Factors affecting the adoption of exercise behavior among sedentary older adults

Abstract

This research examines factors affecting the adoption of regular exercise by sedentary older adults and describes changes in fitness indicatiors among sedentary, community-living well elderly who volunteered to take part in a 10-week free exercise program. High attenders could be differentiated from low attenders on the basis of exercise expectations at baseline. Both high and low attenders experienced reducation in systolic blood pressure and gains in flexibility, but only high attenders experienced reducation in diastolic blood rpressure and weight and increased cardiovascular endurance. Knowledge of the number of days and minutes one should exercise, commitment to exercise and benefits experienced from exercise explained 34% of the variance when regressed on the Exercise Behavior Index.