Sports and Exercise A lot of people in England, especially young children, are encouraged and made-aware of the benefits of regular exercise. The National Governing Body set up strategies such as the PESCCL and the PESSYP in order expose the youth (from primary school to college) to sport and exercise. For example, PESSCL strategy states that schools should at least have 2 hours of compulsory practical Physical Education in their timetables as well as an additional 2 or more hours of sport beyond school time (extra curricular activities) which is set up by school, community and/or local sporting clubs (hence club links). So, the school children are sorted; they are able to exercise regularly and achieve the benefits of exercise. But what about the adults?

Benefits of Exercise Health Benefits  better sleep  reduce the risk of getting illness or diseases  reduce stress  Helps to improve basic levels of fitness such as strength, stamina and flexibility The following are the reasons why exercise is beneficial and why people exercise This is why adults should exercise regularly as they would need these to stay healthy - physical, mental and social. Enjoyable  Takes away stress and tension Health Benefits  better sleep  reduce the risk of getting illness or diseases  reduce stress  Helps to improve basic levels of fitness such as strength, stamina and flexibility Self-esteem  Feel good about yourself  Reach a certain goal and achievement  Body shape will look good as exercise will reduce stress, improves posture, tones muscle and reduce fat  Feel satisfaction from achieving the desired weight target

Effects of Psychological Factors in Exercise Environment By: Mark Jonathan Serafica

Reasons that influence people in exercise environments  Barriers to exercise  Determinants of exercise  Behaviour change models Three of the psychological factors that affect people in exercise and sport environment are identified below. They are: A variety of psychological reasons are available as to how and why they influence a person’s motivation to exercise.

Barriers to exercise  Physical  Emotional  Motivational  Time  Availability Some people have reasons which prevents them from exercising. This is called the barriers to exercise. The barriers can be classified to 5 categories

Physical How and why this affects people in sport environment This affects participation because a person may not physically able to exercise. For example, disabled people who requires wheelchair use could not do certain types of exercise such as jogging or swimming. Although, they are exercise they can do although they are still very limited. This links to psychological aspects because if a person can’t take part in an exercise because of physical issues, they may lose the interest to participate other exercise options such as swimming or yoga Physical barriers are the physical problems that a person may have and uses this reason to demotivate participation in sport and exercise. These barriers may come from health issues, injuries and disabilities. For example, a person may refuse to participate in exercise as they are too old. This means they have less mobility and strength to participate in some exercises. This can also be seen in the professional world as we see athletes retire from their sport just when they reach their late 30s i.e. David Beckham Another example is when a person has asthma, they may feel that they shouldn’t take part in exercise that requires a lot of running as they are more physically challenged

Emotional How and why this affects people in sport environment This may affect participation because a person may refuse to take part as they are too shy which is caused by the fear that they would make a fool out of themselves (lack of self confidence) and therefore doesn’t want to exercise for example they think they may be too un-skilled to do dance exercises. Also, if a person is too concerned about the risks of the exercise, they may refuse to take part as they may get injured. Emotional barriers are the worries and mentality that people has to refuse doing exercise. This could be caused from having low self esteem or paranoia regarding their safety. For example, a person with hydrophobia may refuse to take part in exercises such as swimming.

Motivational How and why this affects people in sport environment The reason why this affects participation is because if a person lacks motivation, they would not take the exercise seriously causing them to get bored. Soon, they will no longer participate. Another reason is that a person is too exhausted that they do not want to do any exercise as they find a need to relax or do other things on their spare time. Motivational barrier is the inability of a person to commit or strive to exercise. This is mainly caused by exhaustion or boredom when taking part of the exercise. This is the main cause of failing to do exercise For example, a person may lose motivation if they find the exercise too exhaustive. Therefore, they don’t want to do the exercise anymore. In addition, a person may not be well motivated as they have other priorities.

Time How and why this affects people in sport environment This affects participation because people would find it hard to have time for exercise. This is a possibility if they are too busy with other activities they prioritise. There are other time-related issues such as prioritising leisure activities such as watching TV or socialising with friends. Time barriers are caused by the inability of the person to make available time to do exercise. This is mainly caused by having other priorities or commitments such as work and family (i.e. looking after their children) A person may have work on the whole day that they do not have time to do exercise. Although, some people may also procrastinate exercising which means they make time for leisure activities such as watching television or going out with friends to socialise instead of exercise.

Availability How and why this affects participation The reason why this affects participation is because the person could not take part if they don’t have money to join, facilities and equipment to do the chosen activity. Availability barriers are the factors which prevents a person from taking part of an exercise due to the lack of needs such as finance, equipment, facilities as well as lack of others’ participation If a person wants to do swimming but the local leisure centre does not have a swimming pool, this means that they are unable to do their choice of exercise.

Summary The barriers of exercise affects the people in exercise environments negatively. This is because the barriers causes the person to unable to do their chosen exercise. This will cause them to be demotivate them to exercise causing their participation to decrease.

