Education
Participating in University Fitness Program
Introduction
Campus Fitness Program Overview
Wellbeing is a growing trend in almost all demographics given the increasing awareness about the benefits of physical fitness. The university strongly promotes wellbeing among students by participating in campus recreations and part of the initiative was to establish a fitness gym inside the campus that the students can use for free. Apart from the usual sports and other recreation programs created as part of the physical fitness curriculum, the university also encourages the students to stay physically fit by establishing a fitness gym as a recreation facility. I was able to participate in the program by simply going to the campus gym whenever my schedule permits me. It was intimidating at first because the facility is comparable to commercial fitness gyms where several other individuals spent considerable time to make they look physically fit.
It was intimidating in the sense that it was my first time and I was anxious as to where I need to begin. Fortunately, the campus gym is being supervised by one of the P.E. teachers and the facility has dedicated fitness instructor to help me get started. Since the gym is part of the university’s fitness and wellbeing program, starters will be given an assessment as to what level of physical fitness would be applicable for me as a beginner. I’ve been going to the gym before, but the lack of free time due to the busy university schedule had me to stop going for a while. On the other hand, the assessment placed me in an intermediate routine as the advanced fitness routine would exhaust me physically and will put too much physical stress in my body. Therefore, the fitness instructor decided to put me in the intermediate program.
Personal Perspective
On a personal note, the fitness program that I participated in have helped me in terms of building confidence and eliminating the stress from the workload in my studies. The implementation of the fitness program including the establishment of a fitness gym in the campus as part of the campus recreation provides an alternative channel for the students to maintain a good level of physical health. At some point during my participation in the program, I was able to realize the importance of participating in such activities in terms of boosting motivation. There are several reasons as to why motivation became the fundamental outcome of the program and one of them is the motivation to improve the physical and emotional strength.
Participating in fitness program puts me in a position where I am compelled to follow a specific routine and level of constraints in order to improve a particular physical attribute. For example, the fitness assessment revealed that I lack the upper body strength; hence, the recommended fitness routine by the instructor is to do feet elevated push-ups, bench press, wide-grip pull up, and other cardio workouts. Given the goal of increasing physical strength, the motivation also transcends to other areas of improvement such motivating myself to further improve my studies since the amount of stress caused too much academic work were alleviated by engaging in physical workouts.
Perceptions about Fitness Programs Among College Students
Several studies were conducted to measure the perception about physical fitness among college students. The perceived factor that influence perception about physical health among university students has been attributed to mastery-oriented motivational climate in which the belief system about motivational efforts is a fundamental cause of success (Treasure and Robert, 2013). Furthermore, studies also suggest that the salience of mastery-oriented climate optimizes the level of motivation of students in physical activities (Treasure and Robert, 2013). Although universities are struggling to improve declining students engagement in physical activities, research shows that the student’s decision to both attend and remain in the institution is also influenced by the immediate availability of sports, recreational facilities, and fitness programs in the campus (Lindsey and Sessoms, 2006). The theoretical principle that influence the perception of students to participate in similar programs involve Alexander Astin’s Theory of Involvement (1993), which argues that activities including fitness programs initiated by institutions can be successful if the institution emphasizes that participating in the program will contribute to the improvement of the student’s education (Lindsey and Sessoms, 2006).
The Importance of Fitness Programs to the University
Primarily, fitness programs incorporated, as part of the campus recreation is important to universities in terms of improving student retention and academic success. Danbert et al. (2014) conducted a study to determine the role of recreational sports and fitness facilities in academic success and retention among universities. The findings suggests that establishing recreational sports fitness facilities in academic institution significantly increases in retention from 1% in the first year to 3.5% on the second year (Danbert et al., 2014). Furthermore, the study also determined that the student’s participation in sports fitness activities allow them to bond with other students, teachers, and friends in the campus, which in return contributes to academic success. The key variable that influence academic success among students participating in recreations sports and fitness program is attributed to motivation where students are motivated by the relationship they have created within the recreational environment. In addition, the students also broaden the peer and support group by maintaining such relationship in the campus. As a result, the student can reach out to the members of the fitness peers in the campus in terms of seeking for academic support enabled by the perceived sense of campus community (Elkins et al. 2011).
