While it’s true that every journey begins with a single step, one step doesn’t get you very far.
If you really want to get somewhere, you’ve got to walk more. Sometimes a lot more, for a long time. And if the step you’re taking is exercise, the total journey—consistently building healthy habits over time—matters most of all. Luckily, according to McKay School professor David Barney, the ten-thousandth step and beyond is achievable for anyone, whether they’re a physical education teacher motivating a class, a parent helping kids build healthy habits, or a person climbing back on the exercise train. “Learning is in the doing: you’re going to learn as you participate, and PE is a participatory activity,” Barney said. “Exercise is a participatory activity. In doing it, you learn, and in learning, you’re hopefully building a habit.” Barney has studied for decades how to help people exercise more effectively. Here are a few of his insights, with key takeaways for teachers, parents, and individuals.
Stay Positive
Positivity matters, and that’s backed by research. For example, Barney has found that students tend to feel more positive about physical education classes when their teacher calls them by name and also that teachers’ positivity affects the future wellness habits of their students. “We talked to BYU kids, and we said, ‘What was your experience in PE when you had to exercise as punishment?’” Barney said. “A lot of them told us, ‘I don’t do [exercise] now, because I had such bad experiences.’ We were like, ‘Oh no!’ because PE is a great opportunity to see exercise as a positive thing.”
Teachers’ Takeaway
Rather than presenting exercise as an obligation, Barney suggested offering it as a chance to try something new that might be fun. Introduce students to many types of play and grade on participation. Skill-building is nice, he added, but not as important as trying and enjoying. “Kids to themselves say, ‘I only made five foul shots out of 10,’” he said. “What does that matter? For our profession, there has been a lot of reconceptualizing around figuring out what’s the bottom line here? And that is: Let’s make it a positive experience, encourage kids to give their best effort, and, if they have fun doing it, great! Wonderful!”
For Families
Enjoying an experience literally makes it easier, Barney said. His research has shown that people enjoying themselves tend to keep at an activity for longer or with greater intensity. Reassuring kids that it’s okay that they won’t be good at everything and keeping the stakes low will increase positive attitudes, he added. “If they can take this positivity and this willingness to try, and they can apply it to going to Vasa Fitness or taking a family bike ride, I think that’s a successful approach,” he said.
Individual Idea
Building in positivity should include taking care of yourself, Barney added. “First, go to your doctor and get a checkup if you haven’t done that recently,” he said. “Don’t just think, I’m going back out there, and I’m going to kick butt. Start small and build up. We’ll feel better, and we’ll want to try it again.”
Add in Music
Barney and a team of coauthors, including recently retired McKay School professor Keven Prusak, found in a 2024 study that exercising to music increased rates of activity among male and female junior-high basketball players—but they also found that the effect was especially pronounced among girls. “Kids are more uninhibited with music,” Barney said. “They’re more willing to try things. And if they try it, maybe they’ll like it. And then music has helped hook them and motivate them. And they start some habits that can keep them more physically active.”
Teachers’ Takeaway
The 2024 coauthors wrote that studies over time have shown “overwhelmingly” that boys tend to be more active than girls. The fact that both groups of students were more active when music was playing—and that this result was stronger for female students—is an exciting finding, they added. “The results from this study can inform PE teachers that female students are just as capable as male students of being highly physically active,” Barney and his coauthors wrote.
For Families
One potential application of this study is that people can add in elements that help boost activity levels. One of these is music, Barney said, but others may include finding a companion to exercise with, “gamifying” exercise, or choosing an accessible sport that offers rewards beyond exercise. "Take the rise of pickleball—that’s a gold mine,” Barney said. “We did a study around here with pickleball-playing people who were 40 and older, and there are all kinds of social benefits.”
Individuals’ Idea
Besides meeting social needs, exercising with other people builds accountability, he said. “A lot of the time we’re doing it with family or with people we consider friends,” Barney added. “We do something with them, such as going for a walk, and we talk about family, we talk about our kids, we talk about our jobs—and we’re getting our heart rate up a little too.”
Do What You Like
In a 2018 study of university-level physical activity programs, Barney found that students in various exercise classes not only improved physically but also mentally and socially. In other words, they enjoyed themselves. “College physical activity programs . . . are doing more than helping students improve their skills,” Barney wrote, adding that students reported forming friendships and feeling less stress. “These outcomes will benefit college students as they participate during their college experience and throughout their lives. As one student stated, ‘I think there is more going on here than just playing volleyball.’”
Teachers’ Takeaway
These findings could change how teachers present new activities, Barney said. In a 2024 study with McKay School professor Theresa Leavitt, Barney found that students’ positivity was directly affected by their teachers’ own attitudes. “Many of the students stated that their PE instructors’ enthusiasm positively affected their own enthusiasm and experience in the class—hopefully leading the students to a physically active lifestyle,” Barney and Leavitt wrote.
For Families
Parents can leverage this idea to encourage their children, but Barney cautions parents, first and foremost, to not overschedule kids. “Help them find something they like,” he said. “Play with them, and you’ll both have a good time. It’s kind of like reading. I like reading about Church history. I like reading the scriptures, reading about athletics and sports and history types of things. But I’m not really big on love novels, and that’s okay. Find something you like, whatever it is.” Once children find activities they enjoy, Barney said, emphasize fun, fitness, hard work, and love of the game. Anything else risks diminishing the joy children should feel in play.
