Speaker Spotlight: Len Kravitz, PhD, CSCS
How to Hook People on Exercise and Keep Them Engaged
Time and place:
9:15 am – 10:15 am
Monday | Room 6A
Len Kravitz, PhD, CSCS
About the speaker:
Dr. Kravitz is Coordinator of Exercise Science at the University of New Mexico. He has been involved in physical activity and exercise for three decades and has spent many of those years taking a greater interest in special populations, including those who are overweight, obese and have type 2 diabetes.
Session overview:
Dr. Kravitz will explain the value of exercise for diabetes prevention and management and share the American College of Sports Medicine and ADA type 2 diabetes management exercise guidelines along with a review of the latest research.
He will give tips for applying a practical program for reduction of sedentary behavior along with some cardiovascular and resistance training ideas. The session also includes 10 evidence-based strategies to help patients start and stay with an exercise program.
“Research shows that 50 percent of men and women drop out of exercise after about six months,” he said. “We seem to be good at getting people to start a program, but maintaining it over the long run is the challenge. There are many variables why people drop out of exercise, but the most common reason is time. We will discuss all variables.”
Why this session matters to AADE16 attendees:
Dr. Kravitz has methods and ideas designed to increase physical activity levels. His evidence-based advice will benefit any diabetes educator looking to get patients moving.
Take-home messages:
Physical activity and exercise are a continuum, Dr. Kravitz said, and diabetes educators have a wonderful opportunity to help people start and maintain a life of physical activity. He will share sources—“like a ‘library of movement,’” he said—that attendees can access.
Also of note:
Session attendees will learn about a physical activity technique known as metabolic profiling. Dr. Kravitz has been doing this technique for many years.
“I have found this technique, which is so easy to complete, to be wonderfully effective in getting and keeping people active,” he said.
