Index:
Page 1: Abstract
Page 2: Introduction
Page 5: The Program
Page 11: Limitations
Page 13: Conclusions
Page 14: Sources
Page 16: Appendix A YouTube Videos Produced
Page 17: Appendix B Flexibility PowerPoint Created
Page 29: Appendix C Flexibility Quiz Created
Page 30: Appendix D Data Gathered
Page 35: Appendix E Example Sign Up Form
Frank Bowen
Exercise Science Pre-physical Therapy
Rachele Kappler
2 Credits
How exercise education affects exercise adherence
For our honors research project we decided to explore the hypothesis of the relationship
of how exercise adherence was effected by exercise education. The hypothesis theorized that if
people knew both the benefits of exercise as well as proper techniques for exercise and exercise
program planning, they would be more likely to actually become involved with and committed to
an exercise program. Myself and two other students, Ellen Csepe and Tim Pavlak, developed a
program that could be implemented for incoming freshman to "Fight the Fifteen!" This program
included several PowerPoint presentations explaining the guidelines and principles of exercise
physiology and how to properly exercise. We also implemented quizzes in order to serve as a
measurement as to the information student's were grasping from the PowerPoints. Finally, we set
up a brief fitness questionnaire and BodPod scans to provide a baseline of fitness from which to
grade improvements after the student's had undergone the program plan . To implement this
program there was several bars that needed to be met such as applying to IRB and earning access
to SpringBoard. Additionally, maintaining student involving through simply email with the only
incentive being free BodPod screenings was a problem that greatly shifted both the results and
direction on our implemented program.
Introduction:
The conception of this project was originally highlighted by the Honors College and
Exercise Science student Ellen Csepe. Throughout the course of our education at the University
of Akron Ellen Csepe, Tim Pavlak, and I became increasingly more interested in the concept of
how being in the exercise science program and learning about topics such as proper exercise,
diet, aspect of nutrition, the risks associated with sedentary lifestyle, and the benefits of being
active and healthy could potentially affect or motivate us to actually participate in those
activities.
We began formulating ideas and concepts as to why certain people are more motivated to
do things like workout, become a member of a gym, eat a healthy and balanced diet, and not only
do these things, but participate in a healthy lifestyle for an entire lifetime. It was us coming to the
conclusion that the knowledge we received through the College of Education's Exercise Science
program that motivated us to all become certified personal trainers, to become certified in CPR
and AED use, and to live out the healthy lifestyles and stick with these lifestyles.
The conclusion we were able to arrive at was that it was through our exercise education
that made us want to adhere to exercise and the concepts of a healthy lifestyle . We had spent
several semesters at the University of Akron and spent time in the Honors College learning the
ins and outs of exercise. Classes like Physiology of Exercise taught us about how specific
metabolic systems work and how the ingestion of different types of food and macronutrients
affects the body. Classes such as Exercise Prescription taught us how to prescribe exercise to
certain populations and included topics such as how frequently one should exercise, at what
intensity should one exercise, and what exercises are appropriate for different types of people .
It was through this knowledge and experience that we believed we could implement a
program that could teach the basics of the exercise science knowledge we had that would
motivate people to exercise and adhere to exercise in the same way that knowledge had benefit
us. We began to formulate ideas and ways to reach out to a wide audience, but also a specific
kind of audience we believed would be most accepting to this type of program as well as the
most open to this type of information.
The Program:
Tim, Ellen, and I met several times to brainstorm ideas on how to implement this
program. One of the best tools that has been provided to us was the Springboard system that
allows both students and teachers to access notes or various other materials for classes . We
decided that this medium would be best suited for a program such as ours. It provided us with
being able to reach a large group of people in a format that people on campus would be familiar
with. The Springboard administrators were extremely accommodating to the idea and we were
granted access to it through a few short email correspondence, where we would be allowed to
upload things such as articles, quizzes, notes, PowerPoints, and videos for our target audience to
utilize.
