ESTABLISHING AND MAINTAINING A WEEKLY EXERCISE ROUTINE

Establishing and Maintaining a Weekly Exercise Routine

Josiah F. Wallace
Azusa Pacific University
Section One: Introduction
Over the past few years of teaching, I noticed that while I found myself working
longer workdays, I was not getting enough physical exercise. One of the side effects was
a decrease in my energy. I started experiencing low energy levels during the second half
of my workday, and to combat this, I often drank caffeinated beverages to keep my
energy up. I found that my intake of coffee and soda had increased significantly over the
past two years. I wanted to use exercise as a natural way to increase my energy levels
and also maintain a healthy lifestyle as a teacher.
I believed that this topic was important because my health habits would have a
direct impact on my ability to be an effective teacher. If I was not taking part in regular
exercise, my body would not able to function at its peak performance. This could have
limited my teaching skills when I experienced low energy levels or lacked the stamina to
monitor and engage students during lessons. I also believed that part of my job as a
teacher was to model healthy behavior for my students. If I was not taking part in regular
exercise, I was sending an unhealthy message to my students. How could I tell them to
regularly exercise when I was not exercising? For this Action Research Report, my
research question was, will scheduling time for exercise and keeping a written record of
my physical activities help me to be more consistent with exercise?

ESTABLISHING AND MAINTAINING A WEEKLY EXERCISE ROUTINE

Section Two: Implementation

Step 1: Established current exercise habits

o Recorded current exercise habits on weekly chart to determine current
amount of exercise each week.
o See chart below:
SUN
12:00pm

MON

TUES
6:30

WED

THURS

FRI
4:30pm

Disc golf

Ultimate

Walk/jog

(20 min)

Frisbee

(20 min)

SAT

(30 min)

Step 2: Determined best times to take part in physical exercise

o Considered current weekly schedule and establish the optimal days and
times to exercise during the week.
o Recorded planned activities and times on weekly chart.
Step 3: Started exercise routine in short increments
o 20 minutes of moderate aerobic activity, 5 times a week (100 minutes per
week).
o Recorded exercise type and duration on weekly chart.
o At the end of the week, determined if exercise schedule was successful

and made any necessary adjustments.

Step 4: Increased exercise duration
o 30 minutes of moderate aerobic activity, 5 times a week (150 minutes per
week).
o Recorded exercise type and duration on weekly chart.
o At the end of the week, determined if exercise schedule was successful

and made any necessary adjustments.

Step 6: Maintained exercise duration
o 30 minutes of moderate aerobic activity, 5 times a week (150 minutes per
week).

ESTABLISHING AND MAINTAINING A WEEKLY EXERCISE ROUTINE

o Determined the success of the exercise schedule and decided if any
changes needed to be made.
Section Three: Results

Overall, the results were fairly consistent with my expectations for this study. In
my experience, scheduling out specific times for activities is an effective way to
keep me accountable. However, I was surprised at the external challenges that
arose when I established my exercise routine. During my study, I got sick with a
cold, and there were several days when planned activities had to be canceled or

changed due to weather.

My action research was completed over a five-week period. Below is the
completed plan with exercise activities and duration:

SUN 12/7
2:00pm

TUES 12/9
6:30pm

WED 12/10
7:00pm

Walk/Jog

Ultimate

Walk/Jog

Walk/Jog

(20 min)

Frisbee

(20 min)

(20 min)

(60 min)
TUES

WED 12/17

SUN 12/14

MON 12/8

MON 12/15

THU 12/11

THU 12/18

FRI 12/12
4:30 pm

SAT 12/13

FRI 12/ 19

SAT 12/20

12:00pm

12/16
6:30pm

4:30pm

1:00 pm

Disc golf

Ultimate

Walk/jog

Walk/jog

(25 min)

Frisbee

(30 min)

(25 min)

SUN 12/21

(60 min)
TUES

WED 12/24

FRI 12/26

SAT 12/27

3:00pm

12/23
5:00pm

11:00am

2:00pm

9:30pm

Walk/Jog

Walk/jog

Walk/jog

Walk/Jog

Hike

(40 min)
TUES

(30 min)
WED 12/31

(30 min)
FRI 1/2

(50 min)
SAT 1/3

(30 min)
SUN 12/28

MON 12/22

MON 12/29

THU 12/25

THU 1/1

ESTABLISHING AND MAINTAINING A WEEKLY EXERCISE ROUTINE

12/30
12:00pm

9:30 am

3:00pm

5:00pm

Disc Golf

Snow Hike

Walk/jog

Walk/Jog

(25 min)
FRI 1/9
4:00pm

(35 min)
SAT 1/10

(45 min)
SUN 1/4
1:30pm

MON 1/5
4:30pm

TUES 1/6
6:30pm

(45 min)
WED 1/7

Walk/Jog

Walk/Jog

Ultimate

Walk/Jog

(35 min)

(30 min)

Frisbee

(35 min)

THURS 1/8

(60 min)

Results for Total Minutes and Sessions

Week

Number of Sessions

Total Minutes

Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5

4 times
4 times
5 times
4 times
4 times

120 minutes
140 minutes
180 minutes
150 minutes
160 minutes

In the results above, the goal of five exercise sessions was only reached during
week 3, but the total minutes were met for every week but one. For the first
week, the goal was to perform a minimum of 100 total minutes of aerobic
exercise. As you can see in the chart above, this goal was met. However, in the
second week, the goal was raised to 150 minutes, and the total minutes for the
week was only 140. For the rest of the study, the total minutes of aerobic exercise
was met.

Section Four: Conclusions

This study helped me to see the value of setting clear goals and using a schedule
to complete a task. I did find that in exercising on a more regular basis, I did

ESTABLISHING AND MAINTAINING A WEEKLY EXERCISE ROUTINE

grow a little bored of jogging the same route. One adjustment that I would

change would be planning more varied exercise activities.

This routine is something that I plan to continue. Though there are days that an
unexpected roadblock may prevent a goal from being met, the scheduled times

kept me exercising regularly.

One of the barriers that I encountered during this study was seeing how reliant I
was on having good weather to exercise. Generally, the weather in southern
California is conducive for outside activities, but with the unexpected rain and
snow this past month, I found that meeting my goals was often pretty challenging.
Had I not had the time off during Christmas break, I likely would not have met
my weekly goals.

Section Five: General Comments

I enjoyed being able to focus on a specific area of my life that I could see needed
an improvement and being able to come up with an effective way to address this
issue. I learned that constructing clear, measureable goals was an important part
of the process. These goals were what established and drove weekly progress.
Most importantly, I see that this action research process could be applied in many
different areas, both personally and professionally. It is through this process that I
can continue to grow and develop as a person and as an educator.

ESTABLISHING AND MAINTAINING A WEEKLY EXERCISE ROUTINE

References
American Heart Association Recommendations for Physical Activity in Adults. (2014).
Retrieved December 1, 2014, from
http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/PhysicalActivity/FitnessBasic
s/American-Heart-Association-Recommendations-for-Physical-Activity-inAdults_UCM_307976_Article.jsp
Doheny, K. (2007, January 1). Fatigue Fighters: 6 Quick Ways to Boost Energy.
Retrieved December 1, 2014, from http://www.webmd.com/diet/fiber-healthbenefits-11/fatigue-fighters-six-quick-ways-boost-energy
Fitness Programs: 5 steps to get started. (2014, February 8). Retrieved December 1, 2014,
from http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/fitness/in-depth/fitness/art20048269