The Importance of the Program in Increasing Student Motivation
Fitness programs through fitness facilities in the university encompass an importance towards increasing student motivation because of the perceived benefits and satisfaction in participation. In a study by Lindsey (2012), the satisfaction and benefits of participating in recreational sports facilities and programs in the campus was attributed to factors such as communication, developing a sense of campus community, and leadership skills. The findings in the study suggests that 80% of the students who participate in similar program are able to benefit not only in increasing self-confidence, but also in terms of improving their communication skills (Lindsey, 2012). On the other hand, motivation was identified as a result of developing a sense of self-accomplishment while the feeling of having physical wellbeing boosts their drive to do better in other important areas such as the academics. The sense of satisfaction with their academic experience is considered as a result of the motivation they have developed during their participation in the recreational sports fitness programs. In other studies, it was determined that participation in campus-based recreational fitness programs encourages the prevalence of five factors that drive motivation such as pleasure, appearance, socialization, and mental discipline to engage in higher level of physical activity (Castle et al., 2015). In return, the five motivational factors are considered as determinants in achieving the academic success among the students and high retention rate on the part of the university.
Positive Implications of Promoting Physical Health
Scientific evidence shows that promoting physical wellbeing in educational settings such as universities creates a positive impact towards prevention of chronic diseases and prevalence of stress among students. The perceived benefits of participation in recreational sports programs can be attributed to the four main groups namely social, fitness, intellectual, and the combination of the first three groups (Lower, Turner, and Petersen, 2013). The results of the study conducted by Lower, Turner, and Petersen (2013) accords with my personal take on the potential benefits of participating in the fitness program. The establishment of a fitness gym in the university is a way for the institution to promote physical wellness to the student, which in return provides the long-term benefit in areas such as reducing stress level, maintaining the high level of fitness, developing a feeling of physical wellbeing, and experiencing fun and enjoyment (Lower, Turner, and Petersen, 2013).
Disadvantages of Fitness Programs
Despite the perceived benefits of participating in recreational fitness programs in the campus, there are still downsides to the concept of in-campus recreational sports fitness. According to Hency (2011), students listed a number of reasons that impedes their interest in using the recreation facilities in the university such as having a busy schedule and lacking in motivation to use the facilities. On the part of the institution, promoting physical wellness through recreational sports and fitness requires investing in equipment and use of resources, which the university could use for other academic development purposes. In the study by Hency (2011), students also considered the availability of parking spaces in using the campus recreation facilities. This is one of the reasons that not all universities are establishing recreational facilities such as a commercial grade fitness gym because the resources including space are not adequate to meet the demand of the end users. This also translates to the disadvantages of creating fitness programs within the campus.
The Relationship between Student Motivation and Wellness
In a study by Webb and Forrester (2015), it was mentioned that participation in recreational sports as observed in intramural events encompasses variety of affective outcome such as coping with stress, self-determines motivation, passion, existence of motivational climate, availability of supportive coaching, autonomy in supportive environment, and the feeling of satisfaction of basic needs. Primarily, the aforementioned affective outcomes are attributed to the two types of motivation namely extrinsic and intrinsic. In terms of extrinsic motivation, promoting physical activity improve a person’s level of persistence and effort (Kamal, Radzami, and Abdul Rahim, 2015). Furthermore, motivations centered on physical appearance management becomes prominent at the early stage of the participation, but it later evolve into other forms of motivation such as doing good in academics as the participation to physical activities progresses (Kamal, Radzami, and Abdul Rahim, 2015).