In addition to deciding how we would want to distribute our program, we had to
determine what format our information would be presented. We wanted to give people a "quick
and easy" version of all the knowledge we had soaked up about exercise science and exercise
education to allow for people at a very beginner level to grasp and follow. Through talking with
Time and Ellen, we decided that the type of information we would present would be a simple
way of creating a exercise program for yourself, and be able to show and explain different forms
of exercise to the target audience.
We concluded that PowerPoint presentations would be the most effective in providing the
information to our audience and allowing them to retain the information, as well as quickly
referencing their PowerPoints over SpringBoard for review. (See Appendix B) Also, we did not
want our group to be exposed to all this information at once, so we structured the implementation
of these projects to be a weekly type scenario where a an education period would be
implemented followed by an implementation period where our subjects would then execute and
use the knowledge they had gained to benefit themselves and increase their overall health .
However, this became an issue with some complications in both time and with our own focus
group which I will explain in more detail in a later section.
Now that we had a general idea of how we wanted to implement our information, we
decided to shift focus on who we wanted to implement it on. We focused on a few key points
here. For one, we wanted the experience to be focused on people who were new to exercise and
who may be doing it on their own for the first time. Second, we wanted the people we used the
program on to be able to be influenced; we did not want them to have preconceived or outdated
notions of exercise. We also wanted to be able to introduce people into the University of Akron's
Recreation Center in a positive way and not have them be intimidated upon entering .
Having these ideas in mind and wanting to be able to implement our program on this
certain selection of people lead us to believe that new, incoming freshmen to the University of
Akron would be a great section of students to host our study on . This also allowed us to spin the
concept and hypothesis of "exercise education will positively affect exercise adherence" to the
moniker of "University of Akron: Fight the Fifteen!" It was our thinking that having a title and a
tone of avoiding the freshmen fifteen that so many new students hear about would allow us to get
more people interested and sticking with the program. However, again our thinking is not always
how things turn out, so more issues with this will be touched on later in the paper .
We used several methods for attempting to recruit freshmen, and some were much more
successful than others. We attempted to attend the "Freshmen Success Seminar" and pool people
to our program through simply explaining it and being able to talk about what we were offering
as a research project in person. However, the returns we got as far as people signing up were not
that great. We found much better yields by simply contacting the teachers of freshman classes
and asking if we could come into the class for a few minutes and talk about our project and leave
a signup sheet for freshmen to fill out so we could contact them. (See Appendix E) It included
fields such as name, email, student ID number, and whether or not they were a traditional student
as we wanted true freshman for our study. The teachers were very cooperative, though there was
a major drawback which I will cover further in the limitations section.
We had originally planned to cover more topics with our PowerPoints, however we
discussed the notion that people new to exercise would find too much information too hard to
grasp, so we limited our notes to three main topics. The three main topics we decided to cover
was cardiovascular exercise, strength and resistance training, and flexibility . I was responsible
for covering the flexibility portion so I pulled together information from ACSM and several
other textbooks to cover topics on injury prevention, why stretching and flexibility is important,
how to properly stretch and when you should stretch, as well as describing in detail stretched that
cover all the main muscle groups. In my presentations I also covered the frequency, duration,
type, and time of various stretches.
Tim was responsible for developing the strength and resistance training slides and Ellen
took the lead in regards to the Cardiovascular fitness slides. All three sets of slides we developed
included the same basic formula that was aforementioned. All slides included a basic definition
of what that particular facet to physical fitness was. The slides also included some questions for
the students to ask themselves while reading the slides and to ingrain the information in their
heads and give them a better understanding of the topic material . Also, the benefits of
participating in these forms of physical activity were listed and explained to the students via the
slides. Then in the slides, we go on to explain how to actually perform the physical activity in a
safe and healthy manner. We also explain topics such as the "FITT" principle in regards to
implementing an exercise program for yourself and how it should be used to avoid overtraining .
Myths and misconceptions about exercise were also included in all of the slides and proper,
accurate information was provided to them. Finally, we added a personal touch with a personal
tip from each of us towards the end of the slides with a short few sentences about a tip or
mentality that can be applied that we have found successful for ourselves.
