Fit for Life Individual Report

Student Name
Student Number
Brief	FitforLife are a new start-up established in 2016 by ex MSc Project Management students. They are very keen on sports and very much enjoyed the opportunities for them afforded by the University and were involved in many teams as well as out of University sports activities. During their postgraduate studies they noticed that the requirements for postgraduates in respect to fitness facilities were different from those for undergraduates. Fitforlife are employing you as consultants with access to postgraduate students to investigate what students’ attitudes towards fitness are, and how these may vary across different variables. They think that this information will be invaluable in them helping the company to work with a variety of universities to develop strategic fitness plans.
The research questions	Main focus question – How can Fit For Life help universities with fitness plans?  Q1.What facilities are currently on offer to university postgraduate students? Q2.What physical variables affects post graduate students participation in fitness? Q3.What mental variables affects post graduate students participation in fitness?
The words	“The work included within this assignment is my own. It includes my individual analysis and individual reflections on performing quantitative analysis based upon data collected by the JMRR OCEAN PRINCE team

Introduction

Fitness among university students is an issue of hefty consideration. Many universities offer fitness plans but they rarely follow up on how students respond to the fitness plans. This report concentrated specifically on the trends of how postgraduate students engage in fitness plans that are provided by their universities. The findings of the report established that postgraduate students make immense participation in fitness plans. The facilities that are offered to them are inclusive of swimming lessons, gym and among other physical activities such as running. The report established that the involvement of this peculiar society is affected by mental and physical variables such as their ethnicities, their gender, their income and distance to the fitness facilities. The report will therefore be instrumental in guiding universities while making fitness plans where postgraduate students are considered. 

Key Literature Underpinning and Research Questions

The topic is based on understanding how postgraduate students engage in fitness plans in the university. On an exciting view, postgraduate students do not seem as interested in fitness plans like their undergraduate counterparts. Utilizing this singular aspect, the research wishes to establish the fitness facilities that are available for use by postgraduate students. The report will also seek to establish the physical and mental variables that affect the participation of postgraduate students in fitness plans. The report will weave together current literature and using the findings of the research establish a way in which postgraduate students can be better influenced into fitness plans.

There are various physical activities that postgraduate students can engage in while they are in school. Physical activities definitively encompass any kind of activity that is rapid and which is conducted in a specified amount of time. While most people think that physical activities should only be engaged in under medical instruction, it should be a basic activity for everybody. They are necessary because they are aerobic and helps one ton breathe harder, allows the heart to beat faster and therefore, they are necessary in keeping the heart and the ling fit.  Physical activities also help in strengthening the muscles, and strengthening the bones (Mburu-Matiba, 2015, p3).  Physical activities are therefore not just for people who are medically instructed but for everybody that wishes to have a healthy lifestyle.

University students are people who engage in physical activity in a million ways. At this juncture, the first research question regarding the fitness activities and facilities that are offered by universities will be answered. The activities in consideration in this case are basket-ball playing, jogging, swimming, cycling, and an equipped gym. The research considered that universities provide facilities for such activities.

The other matter to question will encompass the physical variables that determine the involvement of postgraduate students in fitness activities that are provided by their schools. Instrumental understanding of the variable will dwell on the distance and gender. Research proves that physical activities determine personal engagement in fitness activities and hence using distance and gender as representatives, the research will answer the question whether physical variables affect involvement in fitness among postgraduate students.

Lastly, amiable literature will be used in explaining whether there involvement in physical activities among postgraduate students is affected by any mental variables. Mental variables will be assumed to be those that influence a person without their knowledge. For this part, ethnicity and income will be evaluated and an express analysis of their impact showed. The use of the two will effectively showcase that mental variables affect the engagement of postgraduate students in fitness plans in their universities.

Analysis and Presentation of Findings and Methodology

The research was established by use of the qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. The two research methodologies were used for the research to confirm that the results engaged literature review, interviews and questionnaires. Statistical analysis was also heftily made use of to analyze the results and hence the results observed were accurate due to the use of the two methodologies altogether.  

From the information we acquired, at least 69% of all the postgraduate students in the nation engagement in fitness activities while 31% of the postgraduate students do not engage in fitness activities as shown below;

The findings revealed that postgraduate students instrumentally engage in fitness programs. Having a 69% turnout shows that they are heavily involved in fitness programs. However, there is still a significant number among them that does not engage in fitness activities which amounts to 31% of them; a number that proves that there is still need to persuade postgraduates to engage in fitness activities. Furthermore, the research established that 64% of male postgraduate students engage in fitness activities while 36% of them do not participate in fitness programs. 59% of female postgraduate students, on the other hand, engaged in fitness plans while 41% did not engage in any form of exercise. Therefore, it was established that there is a greater likelihood for male students to engage in fitness plans in their postgraduate studies than females.  

