Discussion
Sports and sports centers are one of the most popular venues on campus as students find it a necessity to work out their bodies as well as their minds. This is one reason that the Cardiff University Athletic Center is so popular. At face value it might not seem an important part of the university but after collating the results of the survey the results of it being a highly needed part of the University is founded.
Physical activity as the best route to academic success is further related in a school in Charleston South Carolina in which the physical activity is begun in grade schools called “Brain Rooms” and acknowledging that it is good to move and learn.
The link between poor college performance and lack of exercise has not been established. The lack of physical exercise does though contribute to obesity. The time in the gym is replaced by many students as time in front of the television or video games. These sedentary activities do not seem to have a result in academic performance either but they do have negative health results. These student exhibits more health problems such as obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes .
Cardiff University has a strong athletic presence on campus in the form of wild nights out . In addition to the social the athletic facilities are open especially to train for marathon as many runners will practice for the many marathons in the area. Cardiff also has a performance sport program that builds the success that future athletes have had and brings it to a new level. Rugby and badminton are examples of two competitive sports at Cardiff.
Limitations
About 70% of the responders to the questionnaire mentioned that the gym should have more space. It is presumed that the responders could use the gym in equal access at the university. The freedom to move about the gym are however gender specific. Men tend to walk into a gym without any reservations. However, women are a bit different according to a study by Kristine Newell, Is this Working Outs? A spatial Study of Women in the Gym (2013). In this study the gender difference in the use of the gym are pointed out in the difference ways that men and women approach the use of the space. It was supposed that gym space is gender neutral but the way that men and women use the space is quite different. Women tend to use the softer side of the gym which is the Pilates, medicine balls, etc. This side has fewer mirrors so the women are not seeing themselves exercise. The area for stretching does not have mirrors and this is by design. Men will stare at themselves a lot in the mirrors as they exercise. The opposite is true of women who use the mirror more outside of the gym. So perhaps a view of the mirror and spatial areas in the Cardiff gym will shed some light on spaces of the gym used by men and women.
Views of College studies and athletics
It is important to make the distinction in this paper that the studied group did not contain student athletes as their use of the gym and athletics would be more of a committed use rather than an extracurricular use. University team players usually have access to the athletic facilities at different times and even different locations than non-athletic majors. This brings up the question as to whether student who use the gym have chosen the academic preparation for future life over the athletic one. Perhaps choosing a major was based on the choice to give up university sports. This is a question coming out of the hypothesis in the study. One student in an article in the Post Gazette, admittedly faced a dilemma in carving a path for academics and athletic success . The former Northwestern quarterback wanted to choose a major that prepared him for medical school and the dilemma came in his football commitments.
The New York Times takes exception to the word student athlete as it implies that all enrolled students who play college sports and that student athlete should be students first . Given this argument one could assume that the term student athlete would apply to those students using the gym and facilities for exercise at Cardiff University. They are students first. The amount of time that they use the gym would qualify them for the term athlete although there is not consensus on the amount of athleticism that makes one an athlete,
Recommendations
This study made several relevant implications for further study. One of items that merit further study is the relationship of gender in the use of the athletic facilities. Gender difference have been studied in other articles such as in the performance of students in academic settings but few studies look for the relationship of the gender of the students to the use of the athletics facilities. This will also aid in the layout and design of any upgrades to the facilities. Since academics are true to the core of colleges a higher standard for the student part as the first choice and then the athlete as the secondary as in the case of the students involved in the study.
Conclusions
This study looked at the uses of the Cardiff University athletic center. The participants in the study filled out a questionnaire which the objective was to confirm that a higher level of satisfaction was obtained for the gym by men than by women and the questionnaire. The results of the questionnaire confirmed this hypothesis. It is suggested from this study that the University look to rehabilitate the athletic facilities.
It is also reported in other studies that men and women use the gym facilities differently. The difference is mostly related to the spatial layout of the gym. Women tend to use the area without mirrors whereas men like to view themselves in the mirror as they are exercising. Men will use the mirrors to enhance their exercise as watching increases the total athletic experience.
A further study might be conducted as to the proper layout of the university facilities to accommodate the special attitudes of the genders to using the athletic facilities.
It is important for the students to continue to use the athletic facilities. Health problems such as diabetes and high blood pressure are symptoms of the lack of exercise. Students need to keep moving and they are being encouraged to move more in elementary school in many areas such as South Carolina in its Move it campaign. This study opens the way to more discussion as to the follow through of these moving programs as the students get to the university and see if the results of the use of the gym increase.
References
Bellar, L. J. (2014). Exercise and academic performance among nursing and kinesiology students at US colleges. Journal of Education and Health Promotion. , 3(9), online.
Cardiff. (2014). Cardiff Athletics. Retrieved December 23, 2015, from http://www.cardiffstudents.com/activities/sport/7067/
Gutting, G. (2012, March 15). The Myth of the Student Athlete. The New York Times, p. online.
Mark Dent, M. S. (2014, May 31). Do colleges drop the ball in sports? Pittsburgh Post Gazette, p. online.
Newhall, K. (2013). Is this working out? a spatial analysis of women in the gym. Iowa Reserach Online, 2894, online.
Zelava, T. (2013, April 15). College Students Working OUt at campus gyms get better grades. Purdue University, pp. http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2013/Q2/college-students-working-out-at-campus-gyms-get-better-grades.html.