All members of the group were responsible for developing quizzes for use on our
SpringBoard page. The quizzes were to be taken after reading through the PowerPoint
presentations each week. All three members of our group, Ellen, Tim, and I, developed these
quizzes directly from the slides. We did not want to make the quizzes too difficult or too
advanced, we simply wanted these quizzes to serve as a benchmark to check and see if our
members and participants in the research study were truly reading the material and
comprehending it to some degree. The quizzes were to be taken by these students on
SpringBoard, however we did not receive the type of participation we expected on these quizzes.
Though students did take them, it was not the totality of all students involved in the program . I
will cover this more in the limitations section and address better suggestions for getting
benchmarks and check points to make sure students are reading the materials.
Another big development we put into our program was providing the students and
members of our research group with videos we developed ourselves and shot at the University of
Akron's Recreation and Wellness Center. The purpose of these videos were to introduce the
students in our program to the types of machines and equipment that are available in our
recreation center. We did not want the students to be intimidated or confused upon entering the
recreation center so we made instructional videos on how to operate the wealth of the
cardiovascular focused machines, which are often the most complex and have the least
explanations on the machines themselves.
Ellen, Tim, and I shot these explanation videos ourselves with the permission of the
recreation center and were mindful not to include anyone's face who would not want to be in the
video. We explained how to start the machines, how to choose various speed and other settings,
how to use the bioelectrical impedance functionalities, heart rate monitoring, and preset
programs that could be used for fitness training. We then uploaded these videos to YouTube and
posted the links on SpringBoard for the members of our research group to utilize, watch, and
familiarize themselves with the different pieces of equipment the recreation and wellness center
has to offer. (See Appendix A)
We did not cover different resistance training machines because most of those type
machines have extensive descriptions on them that cover not only how to perform the motion
within the machine, but different safety and precautionary tips as well . Finally, they also list the
muscles and muscle groups involved with the exercises. Additionally, there are so many
variations of these types of machines the video content we would have had to create would be far
to great and overwhelming for members of our group to have to sit and watch through all of
them.
Finally, as an incentive for students to participate in our program and study we offered
BodPod scans. In addition to these serving as an incentive to the students, as they normally cost
money for them to be performed, they would also serve as references for us and baselines from
which to monitor and document progression or regression from the members in our research
group. There were some issues with scheduling as well as the incentive of the BodPod's
themselves which I will cover later in the limitations section, but overall this part of the program
did go well.
In regards to getting approval for this program and research project, we needed to receive
IRB approval from the University of Akron. The reason for needing this approval was because
we would be working with actual students. The IRB approval and training made sure we were
aware of how to be unbiased in our research as well as safe towards the participants in our
research study. Finally, it trained us in how to handle the data we collected as while as
maintaining a level of professionalism in our project .
Limitations:
The main limitation we faced during the course of this research program was time. I think
we as a group would have been much better served to either begin planning the program much
earlier, or simply seeing that we were running low on time and push the actual implementation of
our research project to a later semester. Because we began to run low on time after
underestimating the time it would take to recruit students into our program, we were forced to
split up the BodPod screenings during the semester prior to Christmas break for our pre-testing
and then required the post-test BodPod screenings to be done after that Fall semester and into the
next Spring semester.
Another limitation that I saw in our project was the limited resources to entice students
into our project. I think if we had more to offer incentive wise than just the two free BodPod
screenings we would have seen a much better participation rate throughout the entire program . I
believe that if a program like this was backed by the University of Akron instead of it just being
a freelance honors project and perhaps a monetary or course credit compensation was offered, a
much higher and much more committed group would be enticed into participating and sticking
with the program.
I think that if this limitation was rectified then our final data, which was severely
hindered by the lack of commitment to participation through the entire program, would be much
more capable of drawing successful conclusions with significant data . As it stands right now we
have data that we can draw some conclusions from. However, the extent of the data we wanted
to obtain was not reached, so we are forced to treat this research project more towards the
dynamics of a case study.