Physical fitness is a matter that is of hefty consideration, especially among educated people. Unlike the uneducated individuals, educated individuals understand the benefits of fitness activities physically and mentally (Plante, 2010, p52). From the research study, an acknowledgment of the fact that postgraduate students understand the necessity of engaging in physical activities is therefore outright. It is for that realization that such a significant percentage that cumulatively accounts for 69% of them participates in fitness plans as they study. 69% of postgraduate students being actual participators in physical activity is quite a good percentage which shows that there is an influence upon them that makes such a high number engage in physical activities. The number is also a little bit higher than the statistics of people who engage in physical activity in the nation and hence having a higher level of education could be the reason that a more significant percentage of postgraduate students participate in fitness programs.

After analyzing finding out the involvement of postgraduate students in fitness plans, we sought to evaluate the motivations to engage in fitness programs across the gender divide, and the following statistics were realized;

Four of the most necessary reasons as to why people engage in physical activities were selected which are inclusive of improving on their appearance, to acquire a better mood, being used to fitness and the management of stress was used. From across the gender divide, it was realized that certain motivations lead members of both genders to engage in fitness programs. However, the female gender maintained a higher edge in view of motivations that drive postgraduate students in participating in fitness programs. It is, therefore, necessary to conclude that certain motivations such as improving on personal appearance, acquiring a good mood, managing stress and the basic fondness of fitness could be motivations that make postgraduate students engage in stress, the greatest effect of the motivations being on the female students than on the male students.

In many occasions, the decision to engage in physical activity comes from specific motivation or desire to realize certain goals. To have a good body shape for the case of a better appearance is one of the motivations. Most people especially those who consider themselves overweight often engage in physical fitness activities to reduce their weight and improve on their looks (Hands et al., 2016, n.p.). There others who find physical activities mood lifting and hence they engage in physical activities to improve on their moods. Others see it necessary to reduce their stress by participating in physical activities. Others yet engage in physical activity because they are fond of them.  

The study in general established that female students are led to physical activities by some intrinsic and extrinsic motivation than their male counterparts (Bauman, 2012, p262 ). The explanation behind it is because female students want to look good and hence they strive to maintain their looks better or at least improve their appearance by shedding some weight. They are also more overwhelmed by occurrences around them, and as such, they need to improve their moods from time to time (Brunet, 2011, p101). Female postgraduate students also seek to make use of physical activities to release their stresses, and as such, they are likely to engage in physical conditions while their male counterparts deal with stress in some other way. For a conclusion, therefore, female postgraduate students are led by emotional motivations to engage in fitness activities than their male colleagues because they are more emotionally susceptible

Ethnicity, income, and proximity to the school are other variables that were used in the evaluation, and they brought about the following results;

For ethnicity; 

The influence of ethnicity can be directly seen in engagements in fitness activities. In general, 70% of postgraduate students who are of European decent engage in fitness programs while those who are of other decent do not find it worthwhile to participate in fitness programs.

Ethnicity is a variable that in such an effective way determines the way that postgraduate students engage in physical activities. On a fundamental note the European environment is one where fitness through physical activity is acknowledged as a healthy procedure. In other environments such as in the African environment, engaging in physical activity is not that meaningful. The cultural view of physical activity is, therefore, such a great determinant that surpasses the level of education (Corbin, and Le Masurier, 2014, p47). Postgraduate students from other cultures and ethnicities do not adore physical activity unlike their counterparts from the European culture due to the cultural disparity in the view of physical activity in different cultures. 

In the view of income, the research established that there is a direct relationship between the income of a postgraduate student and their engagement in fitness programs. A postgraduate who earns higher is likely to choose a fitness plan while one who makes less is likely to avoid engaging in any fitness plan as illustrated below;

A direct relationship is also seen to exist between the income of a postgraduate student and their interest in subscribing to a fitness plan. A higher income proposes a greater affordability capacity while lower incomes mean lower affordability (Quennerstedt and Larsson, 2015, p569). Since fitness programs are not free, preference on whether to engage in them or not to is determined by the purchasing ability of the student. A purchasing ability among the postgraduate students affects their involvement in the fitness plans which consequently mean that those who are lowly paid are less likely to engage in the fitness plans

The last variable that was considered is that of distance to the location. Postgraduate students seem concerned with the amount of time they utilize to reach to the area where they can engage in fitness activities. A longer distance to them means, for instance, means they will spend more time accessing the fitness practicing premises and hence most of them are not interested. The research established a direct relationship between distance to the fitness center and the number of postgraduate students engaging in fitness programs. The mean time was found to be between 16-30 minutes and the mode time where most of the students engage is where the distance consumes less than 15 minutes. A lesser distance from the fitness center, therefore, depicts a more convenience.  The following graph represents the distance information 

In the view of proximity to the university or rather to the fitness facilities, the postgraduate students who are close to the facilities are likely to subscribe to the fitness plan as opposed to those who stay further away. Distance is a single thing that every human being considers before making a purchase. It is a matter of consideration because the time used to access the facility and back could be tiresome and wasteful and hence those who are far from the facilities consider the process tiresome. 

