A CALL TO ACTION: INCREASE EXERCISE AMONG YOUNG ADULTS! By Joseph Maisonet

INTRO – STEP 1: ATTENTION! Exercise can be defined as any bodily activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness. As we all know exercise is an important part of every person at EVERY age’s life. Consistent exercise can be a long-term benefactor while one is aging as it helps to maintain great physical health. People who exercise regularly experience a multitude of health benefits in comparison to people who do not exercise at all. One might find themselves thinking that they do not need exercise to help them live a healthier life because they have never exercised and have always been relatively healthy. But have they thought of the possible BENEFITS of exercising regularly and leading more than just a lackadaisical lifestyle? People must consider this when they are contemplating their daily lives and whether or not they think they are truly healthy. A person might never exercise and have no health issues later in life and may be recommended regular exercise by their doctor, but at that point it is nearly too late because they have not exercised their entire life and do not even know where to begin. There are other consequences to living a lackadaisical lifestyle than just being out of shape. Exercise keeps people alert, energized, and ready to take on their duties or their day. Exercise has plenty of mental benefits aside from just having some minor and/or major health benefits. Exercise is healthy for the mind too. The problem seems to be that young adults just to not take regular exercise seriously and they will regret this decision later in life.

STEP 2: NEED! A. There is a major trending problem among young adults in our present day and age. The trend, unfortunately, is that more and more young adults are not participating in physical activity to any extent. Many young adults these days become very inactive after graduating high school and this inactivity eventually leads to health problems or a lack of effort to do anything even like succeed in their goals. B. According to a survey done by researchers at a large Mid-western university “young adulthood is characterized by a steep decline in the level of physical activity. 37.6% of college students and 14% of adults of the same age group participate in vigorous physical activity.” Vigorous physical activity can be defined as working out or exercising more than three times per week. The study also found that 19% of both college students and 19% of adults participate in moderate physical activity, which is less than three times a week. C. As you all can see this is a major problem among our youth in this day and age. Less than half of young adults aged anywhere from eighteen to twenty-five are not exercising even just a couple of days a week. Clearly there is a need for change here because young adults who are in the prime of their lifetime are wasting it away by being inactive and lazy. Most of these inactive adults will regret the day that they are too old to go out and do something active because they never did so regularly when they were in their prime. Many of these young adults are overweight and will only continue to be so as they get older in life, which can lead their families to end up extremely unhealthy as well as they have never had any proper guidance to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, specifically their children.

STEP 3: SATISFACTION A. There are many ways the youth such as you and I can overcome this downward trend among young adults and college students. One might think it is very easy to just go exercise for an hour or two a day, and trust me it is, but some people need a bit more of a personal push to be able to get on a regular exercise schedule. For starters, making an exercise or workout schedule is the perfect way to begin exercising regularly. B. Remember, no matter how busy you may think you are during the day or at night, you can always squeeze in one hour for exercise daily, which is really all it takes to remain healthy. Once again we can get ourselves to exercise by making a schedule. For example, most people know what they have to do for the day when they wake up; because of this it is very simple to schedule a workout time. Simply, if you are a morning person and wake up easily, the first thing you should do is get yourself to your local gym or if you prefer to workout outside or at home you should do go ahead and do that! C. It is very easy to squeeze your daily exercise in in the morning before you go to work or school. For people who prefer to sleep until the very last minute, they can simply be ready to head to the gym or their personal preference as soon as they are done with their work or school day.

STEP 4: VISUALIZATION! A. Another solution to pair onto making an exercise schedule can be taking before and after pictures every Sunday through Saturday, or Monday through Sunday, however you prefer to define the start of your week. Trust me when I say that this will be the ultimate motivational technique to keep you working out for months on end! B. First of all do not think that you cannot see physical results week in and week out on your body because you most certainly can if you work hard enough. When you can physically see the changes in your body, especially on a consistent basis, you will want nothing more than to finish your work or school day so that you can get to the gym and exercise, or to wake up so you can exercise first thing in the morning! Trust me again when I say that being able to physically see your bodies beautiful changes will one hundred and ten percent motivate you to get out there and exercise vigorously. C. Picture yourself working out vigorously, building up a great sweat, and seeing the results of your own hard work on your own body! There will be no more rewarding experience than this. Visualise!!

CONCLUDE – STEP 5: ACTION!!! After hearing my advice and facts regarding young adults and exercise there is still only one way you all can truly change your lifestyles to a better one. YOU have to get outside now and go for a run! Or get yourself in the gym now and stop telling yourself you are going to tomorrow like you always have! It is a sunny beautiful day in the middle of the summer and there is no reason for why you should not go on a nice jog after this speech. For anyone who is inquiring to join a gym there is a multitude of Planet Fitness’ around in the area, or you can even attend the university gym on campus! Just go to planetfitness.com and type in your zip code and you will be able to find a gym extremely close to you, or show the university your ID card and get yourself going to play some racquetball, run on the treadmill, or life some weights right now! You have all been a wonderful audience, and remember there is nobody holding you back but yourself and we all feel like we could be in better shape than we are, so leave this room and go out there and get active!

References Buckworth, J., Kirby, T., Sherman, W. M., & Wallace, L. (2000). Characteristics of exercise behavior among college students: application of social cognitive theory to predicting stage of change. Preventive Medicine, 31,