I think if there was more involvement or promotion from the University of Akron we
could have gotten more dedicated participants and been able to gather more significant results .
We had an initial fifty-nine students sign up to be in the study. However, only 3 completed the
post-testing questionnaire and BodPod screening.
So overall, I think our biggest limitation was our newness to attempting to run and
maintain a research project as three students. If there was more university involvement and more
incentive for the students to participate and stay dedicated to the program, I think the results we
would have seen could have been much greater and much more significant towards the
hypothesis we were trying to prove, that exercise education can positively influence exercise
adherence.
Conclusions:
Because of the group nature of this project we were advised to divide up what portions of
data we would be looking at in order to focus and hone our conclusions towards one specific
variable. We still held to this suggestion even though out of fifty-nine initial students that
showed interest in the program and being a part of the research group, only 3 completed the full
gamete of the study and were both pre and post tested using the BodPod and our developed
questionnaire.
My analysis of the effectives of the program's implementation was to see how weight and
body composition were affected by the study. (Please see Appendix D for further information)
Subject #
Pre Body Fat %
Post Body Fat %
Pre Weight (lbs)
Post Weight (lbs)
1
24.90%
25.00%
158.74
161.17
2
5.60%
5.90%
169.91
169.67
3
24.90%
28.50%
110.57
115.00
Judging by our limited data, it can be hard to draw solid conclusions about our research
project as a whole. However, we can draw some loosely based conclusions with these individual
cases that were able to complete both the pre-testing and post-testing stages.
Based on the initial principle that exercise education affects exercise adherence, we can
easily make the claim that with subject 1 and 2, the program was successful . While they did not
necessarily decrease their weight substantially, they did maintain their weight and stay around
the same body fat percentage.
If exercise education does in fact affect exercise adherence, I think we can conclude that
with these two individuals it certainly did seem that way. Obviously, if more students were to
have completed the post testing phase we could have drawn more significant conclusions, but
with these two participants that does seem to be the trend. Even after Christmas break where a
lot of us return home to our families to indulge in festivities and eat large amounts of food over
the break, these students maintained their weight from the pre-testing phase.
Subject number 3 did gain a few extra pounds when compared to the other two members
of the program who completed the post testing phase. However, I feel we can still deem this a
success as far is the implementation and adherence to the program goes. An increase of around
3% body fat is nothing too major and the subject did not let themselves go by any means .
Additionally, only around 4 pounds of total body weight was gained during the entire course of
this research study. Therefore, I think this person did still fit the mold of "exercise education
positively affecting exercise adherence" because of how little the subjects body weight
fluctuated.
So, while our research did not contain enough subjects to produce truly significant data, I
believe with the trends in weight and body fat we did see, there is promise in this research if the
limitations that I mentioned earlier were taken into consideration and rectified . I think the most
blatant of those limitations is simply figuring out what will keep the students motivated to
complete both the pre and post testing as well as keeping the time frame of which the program
lasts more reasonable.
Sources:
Baechle, Thomas R., and Roger W. Earle. Essentials of Strength Training and
Conditioning.
Third Edition. CHampaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2008. Print.
ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription. Eighth Edition. Baltimore, MD:
American College of Sports Medicine, 2010. Print.
Journal of Sports Science & Medicine; Dec2008, Vol. 7 Issue 4, p537-543, 7p
Psychology & Health; Dec2006, Vol. 21 Issue 6, p757-772, 16p, 4 Graphs
PLoS Medicine; Jul2009, Vol. 6 Issue 7, p1-11, 11p, 6 Charts, 3 Graphs
Appendix A: YouTube Videos Produced
Cardio 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jr1ZJoSlALE
Cardio 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1xZIt2WX3U
Cardio 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIaN0B2PdNM
Cardio 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc91YNpAWIM
Appendix B: PowerPoint Information on Flexibility Created
•
Flexibility
Topics will include:
•
•
Flexibility defined
•
Why flexibility is important
•
How to improve flexibility
•
Misconceptions about flexibility
•
What is flexibility?