Conclusions and Recommendations

From the research, we established that gender, ethnicity, income, and distance are variables that affect the participation of postgraduate students in fitness activities each in its own peculiar way. Physical activity seems to indicate a close relationship between physical activity, fitness and improved academic performance among children (Rodenroth, 2010, p24). There has however been very little research done towards the certification of whether the same is reflected on elder people. The same relationship is however noted in the involvement of high school students’ participation in fitness activities and their improved academic performance. Having such an understanding, therefore, postgraduate students could be said to engage in fitness activities because of the information that they could have acquired in their earlier stages of education. Such influence affects the way that they carry on with physical activities with an aim to sharpening their brains. Since postgraduate education involves more academic involvement, it could be that the desire to perform better still is the reason that postgraduate students engage in physical activity in such an instrumental manner.

From the study, it is sufficient to conclude that physical activities are held with such high regard by postgraduate students.  Seeing that 69% of them attend physical plans in the facilities that are provided by the university was a moving experience. It is a wise conclusion to behoove that the greater percentage of postgraduate students. Their gender is also a determining factor as makes are likely to engage in physical activity more than their female counterparts. A higher income also means a higher probability to engage in physical activities for a postgraduate student. Also, affiliation to the European culture means a likelihood of engaging in physical activity while the shorter the distance to the facilities, the higher the probability of involvement in physical activities. It is therefore necessary to conclude that gender, ethnicity, income, and distance are accurate physical and mental variables that affect the participation 

From the findings above, the following recommendations are necessary to utilize;

1. Since the study established that there are more males than females, postgraduate students who engage in fitness activities as opposed to their male counterparts, it is necessary for the university to ensure that it creates awareness on the benefits of physical activities to the entire female population in the school to try and increase their participation.

2. The study established that the effect of culture on involvement in the fitness programs, the university ought to ensure that they carry more campaigns regarding the necessity of fitness programs which would change the cultural misconceptions of the students from cultures that do not appreciate physical activity. 

3. Fitness programs are not just meant to be engaged in but ought to elevate the lives of the postgraduate students also. As such, there is a need to make them more affordable such seeing the die to their cost; they are only affordable to postgraduate students with high income. Offering different packages could help in covering those who have lower incomes and thus ensure that the programs are accessible to everyone.

Reflection on the Team Operation and Data Collection

Acquiring data was also a hard nut to crack. Since the research required actual statistics from interviews and questionnaires with postgraduate students in the school alone, we had a hard time trying to convince the study population of our intentions. From the involvement in the team, I learned that there is a need to appreciate the efforts of every member of a team for a team to be successful. I discovered that every member of the group had different capabilities and skills which helped us to perfect on the project successfully. However, I still believe that if we had to act on the project again, I would improve in some way. I would, for instance, seek to deliver on my tasks way before the deadline. 

References

Bauman, A.E., Reis, R.S., Sallis, J.F., Wells, J.C., Loos, R.J., Martin, B.W. and Lancet Physical Activity Series Working Group, 2012. Correlates of physical activity: why are some people physically active and others not?. The lancet, 380(9838), pp.258-271.

Brunet, J. and Sabiston, C.M., 2011. Exploring motivation for physical activity across the adult lifespan. Psychology of sport and exercise, 12(2), pp.99-105.

Castelli, D.M., Glowacki, E., Barcelona, J.M., Calvert, H.G. and Hwang, J., 2015. Active education: Growing evidence on physical activity and academic performance. Active Living Research, pp.1-5.

Corbin, C.B. and Le Masurier, G., 2014. Fitness for Life, 6E. Human Kinetics.

Hands, B.P., Parker, H., Larkin, D., Cantell, M. and Rose, E., 2016. Male and female differences in health benefits derived from physical activity: implications for exercise prescription. Journal of Women’s Health, Issues and Care, 5(4).

Mburu-Matiba, L., 2015. THE IMPACT OF EXERCISE (PHYSICAL ACTIVITY) AND HEALTHY LIFESTYLE (EATING) AMONG THE YOUTH:: A LITERATURE REVIEW.

Plante, T.G., Madden, M., Mann, S. and Lee, G., 2010. Effects of perceived fitness level of exercise partner on intensity of exertion.

Quennerstedt, M. and Larsson, H., 2015. Learning movement cultures in physical education practice. Sport, Education and Society, 20(5), pp.565-572.

Rodenroth, K.E., 2010. A study of the relationship between physical fitness and academic performance.