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Andrew Harper II English 1102 Malcolm Campbell September 23, 2013 College Students Motivation to workout

As most college students have trouble balancing school and work, exercise may be the last thing most college students are worried about. Research shows that physical activity decreases for students who transition from high school to college. It is my goal to discover and explore why some college students are motivated to work out and others are not. What separates these groups? Also, how can you teach this motivation? Many people have different things that motivate them to work out. According to the article College Students Motivation for Physical Activity, men and women usually have different motives. Men are more physical and have more pride and bigger egos, which results in guys competing to see who can build bigger muscles. Women usually lean toward the more internal side. Tables in this article indicates that men are usually motivated to exercise because of challenge, competition, and for strength and endurance. However, women are motivated to exercise because of appearance, stress management, and weight management. Most people can say that women are more concerned with their weight way more than men are. Studies show that women use exercise as a form of relief. In College Student motivation for physical activity, female college students tended to score higher when it came to emotional reasons like revitalization.

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It is evident by research that most people who work out in college are mainly in organized sports. As a player of a sport, you are obligated to work out almost every day. Sport participants have a different type of motivation than those who are regular exercise participants. As a former sport participant, I can honestly say that sports will make exercise over and beyond than what a normal person would do. When I played football in High School I worked out around six days per week. As a defensive end, I knew I had to be as strong and explosive as possible. Since strength was my main goal I focused a lot on my upper body exercises which consisted of bench press and curls. For my explosion exercises, I did power cleans and squats which developed my lower body. Now I consider myself to be an exercise participant rather than a sports participant. I no longer workout for just explosiveness and upper body strength. When I work out, I focus more on my appearance. I do anything from kickboxing, to running, to lifting weights. My goals now are to be attractive, toned, and healthy. In my opinion, a factor that plays a big role in being motivated to workout is your environment. If all of your friends have six packs, it will probably motivate you to do more abdominal exercises. Motivation can be stimulated physically, mentally, and visually. There are multiple networks that supply videos that are made to get you motivated for exercise, along with other activities. An example would be the Nike Just Do It commercials. St udies show that what a person sees visually does effect ones subconscious mind. Businesses use this factor to sell products for their companies. Subliminal messaging in commercials are key motivators to buy the products being shown. The same idea can be used for exercise. On the mental side of things, exercise is seen as a positive outlet for the mind. People are usually motivated to exercise because it helps them clear their head. Exercising is one of the biggest stress relievers,

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which is why some people are so motivated to exercise every day. On a physical note, exercise reduces the risk of heart disease by improving your blood cholesterol levels and overall heart function.(Cotman, and Berchtold) An obvious benefit of working out are the muscles that form in result of working out. Most importantly, people mainly workout because they want to prolong their life and stay youthful. Working out is easier said than done for most college students. Having a busy schedule makes exercise a challenge. Exercise may be beneficial health wise but can be inconvenient in many other ways. In order to be effective with exercise, you must work out almost daily to get the results you really want. It takes patience to receive the physical results of exercise. To be effective, you must take part in a lot of cardio workouts. Cardio would include biking, hiking, running, swimming, and martial arts. Cardio exercises are workouts that will keep our heart beating and will keep you sweating. Research shows that the human body builds muscle faster when different muscles are worked daily. People usually plateau when they do the same workouts every day. After a while our muscles will be used to the activity and stop the capability to build even more muscle. Why Be Motivated as a College Student? Exercise as a Brain Stimulator A New York Times article entitled, How exercise can lead to a better brain, gives evidence on what exercise does to the mind. In this article, an experiment of two mice was recorded. The mouse who ran regularly on the wheel appeared to be wiser. This mouse had

