Activity 3.

2
5 Barriers to Physical Activity Assessment Participation and One’s Diet

With technological advances and conveniences, people’s lives have in many ways become
increasingly easier, as well as less active. In addition, people have many personal reasons or
explanations for being inactive such as having a fear of injury, social influence, lack of time, lack
of energy, and lack of skill. Understanding these common barriers to physical activity and
creating strategies to overcome them may help make physical activity part of daily life.

Lack of Time
Most of us are familiar with the most common
barrier to a regular physical activity routine
-the lack of time. Work, family obligations and
other realities of daily life often get in the way
of our best intentions to be more active. To
overcome this barrier, you should monitor your
daily activities for one week. Identify at least
three 30-minute time slots you could use for
physical activities such as walking, jogging, or
stair climbing.

Fear of Injury
As humans, we try to avoid the activities that
can hurt us. Fear of injury is a very real barrier
to physical activity, especially for anyone who
has experienced an exercise-related injury in
the past. However, what a lot of people don’t
realise is that by not exercising, they are more
likely to suffer an injury or an illness in the
future. So, we should learn how to exercise
appropriately, considering your age, fitness
level, skill level, and health status.
Lack of Energy
There are numerous reasons why someone
might suffer from a lack of energy. Some of
them include disrupted sleep, stress and being
overweight that cause fatigue and low energy.
To deal with this, you should schedule physical
activity for times in the day or week when you
feel energetic. Also, convince yourself that if
you give it a chance, physical activity will
increase your energy level; then, try it.

Social Influence
When your friends and family don’t share your
interest in physical activity, you can explain your
fitness and/or health improvement goals to them
and ask for their support. You can invite friends
to participate in physical activity with you or you
can join a walking club to find people with similar
goals to offer support. Develop new friendships
with physically active people.

Lack of skill
Having a lack of skill is also a barrier in
participating in physical activity. What you can
do is to select activities requiring no new skills,
such as walking, climbing stairs, or jogging.
Exercise with friends who are at the same skill
level as you are. Find a friend who is willing to
teach you some new skills or you can also take a
class to develop new skills.