Effect Of Exercise Stages On Cardiorespiratory Fitness

According to the Transtheoretical Model (Prochaska & Marcus, 1994), people’s exercise behaviors can be categorized into five exercise stages: exercise stage 1, no exercise and no intention to change; exercise stage 2, no exercise but considering a change; exercise stage 3, having some change/exercise; exercise stage 4, performing regular exercise recently (less than six months) and meeting Federal Physical Activity Guidelines (FPAG); and exercise stage 5, performing regular exercise regularly and habitually (at least six months) and meeting FPAG. PURPOSE: This study examined how the exercise stage would impact young people’s cardiorespiratory fitness. METHODS: The exercise stage was assessed with the Exercise Stages of Change Survey (Marcus & Forsyth, 2009) for 180 university students (77 Females) in the US. Fifty-four participants (24 F) were in exercise stage 2 or 3, forming a low exercise stage group (LESG); 58 (25 F) in exercise stage 4, forming a stage-4 group (S4G); and 68 (28 F) in exercise stage 5, forming a stage-5 group (S5G). No participants were in exercise stage 1. In addition, the participants completed a 1.5-mile run test. One-way ANOVA was run to examine differences among the three exercise stage groups. RESULTS: For males, significant differences in the 1.5-mile run performance appeared among the three exercise stage groups in each pairwise comparison: S5G (11:19±1:50) vs. S4G (13:01±1:19), p < .001; S5G vs. LESG (14:50±1:07), p < .001; and S4G vs. LESG, p < .001. With respect to females, similar significant differences in the 1.5-mile run performance occurred. Specifically, S5G (12:21±1:26) vs. S4G (14:41±1:39), p < .001; S5G vs. LESG (16:24±1:44), p < .001; and S4G vs. LESG, p < .001. CONCLUSION: For both young males and females, higher exercise stages have substantial impact on cardiorespiratory fitness. Those who have regular exercise (meeting the FPAG) recently for less than six months (exercise stage 4) show significant better 1.5-mile run performance than those who do not perform regular exercise, and those who perform regular and habitual exercise (meeting the FPAG) for at least six months (exercise stage 5) will further improve their 1.5-mile run performance significantly. Young people are encouraged to move to higher exercise stages for significantly better health benefits.