serv

The role of the exercise instructor in older adults' uptake and adherence to exercise classes

Encouraging older adults to become more active and maintain that activity is critical to the promotion of their health and well-being, social networks and independence. Leadership behaviour and quality of instruction is important in influencing engagement of older adults in exercise classes. Instructors' attitudes could influence older adults' uptake and adherence to classes, but little is known about the relationship between attitudes and characteristics of instructors and their delivery in relation to uptake and adherence of older adults to exercise classes. Methods: Underpinned by the Theory of Planned Behaviour and using a mixed methods approach this thesis uses three studies to:1) Survey 731 United Kingdom exercise instructors with Level 3 older adults exercise qualification to investigate instructors' characteristics and attitudes towards older-adults' participation in exercise. 2) Interview 19 instructors to further explore instructors' attitudes, experiences and beliefs in relation to their exercise classes for older adults and how their attitudes, experiences and beliefs are influenced by their training and characteristics.3) Follow up a cohort of 16 instructors and 193 of their class participants over 6 months to explore what characteristics of exercise instructors, the group and class participants influence adherence and also whether instructors influence uptake and adherence to home exercise. Results and Conclusion: The first study establishes that there is a relationship between instructors' training, experience, characteristics and their attitudes. The second study supports these findings and demonstrates how instructors' think that these factors and others not only influence how they deliver and promote their classes but also influence older adults' uptake and adherence to exercise classes. The final study enables us to look at the relationship between instructor variables and the participant within the exercise class setting. Class participants' mental well-being, education and housing were key factors related to their attendance. Having attended the class for more than six months at baseline was an important factor related to adherence. Individual factors such as participants' attitudes, beliefs about group cohesion and instructor variables such as personality traits and experience emerged in the final models both in relation to participant attendance and adherence. There are a series of complex interactions between the instructor, participant, the group and others which influences beliefs and attitudes. It is clear that the instructor can influence participants and they have an important role to play in creating an atmosphere and environment of which participants want to be a part of.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceMedical Research CouncilGBUnited Kingdo

Exercise instructors are not consistently implementing the strength component of the UK chief medical officers’ physical activity guidelines in their exercise prescription for older adults

Strength training recommendations have been embedded within the UK’s Chief Medical Officers’ physical activity guidelines since 2011. There is limited evidence that these recommendations are used by exercise instructors in the community to underpin strength training prescription in the older adult population. This study aimed to explore exercise instructors’ awareness and utilisation of the guidelines when prescribing strength training to older adults. Fifteen exercise instructors working with older adults in the UK participated in one online interview. A general inductive approach was conducted and thematic analysis allowed for major themes to be identified from the raw data. We found that most exercise instructors (n = 9), but not all (n = 6), were aware of the guidelines. Only one instructor (n = 1) had reportedly implemented the guidelines into their practice; other instructors reported that the guidelines were irrelevant. Instead, each of the instructors had their preferred sources of information that they relied on to underpin their exercise prescription, and each had their own interpretation of ‘evidence-based strength training.’ This individualised interpretation resulted in exceptionally varied prescription in the community and does not necessarily align with the progressive, evidence-based prescription known to build muscular strength. We suggest that (i) more detail on how to build muscular strength be embedded within the guidelines, (ii) a handbook on how to implement the guidelines be made available, (iii) theoretical and practical teaching materials and courses be updated, and/or (iv) a re-(education) of exercise instructors already in the field may be necessary to bring about a consistent, evidence-based strength prescription necessary for the best possible health and longevity outcomes for our ageing population

High-intensity interval training in polycystic ovary syndrome : A two-center, three-armed randomized

Purpose Exercise training is recommended to improve cardiometabolic health and fertility in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), yet there are few randomized controlled trials on the effects of different exercise protocols on clinical reproductive outcomes. Our aim was to determine the effect of high-intensity interval training (HIT) on menstrual frequency, as a proxy of reproductive function, in women with PCOS. Methods The IMPROV-IT study was a two-center randomized controlled trial undertaken in Norway and Australia. Women with PCOS were eligible for inclusion. After stratification for body mass index <27 or ≥27 kg·m−2 and study center, participants were randomly allocated (1:1:1) to high-volume HIT (HV-HIT), low-volume HIT (LV-HIT), or a control group. Measurements were assessed at baseline, after the 16-wk exercise intervention, and at 12-month follow-up. The primary outcome was menstrual frequency after 12 months. Secondary outcomes included markers of cardiometabolic and reproductive health, quality of life, and adherence to and enjoyment of HIT. Results We randomly allocated 64 participants to the HV-HIT (n = 20), LV-HIT (n = 21), or control group (n = 23). There were no differences in menstrual frequency at 12 months between the LV-HIT and control groups (frequency ratio, 1.02; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.73–1.42), the HV-HIT and control groups (frequency ratio, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.67–1.29), or the LV-HIT and HV-HIT groups (frequency ratio, 1.09; 95% CI, 0.77–1.56). Menstrual frequency increased in all groups from baseline to 12 months. More participants became pregnant in the LV-HIT group (n = 5) than in the control group (n = 0, P = 0.02). Conclusions A semisupervised HIT intervention did not increase menstrual frequency in women with PCOS. Clinical Trial Registration Number:ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02419482)

The Solar Benchmark: Rotational Modulation of the Sun Reconstructed from Archival Sunspot Records

We use archival daily spot coverage measurements from Howard et al. (1984) to study the rotational modulation of the Sun as though it were a distant star. A quasi-periodic Gaussian process measures the solar rotation period $P_\mathrm{rot} = 26.3 \pm 0.1$ days, and activity cycle period $P_\mathrm{cyc} = 10.7 \pm 0.3$ years. We attempt to search for evidence of differential rotation in variations of the apparent rotation period throughout the activity cycle and do not detect a clear signal of differential rotation, consistent with the null results of the hare-and-hounds exercise of Aigrain et al. (2015). The full reconstructed solar light curve is available online.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA

Exercise instructors in the UK are not using the physical activity guidelines to inform their strength prescription with older adults

Strength recommendations have been embedded within the UK’s Chief Medical Officers’ physical activity guidelines since 2011. There is limited evidence that these recommendations are used by exercise instructors in the community to underpin strength prescription in the older adult population. This study aimed to explore exercise instructors’ utilisation of the guidelines when prescribing strength training to older adults. Fifteen exercise instructors working with older adults in the UK participated in one online interview. A general inductive approach was conducted to allow for major themes to be identified from the raw data. We found that most exercise instructors, but not all, were familiar with the guidelines. Only one of 15 instructors had reportedly implemented the guidelines into their practice; other instructors reported that the guidelines were irrelevant. The interviewees each had their preferred sources of information that they relied on to underpin their prescription, and each had their own interpretation of ‘evidence-based strength training.’ This individualised interpretation resulted in exceptionally varied prescription in the community and does not necessarily align with the progressive, evidence-based prescription known to build muscular strength. We suggest that i) more details on how to build muscular strength within the guidelines, ii) a handbook on how to implement the guidelines, iii) an update to theoretical and practical teaching materials and courses, and/or iv) a re-(education) of exercise instructors already in the field may be necessary to bring about a consistent, evidence-based strength prescription that would be required for the best possible outcomes for our ageing population