Flexibility could be described as which of the following?
•
The point to which tension is felt in the muscles
•
Stretching of all major muscle groups
•
The measure of a joints range of motion
•
How limber an individual is
•
Flexibility: what it is
•
The correct answer was C.
•
Flexibility can be defined as the measure of the degree of movement that occurs at a joint
(range of motion) and has both a static and dynamic component
•
Things such as stretching can be used to increase one’s flexibility and the
point to where tension can be felt in the muscles is a good indicator of
how far to go during a stretch, but they were not the best answers for
defining flexibility
•
Flexibility: what it is
•
Range of motion is very important in determining how flexible a person is
•
There are several factors that contribute to the range of motion in an individual’s joints
•
For instance:
•
The structure of connective tissue
•
The individual’s amount of activity
•
An individual’s age
•
An individual’s sex
•
Flexibility: what it is
•
Numerous other factors can affect overall flexibility such as:
•
Connective tissue: tendons, ligaments, fascia, joint capsules, and in some cases
skin can effect flexibility. Elasticity (returning to original resting length) and
plasticity (going to a new and greater length) factor into range of motion.
Stretching can positively effect one’s plasticity.
•
Flexibility: what it is
•
Each joint found in the body has a range of motion and behavior specific to its anatomy
•
Different movements will be permitted or hindered by the joint structure
•
For instance, a hinge joint found in the fingers is going to allow for a different
range of motion than the ball and socket joint found in the shoulder
•
Different types of activities will require different ranges of motion based on the
movement
•
Flexibility: what it is
•
Flexibility can be described two ways
•
Static Flexibility – the range of motion possible at a joint simply under the force
of gravity, a partner, or a machine that provides the force for the stretch
•
Dynamic Flexibility – the range of motion that is able to be performed during
active, conscious movement of the joint using one’s own muscles
•
Flexibility: the benefits
•
Why you should stretch:
•
It improves flexibility, which in turn improves your performance during exercise
or activity
•
It can prevent injury during activity
•
It can correct imbalances in flexibility that can lead to injury
•
It can help you relax and reduce tension found in the body
•
It can greatly improve your activity levels later in life
•
Flexibility: how to do it
•
Adequate warm up can also affect one’s flexibility
•
Some may think of a warm up and flexibility as something that is mutually
exclusive. However, that is not the case
•
Each one compliments the other. Warming up properly will benefit your
flexibility during activity. Improving your flexibility over time will allow for a
better warm up.
•
Flexibility: how to do it
•
Testing flexibility can be done in several ways, but one of the most common is the “sitand-reach” test. The sit-and-reach test assesses the flexibility of the hip joint and the
lower back.
•
Low back pain can be the result of poor hip and low back flexibility, as well as the result
of weak abdominal muscles.
•
Flexibility: how to do it
•
Flexibility and Exercise
•
Stretching as an exercise should be included in all training programs
•
Stretching exercises are most effective when the muscle groups being stretched
are already warmed up
•
With activities that involve muscular strength, power, and endurance, stretching
may be preferred following the exercise
•
Stretching should include all the major muscle tendon groups
•
Flexibility: how to do it
•
FITT principle
•
FITT stands for frequency, intensity, type, time
•
Frequency = how many days a week something is performed
•
Intensity = how difficult that task is to perform
•
Type = how you are going about performing that task
•
Time = how long you will perform that task for on a given day
•
Flexibility: how to do it
•
Using the FITT principles…
•
Stretching should be performed 2 to 3 days per week (Frequency)
•
Greater than or equal to 4 repetitions per muscle group is recommended
(Intensity)
•
Static stretching should be held for 15 to 60 seconds (Time)
•
•
(Types of stretches will be covered later)
Flexibility: common myths
•
Myth: Stretching before exercise will prevent injury.
•
Stretching is widely suggested as a means to prevent injury. However, there is
minimal scientific evidence to suggest that stretching is efficient in doing so. The
evidence does point to the fact that it may prevent injury in specific types of
exercise and activity, such as gymnastics. Additionally, stretching does not appear
to reduce muscle soreness either.