It was also found from the study that motivations to participate in fitness programs involves several reasons including improvement in socialization skills, increasing skills and knowledge in fitness, and competition. The findings is also consistent with Forrester (2015) where users of the fitness facilities in university campus significantly place more importance in continuing at the institution because of the strong perception in improving health and wellness and learning outcomes. Furthermore, the study is also consistent with the previous studies indicating results pertaining to increased university retention, improved state of health and wellness of the student, and improved student learning outcomes (Forrester, 2015). This means that the more the students participate in recreational sports and fitness even as simple as signing up for membership in the campus fitness gym creates the fundamental factors that fosters motivation in every aspect of the student’s life in the university including academics.
Final Thoughts
Based on the presented evidence from research, it is apparent that participation in university recreational sports and fitness programs greatly improves the two important areas. First, the establishment of fitness and wellness related programs increases the level of student retention in the institution partly because the students perceive the programs as essential privileges that can be enjoyed and beneficial at the same time. In my experience of signing up for membership in the university’s fitness program, I could say that it made me feel more compelled to attend the program and in effect I had a better motivation in attending to my academics. In addition, similar programs also foster motivation that transcends not only to attend the program regularly, but also motivate students to do the same in their academics.
References
Castle, J., Alman II, R., Kostelnik, R. and Smith, S. (2015). Factors That Affect the Usage of Fitness and Recreation Centers by Students on College Campuses. Journal of Physical Education and Sports Management, 2(2).
Danbert, S., Pivarnik, J., McNeil, R. and Washington, I. (2014). Academic Success and Retention: The Role of Recreational Sports Fitness Facilities. Recreational Sports Journal, 38(2), pp.14-22.
Elkins, D., Forrester, S. and Noël-Elkins, A. (2011). The Contribution of Campus Recreational Sports Participation to Perceived Sense of Campus Community. Recreational Sports Journal, [online] 35, pp.24-34. Available at: http://journals.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/Documents/DocumentItem/03_Elkins_RSJ_20100008_24-34.pdf [Accessed 26 Mar. 2016].
Forrester, S. (2015). Benefits of Collegiate Recreational Sports Participation: Results From the 2013 NIRSA/NASPA Consortium Study. Recreational Sports Journal, 39(1), pp.2-15.
Henchy, A. (2011). The Influence of Campus Recreation Beyond the Gym. Recreational Sports Journal, [online] 35, pp.174-181. Available at: http://journals.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/Documents/DocumentItem/08_henchy_RSJ_20110001_174-181.pdf [Accessed 26 Mar. 2016].
Kamal, A., Radzani, M. and Abdul Rahim, A. (2015). The relationship between extrinsic motivation and the physical activity model among students in faculty of education. The Journal of Social Sciences Research, [online] 1(2), pp.10-19. Available at: http://www.arpgweb.com/pdf-files/jssr1(2)10-19.pdf [Accessed 26 Mar. 2016].
Lindsey, R. (2012). The Benefits and Satisfaction of Participating in Campus Recreational Sports Facilities and Programs Among Male and Female African American Students: A Pilot Study. Recreational Sports Journal, [online] 36, pp.13-24. Available at: http://journals.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/Documents/DocumentItem/03-Lindsey-13-24.pdf [Accessed 26 Mar. 2016].
Lindsey, R. and Sessoms, E. (2006). Assessment of a Campus Recreation Program on Student Recruitment, Retention, and Frequency of Participation Across Certain Demographic Variables. Recreational Sports Journal, [online] 30, pp.30-39. Available at: http://journals.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/Documents/DocumentItem/5754.pdf.
Lower, L., Turner, B. and Petersen, J. (2013). A Comparative Analysis of Perceived Benefits of Participation Between Recreational Sport Programs. Recreational Sports Journal, [online] 37, pp.66-83. Available at: http://journals.humankinetics.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/Documents/DocumentItem/07_lower_RSJ_20120016_66-83-ej.pdf [Accessed 26 Mar. 2016].
Treasure, D. and Robert, G. (2013). Students' Perceptions of the Motivational Climate, Achievement Beliefs, and Satisfaction in Physical Education. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 72(2), pp.165-175.
Webb, E. and Forrester, S. (2015). Affective Outcomes of Intramural Sport Participation. Recreational Sports Journal, 39(1), pp.69-81.