Determinants of exercise (exercise adherence)  Personal Factors  Environmental Factors  Activity-related Factors Exercise adherence is psychological factor which involves being able to keep up with their exercise routine. The factors of exercise determinant can be divided to 3 categories. They are:

Personal Factors Demographic Variables A person’s adherence may depend on their income. This is because if a person is low in income he may decide not to take part. Also if a person is busy doing school work, he may decide to postpone exercising. Variables A person’s adherence may depend on his motivation and how he enjoys the exercise. This is because if a person feels motivated and enjoy the activity, they would like to continue and do it again. On the other hand, they are bored and unmotivated, they would soon refuse to do the exercise. Behaviours A person’s adherence may depend on their routine and how they are able to quickly change it for the exercise. This is because, if a person is used to exercise and have been doing it for a while, they will able to keep their routine. On the other hand, a person who just started may find it hard to get used to it.

Environmental Factors Social Environmental factors A person’s adherence may depend on their peers and family’s support. This is because, it is highly likely that a person will continue doing their exercise if their family and friends supports them. For example, they could join them to go to the gym or jogging etc. Physical environmental factors A person’s may depend on the environmental factors on nature. This is because if a persons wants to jog, he would not be able to do it if the weather is terrible i.e. stormy. Also, if the air is too hot and humid, the person may be demotivated to jog as it is too hot and it may cause dehydration.

Activity-related Factors Group vs. individual activity The type of activity may affect the person’s adherence. Individual activity could be done anytime, however there is a higher probability that the person may fail to keep up as there would not be a person that may encourage and motivate them. Although, in group activities, if a person is absent, they would not be able to do the usual exercise therefore social loafing may take place. Intensity, frequency and Duration of Exercise The intensity, frequency and duration of exercise may affect the person’s adherence. This is because if the exercise is done more frequently, it is highly likely that they will get used to the routine. If the exercise is highly intense and has a long duration, this may have a negative effect as the person may become too exhausted therefore, they may need rest and refuse to do it again because they do not want to feel that exhausted again.

Summary The level of exercise adherence affects the people in exercise environment as it shows how much a person can continue with their exercise plan.

Behaviour change models  Transtheoretical model  Health belief model  Planned behaviour theory This is the way how people changes their behaviour towards exercising

Transtheoretical model Stages of transtheoritical model I. Precontemplation - stage where a person is happy being inactive without an intent to change it II. Contemplation - stage where a person has an intention for a change – exercising in the future III. Preparation - stage where physical and psychological states are changed to get themselves ready IV. Action -period of behaviour change occurs and start of the exercise programme V. Maintenance - stage where the person is trying to keep the routine in his everyday life VI. Termination - the person reverts back to their original state and dropped their new behaviour Developed by Prochaska and DiClemente (1983), this is when a person goes through a period of behaviour change, experiencing a series of different stages. It can be applied to any behaviour change such as a person changing from inactivity state to participation state. (Stafford Brown, 2010). How and why this affects people in sport environment This affects people in the exercise environments as it shows the stages how a person is able to change their behaviour to start exercising. This means that it could show when a person starts to exercise and when he starts to lose motivation and gradually decrease participation

Health belief model How this affects people in exercise environment This affect people in exercise environment as they are able to motivate themselves by thinking of the health benefits. Although, they may think of the consequence such as time availability and money. Changing their behaviour and become active depends on how much the person is eager to stay healthy and prevent acquiring disease and illness. Example If a person is overweight, they may feel the need to start exercising in order to avoid getting heart problems and diabetes

Planned behaviour theory How and why this affects people in sport environment This affects people in sport environments as this theory shows how a person is able to motivate themselves to start exercising. Ajzen (1985) suggests that this theory are the best behavioural change predictor. This is because if a person thinks positively towards exercise thinking it is a good thing, they will tend to exercise regularly. However, their perception of ability may be dull as they may overestimate therefor it may not result in actual behaviour change as it is reliant on one’s ability if they were able to succeed or fail

Summary How does the behaviour change models affect participation Behaviour changes affects participation as it influences the person’s motivation levels upon exercising. This is because as the person is able to convince himself to exercise, he will naturally change his behaviour in order to keep up with it. This depends on how much they want to achieve change. Weinberg and Gould (2007) shows us a research where a graph is shown that in the first 3 months, massive number of people dropped out however, after 6 months, it only gradually decreases. This is means that if a person is able to convince themselves to start and continue to exercise for 6 months, they are highly likely they will be able to continue to keep with it.

Bibliography  Kirk Bizley “AQA GCSE Physical Education”. Pgs , 59. Cheltenham, UK.  Adams, M. et al. (2010) “Sports and Exercise Science Level 3 (1 st Edition)” pgs Essex, United Kingdom.  Stafford Brown, J. (2010) “BTEC Level 3 National Sport and Exercise Sciences (3rd Edition)”. London, United Kingdom.