Kristie Ching February 14, 2012 PSY 3063-Chatterton Health Project Outline

Behavior change: Core Strengthening Exercises For this intervention, I want to strengthen my core muscles. I will do this by modifying my normal exercise and workout routine by incorporating more core strengthening exercises. The core muscles I will concentrate on strengthening are the upper and lower abdominal muscles, back muscles, and oblique muscles. I believe that strengthening these muscle groups will provide better support for my spinal cord and make daily activities easier.

Influential Factors: Stability & Balance I am extremely interested in health and nutrition, and for that reason I have been continuously reducing my bad habits and my unhealthy food choices in the past few years. Nowadays, I exercise on a daily basis, eat a relatively healthy diet, and do not smoke or do any type of drugs. When I was first presented with this project, I honestly could not think of any additional changes I could make in order to improve my health and my lifestyle. After tripping down the stairs again last week, I noticed that I am an extremely clumsy person. I unintentionally injure myself by falling, tripping, or losing my balance time and time again. It seems like there are always bruises and scars covering my arms and legs from these little accidents. I believe that strengthening my core muscles will improve my balance, which in turn will result in fewer accidents.

Implementation of Intervention I will implement my planned intervention by creating a modified workout schedule. My previous workout plan consisted of five days of cardiovascular exercises combined with resistance training for different muscle groups for each specific day. In order to strengthen my core, I will adjust this routine by adding more upper/lower abdominal, back, and oblique exercises. On Mondays and Wednesdays, my routine will include 30 minutes of High Intensity Interval Training Cardiovascular Exercise, 10 minutes of resistance training for other muscle groups, and 10 minutes of upper and lower abdominal muscles. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, my routine will include 30 minutes of High Intensity Interval Training Cardiovascular Exercise, 10 minutes of resistance training for other muscle groups, and 10 minutes of upper and lower back exercises. On Fridays and Saturdays, I will do 30 minutes of Yoga or Pilates. Sundays will be my resting days. Background Information/Research The core muscle group consists of the dominant gluteus maximus, dominant gluteus medius, rectus abdomonis, external oblique , and multifidis. Studied have shown that the strengthening of these muscle groups will result in enhanced sport performance, better posture, reduced back pains, and better balance and stability. Because our core connects our upper body to our lower body, it is the center of all muscle activity (Gates 1). Behm, D. G., Drinkwater, E. J., Willardson, J. M., & Cowley, P. M. (2010). The use of Instability to train the core musculature. Applied Physiology, Nutrition & Metabolism, 35(1), 91-108.

Hibbs, A. E., Thompson, K. G., French, D., Wrigley, A., & Spears, l. (2008). Optimizing Performance by Improving Core Stability and Core Strength. Sports Medicine, 38(12), 995-1008.