My intended research topic will be students and physical exercise while studying. My research will be framed around the relationship between exercise and stress in university students. Well-being is a term used to refer to psychological, cognitive and affective factors that enhance the function of a person. Past studies have explored the connection between physical activity and the effects it has on mood and quality of life (Herbert, C. 2020). I want to explore if exercise enables students to feel energised throughout their week and if they find it difficult to find the time to do so between other commitments.
This topic is quite extensive and I’ve been able to find a variety of sources to aid my research project. The NRC Research Press explores the impact COVID-19 has had on university students’ physical activity. For students, it was essential to adapt to the changes of remote learning, home restriction and reduced mobility. This source will be useful regarding the pandemic as an influence in potential sedentary behaviours resulting in reduced levels of physical activity (Bertrand, L. 2021).
In this article, medical professionals research regular exercise in students. The main ideas expressed are how exercise influences bodily and brain functions in early adulthood. This article is useful because it will help me in understanding the effects of well-being from specific exercise and if it’s seen as a prerequisite in reducing stress (Herbert, C. 2020).
Davis and Olpin review stress relief implementations, how it affects people’s well-being and the different ways individuals cope with stress. The authors provide a strong theoretical correspondence between the coping strategies to manage the emotions that come from stress. This article will be useful for me to explore the different strategies other than physical exercise that individuals perform to cope with stress such as meditation, tea, vitamins and more (Davis, R. 2021).
In this article, the authors describe the motives of exercise and the obligatory feelings among students. Although this source is over 10 years old I still find it relevant to my project as it may show differences or similarities around the motivations of exercise in contrast to my future research (Pritchard, M. 2012).
In this short video, Alexander Street investigates student guides to exercise for improving health. The research focuses on how university years are the ideal time to make positive changes to lifestyle habits. It additionally discovers the positives of exercise for stress and how it can also cause further stress and exhaustion. In particular, this article will assist me in understanding how too much exercise can lead to more stress and the proper way students should be exercising in combination with their workload.
Overall, I’m motivated to start researching and discovering the different opinions of students on this topic. The major difference in beliefs and the limits of social media may cause this area of study difficult to undertake. Due to this, I’m excited to undertake face-to-face interviews at the university to give my project a balanced scope around a topic that can be answered by all students.
References
Bertrand, L. Shaw, KA. Ko, J. Deprez, D. Chilibeck, PD. Zello, GA. 2021, ‘The impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on university students’ dietary intake, physical activity, and sedentary behaviour’, Applied physiology, nutrition, and metabolism, vol. 46, no. 3, pp. 265–272.
Davis, R. Olpin, M. 2021, ‘THE EFFECTS OF STRESS RELIEF TOOLS AND INTERVENTIONS ON STUDENTS WELL-BEING’, College student journal, vol. 55, no. 1, pp. 17–24.
Herbert, C. Meixner, F. Wiebking, C. Gilg, V. 2020, ‘Regular Physical Activity, Short Term Exercise, Mental Health, and Well-Being Among University Students: The Results of an Online and a Laboratory Study’, Frontiers in Psychology, Health Psychology, https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00509/full>accessed 21 March 2022.
Pritchard, M. Beaver, J. 2012, ‘Do exercise motives predict obligatory exercise?’, Eating Behaviors, Volume 13, Issue 2, Pages 139-141.
Street, A. 2018, ‘A Students Guide to Exercise for Improving Health’, Education, Online Video, https://video-alexanderstreet-com.ezproxy.uow.edu.au/watch/a-student-s-guide-to-exercise-for-improving-health/transcript?context=channel:student-success-series >accessed 23 March 2022.
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