Men on the Move: Promoting physical activity and improving health among African American men

Research has shown that physical activity plays an important role in the etiology of chronic diseases including heart disease, diabetes, and cancer; all of which disproportionately affect African American men. Yet, there is a paucity of interventions and research indicating how to improve physical activity levels among this group. Men on the Move was a pilot study to increase men's physical activity levels by: 1) improving access to age-appropriate, male-focused physical activity opportunities, and 2) facilitating social support from male peers. African American men who were 35 years old or older and resided in southeast Michigan were eligible for the study. Forty-one African American men enrolled (mean age of 53.8). Groups of 5-10 men met once a week with a certified personal trainer for 10 weeks. Each meeting addressed barriers to physical activity, provided men with community resources, and incorporated activities that promoted flexibility, strength, balance and conditioning. Improvements (p < .05) were detected for the outcome measures: perceived self-efficacy to sustain physical activity, endurance, overall health status, and stress level. Physiological and fitness outcome measures improved, although not to significant levels. Whereas 40% of the men met the recommendation of 150 minutes of moderate or vigorous physical activity weekly at baseline, 68% of the men met this recommendation by the end of the project. This study showed that interventions attending to the unique gendered and social factors affecting middle-aged African American men's participation in physical activity can recruit, sustain, and improve the health of this group.