“There are too many cases in which parents are living through their kids,” he said. “Mom and Dad are pushing them and pushing them and making it more about the parents than about the kids’ experience. And it happens too often that, as the kids get older, they just say, ‘I don’t want to do it anymore. I want to do what I want to do.’” Very few kids look back fondly on receiving performance notes from their parents, Barney said. “But what they will remember forever, if you ask them, is playing catch with their dad or going on bike rides or hiking or whatever. They’ll remember you being there for them.”
Individual Idea
Invest time in figuring out what activities work for you and in what circumstances, Barney said. Do you like walking? Biking? Swimming? Do you exercise best in the evening or early morning? Should you make a playlist, recruit a friend, or use a goal-setting app? Those answers will be different for each person, he added. What matters is taking the time to find the right ones for you. “This isn’t biochemistry or conjugating verbs or something,” Barney said with a chuckle. “It’s simply getting up and doing something.”
Remember to Play
While a few stalwart people are great at religiously running on a treadmill every day, most people like a little variety in their exercise—and it tends to keep them more active, Barney said. The most effective physical education teacher education (PETE) prepares new teachers to help students find “lifetime activities” that keep people exercising regularly, according to a 2015 study by Barney, Prusak, and others.
Teachers’ Takeaway
When teachers explore different activities with students, they gift them the exercise that they can do for a lifetime, Prusak and his 2015 coauthors wrote. “By exposing pre-service teachers to a multitude of lifetime activities, PETE faculty are communicating to these students that there is more to high school PE than flag football, basketball, softball, volleyball, and other team sports,” they wrote.
For Families
Even a treadmill runner often sticks to it through tracking or virtual challenges—in other words, by making exercise play. This can be powerful in families. “These are games, right?” Barney said. “When you ask kids, playing is what they remember: playing catch with their dad or riding bikes as a family or whatever. And they remember it because playing is fun.”
Individual Idea
It’s never too late to learn new exercise, Barney said. Fitness centers and cities and towns sponsor classes. There are online videos. And there’s just getting out there and giving something a shot. “We tell a student to give their best effort with a good attitude. You never know, maybe you’ll find that this is not bad after all!” Barney said. “If you like it, great! And if not, there are always other activities. You’ve got your whole life to figure this out.”
Be Kind, Including to Yourself
Not enjoying pickleball or running isn’t a failure, Barney said. It just means that that is not the exercise for you. “As members of the Church, we are pretty tough on ourselves,” he added. “We can be a tad critical. And I say, no! Stop it! There are good things you’re doing. Maybe there are great things! Getting up from your desk and walking up and down the hall, that’s a great thing. And then, when you get home, you might go, hey, I’m feeling pretty good, and you’ll strap on your tennies and go for a walk, go for a jog, or go ride your bike.”
Teacher’s Takeaway
Barney advises teachers to play the long game: show enthusiasm, introduce activities, and tell students that “they absolutely can do it,” he said. Even if they don’t seem to absorb that message in the moment, it may linger long-term. “Be supportive and encouraging. There needs to be some empathy and love in there,” Barney said. “And I promise you that they’ll remember that.”
For Families
This advice applies equally well to families, he said, adding that patience and not getting frustrated also help. Barney said he is fascinated by brain research about physical activity that shows its benefits go far beyond fitness to improved focus, better moods, and more. “It’s a process,” he said. “Let them see you trying and make sure you tell them you see them trying. Notice the benefits you’re seeing and name them. Start positive and stay positive—as positive as you can.”
Individual Idea
If a 90-minute workout seems daunting, do less, Barney said. Play 20 minutes of pickleball, dance for 10 minutes, or play basketball for half an hour. And if a sport you’ve always loved gets harder as you age, pick something else. “As I get older, I find I like to walk. My knees aren’t as good as they used to be! Give yourself credit for what you’re doing,” Barney said. “Maybe go to your office, take care of some business, and then take a break and move a little for 10 or 15 minutes. That’s great! However you’re doing it, you’ll get some benefit.”
Research Mentioned in This Story
David C. Barney, Keven Prusak, Tyler Eves, Olivia Lougee, and Zack Beddoes, “The Effects of Music on Activity Rates, Time in Activity, and Levels of Enjoyment in Junior High School Basketball,” Physical Educator 81, no. 5 (2024): 544–55; doi:https://doi.org/10.18666/TPE-2024-V81-I5-11890; proquest.com/docview/3115570318?pq-origsite=gscholar&fromopenview=true&sourcetype=Scholarly%20Journals.
David C. Barney and Teresa Leavitt, “Effects of College Physical Activity Instructors’ Enthusiasm on Student Experiences in Class,” Faculty Publications (3 May 2024), 7176; scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub/7176.
David C. Barney, Zack E. Beddoes, Keven A. Prusak, and Brandon Weekes, “What’s All the Fuss About Pickleball? Motivational Profiles of Middle Age and Older Adult Recreational Pickleball Players,” Faculty Publications (22 September 2023), 7066; scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub/7066.
David C. Barney, “Social Interactions in College Physical Activity Classes: ‘Something Else Is Taking Place Here,’” Faculty Publications (20 November 2018), 2738; scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub/2738.
David Barney, Francis T. Pleban, Carol Wilkinson, Keven A. Prusak, “Identifying High School Physical Education Physical Activity Patterns After High School,” Physical Educator 72, no. 2 (2015): 278–93; https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub/3027.