•
Flexibility: common myths
•
Myth: You should stop stretching before exercise.
•
A universal discontinuing of stretching before exercise also lacks scientific
evidence. However, sports that require muscular power, force generation, and
endurance, stretching is recommended to take place after the activity, rather than
before it.
•
Flexibility: how to do it
•
To perform most stretches, you will only need yourself and enough space to safely
practice the activity
•
Things like stretch bands, ropes, and partners can be used to aid in stretching, but they are
not always needed
•
Flexibility: how to do it
•
Basic stretching guidelines:
•
A stretching exercise program should last around 10 minutes
•
The stretching program should include all of the major muscle groups
•
Each muscle group should be stretch 4 times
•
The stretching program should occur 2 to 3 days per week
•
Stretches should be performed to the limit of discomfort or tension while
remaining in the range of motion
•
•
Flexibility
When should you stretch?
•
A. Before exercise
•
B. After exercise
•
C. As a separate session
•
D. It depends on the situation
•
Flexibility
•
The correct answer was D!
•
It depends on the type of activity that will be performed, the type of activity that
already has been performed, or if the stretching is taking place outside of the act
of physical activity itself.
•
Flexibility: how to do it
•
When to stretch:
•
Following a exercise session, athletic practice, or a competition
•
This will facilitate ROM improvements as the muscles are still warm from
activity. The stretches should be performed somewhere within 5 to 10
minutes post activity. Increased body temperature increases the elastic
properties of collagen in the muscles and also in the tendons.
•
Flexibility: how to do it
•
When to stretch:
•
As a separate session
•
If one desires an increased level of flexibility as well as increased ROM,
then additional stretching sessions may be required. These stretching
sessions should follow a brief warm up that will increase the temperature
of the muscles .
•
Flexibility: how to do it
•
To reiterate the basic guidelines to static stretching:
•
Be in a position that will facilitate proper stretching and relaxation
•
Move to the point in the range of motion that exhibits only mild discomfort and
tension
•
Hold stretches for ~30 seconds
•
Repeat unilateral (one sided) stretches on both sides
•
Flexibility: how to do it
•
Precautions when doing static stretches:
•
Decrease the intensity of your stretching if you begin to experience pain
•
Use caution if you are stretching a hypermobile (overly flexible) joint
•
Avoid moving the spine in two different directions
•
Stabilizing muscles should be engaged to avoid unwanted movements and to
protect the joints
•
Flexibility: how to do it
•
Static stretching muscle groups
•
Neck
•
Shoulders and chest
•
Posterior of upper arm
•
Upper back
•
Lower back
•
Hips
•
Torso
•
Anterior thigh/hip flexor
•
Posterior thigh
•
Groin
•
Calf muscles
•
Static Stretching
•
Neck
•
Look right and left
•
Stand/sit with your head and neck upright, facing forward
•
Slowly turn your head to the left, the slowly turn your head to the right
•
Neck
•
Flexion and extension
•
Stand/sit with your head and neck upright, facing forward
•
Try and tuck your chin into your chest, or simply look down until you feel slight
tension
•
Extend the neck by looking up towards the ceiling
•
Static Stretching
•
Shoulders and chest
•
Arms locked behind back
•
Stand tall and place your arms behind your back, interlocking your fingers
•
Straighten your elbows out
•
Slowly raise your arms while maintaining keeping your elbows out
•
Keep your head facing forward and your neck relaxed
•
Posterior upper arm
•
Behind neck stretch
•
Sit or stand and place either arm up, over your head, then let your hand fall down
and try to touch the back of your neck
•
Grasp your elbow with your opposite hand
•
Pull your elbow behind your head and towards your head with the opposite hand
until you feel the stretch
•
Static Stretching
•
Upper back
•
Arms straight up and above the head
•
Stand with your arms out in front of you, fingers interlocked, and palms facing
out and away from you
•
Slowly straighten your arms and bring them up and over your head, keeping your
palms up
•
Reach upwards with your hands and arms
•
Lower back
•
Semi-leg straddle
•
Sit with your legs out in front of you with your knees bent about 45 degrees
•
Point your knees out and lean forward at the waist
•