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more neurons than the other mouse. A cognitive test was given, both mice were placed in a maze and the mouse who ran the wheel regularly finished the maze first. Three professors from the University of California, Irvine Institute for brain aging and Dementia covered how exercise stimulates the brain in an article titled, Exercise builds brain heath: key roles of growth factor cascades and inflammation. These professors were Carl W. Cottman, Nicole C. Berchtold, and Lorie-Ann Christie. Cross-sectional studies indicate that physical activity reduces risk of Alzheimers disease, Huntingtons disease, and Parkinsons disease (Cottman, Berchtold, Christie). It is essential that college students workout every day to prevent these horrible diseases. Exercise Enhances Memory The hippocampus is the part of the brain that controls memory, retention, and formation of the brain. In most adults the hippocampus shrinks in their late 20s. It is evident by research that elderly adults who did simple physical activities such as walking, jogging, cooking, and gardening were less likely to have memory loss and crumbling vocabulary like their peers. A group of senior citizens were randomly assigned to a stretching program or a walking program for a year. After the year was over, the stretching groups brains were scanned, and their hippocampuses had shrunken according to normal expectations. In the walking group, however, the hippocampus had grown. For college students, the implication is clear: regular exercise could benefit the parts of your brain that help you recall information. (5 reasons)

Exercise for better focus and concentration

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In 2009, a study took place in a Canadian school for children with ADHD and learning disabilities. The students were instructed to exercise for 20 minutes before math class. The teachers noticed that the focus and concentration of these students were improving. Exercise increases oxygen to the brain and it also increases brain neurotransmitters. Physical activity goes way beyond improving grades in school. "The healthy, physically active child is more likely to be academically motivated, alert, and successful," agrees Karen McGahey, principal of Grant School in Petaluma. Mood Booster Exercise helps the emotional balance in the brain. Based on my observation most of my college peers hit the gym when something is bothering them. Many people know that exercise relieves the mind. It is proven that when you are depressed or in a bad mood, exercise can change that to happiness. After a workout the body leaves chemicals that will make you happier and more relaxed. The physical proof of exercise will leave you confident and proud of the physical obstacles you have overcome. Stress is relieved when a person is physically active daily. It is also proven that exercise makes sleep a whole lot easier at night. Energy Booster Exercise delivers oxygen and many nutrients to your muscle tissues and assist your cardiovascular system to work better. When your heart and your lungs are working better, you have more energy to take on your daily task, such as work, studying, and chores. Unfortunately there is no scientific proof or research that tells us that motivation to exercise can be taught. Motivation stems from stimulation (Adams) However, there are a

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few practical steps that anyone can take that will get anyone up from the couch and in the gym. For me working out gives me a natural high and helps me escape reality, so this is what stimulate me to be motivated to work out. According to Woody Allen, 80 percent of success, is showing up. A good way to force workouts into your schedule is by having a friend or trainer to push you everyday. If you are really busy it is better to work out in the morning. Research shows that ninety percent of people who work out in the morning, work out consistently. (Landry) Just a few baby steps and a sexy and toned body will be there in your busy college schedule.

Work Cited "5 Reasons College Students Should Make Time For Exercise." American InterContinenta University. N.p.. Web. 28 Oct 2013. "Exercise: 7 benefits of regular physical activity."Mayoclinic.com. Mayo Clinic. Web. "How Exercise Could Lead to a Better Brain."www.nytimes.com. New York Times. Web. April 18, 2012 . Cotman, Carl, and Nicole Berchtold. "Exercise: a behavioral intervention to enhance brain health and plasticity."trends.com. Institute for Brain Aging and Dementia, University of California, Irvine, CA, n.d. Web. 28 Oct 2013. <Carl Cotman, . n. page. .>. Cotman, Carl , Nicole Berchtold, and Lori-Ann Christie, eds. "Exercise builds brain health: key

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roles of growth factor cascades and inammation."www.trends.com. University of California, Irvine Institute for Brain Aging and Dementia. Web. 28 Oct 2013. Warner Jennifer, Landry, Greg, and Greg Landry. "Top 10 reasons to exercise in the Morning." boxingscene.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Dec 2013. Adams, B.. "Helping Students Become Motivated Learners."http://www.ndt-ed.org/. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Dec 2013.

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