Reach forward with your extended arms until you begin to feel the stretch
•
Static Stretching
•
Hips
•
Supine knee flex
•
Lay on your back, flat, with your legs out and your knees straight
•
Flex the knee of one leg and hip, bringing your knee in towards your chest
•
Place your hands behind the raised leg
•
Pull the thigh towards your chest
•
Torso
•
Side bend with straight arms
•
Stand with your feet about shoulder width apart
•
Interlock your fingers with your palms facing away from you
•
Reach up, keeping your arms straight
•
Lean from the waist to either side while keeping your arms locked and do not
bend at the knees
•
Static Stretching
•
Anterior thigh/hip flexor
•
Side quadriceps stretch
•
Lie on either side with both legs straight
•
Place your forearm on the floor and your upper arm perpendicular to the floor
•
Place this forearm with a 45 degree bend in the elbow
•
Flex your upper leg at the knee with your heel moving towards your buttocks
•
Grasp your ankle and pull your heel towards your backside
•
Posterior thigh
•
Sitting toe touch
•
Sit with your upper body tall, nearly upright and your legs together, straight out in
front of you
•
Lean forward at the hips and attempt to grasp your toes with your hands
•
If you cannot reach your toes, attempt to grab your ankles
•
Static Stretching
•
Groin
•
Butterfly
•
Sit with your upper body vertical and bring the bottoms of your feet in together
•
Pull your feet in towards your body
•
Place your hands on your feet and your elbows on the insides of your legs
•
Lean slightly forward and push your elbows down
•
Calf muscles
•
Wall stretch
•
Stand facing a wall and place your feel about shoulder width apart and about 2
feet away from the wall
•
Lean forward and place your hands on the wall in front of you
•
Step one leg back about 2 feet and flex the opposite knee
•
Extend the knee of the stretched leg and try to push your heel down to the floor
•
Flexibility: trainer tips
•
Ellen:
•
RELAX: if there is one type of exercise that may help relax your mind the most
during finals week it is stretching. focus not on forcing yourself to stretch after a
workout, but rather cooling down your body as well as your mind. focus on
breathing in and out through your nose. slowing down your breathing is an
important relaxation technique that can help reduce stress hormones, headaches,
migraines, weight gain, and early death. take an extra minute to stretch and
breathe instead of watching TV and you will sure to feel better about that
upcoming exam!!
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Flexibility: trainer tips
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Tim:
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Make It A Priority: Have a specific time set aside, whether it be before bed or
right when you wake up, to get a good stretch in. A lot of times it is easy to skip
stretching at the end of a workout thinking that it is not as important, but in reality
it is just as important as the workout itself. So if you set a side a specific time for
stretching you will be less likely to miss out on what is an extremely important
part of physical fitness.
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Flexibility: trainer tips
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Frank:
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Make things interesting: Stretching can inevitably become boring, performing the
same moves and stretches after each workout or individual stretching session. So,
to prevent boredom one should consider researching and learning different
methods and moves that will facilitate flexibility in the same way static or
dynamic stretches do, but also spice up the activity in the actual process.
Appendix C: Flexibility Quiz Created
Flexibility Quiz:
1) Flexibility could be described as which of the following?
A. The point to which tension is felt in the muscles
B. Stretching of all major muscle groups
C. The measure of a joints range of motion
D. How limber an individual is
2) When should you stretch?
A. Before exercise
B. After exercise
C. As a separate session
D. It depends on the situation
3) A basic stretching exercise program should last around:
A. 5 minutes
B. 10 minutes
C. 15 minutes
D. 20 minutes
4) True or False: You need a partner in order to properly stretch.
Answer: False
5) True or False: There are numerous scientific studies stating stretching before exercise will
prevent injury.
Answer: False
Appendix D: Data Gathered
Appendix E: Example Sign Up Form