Jennifer Danielson Research Methods for Sports and Health Sciences Larry Flegle 24 June 2015 Physical Activity and Cognitive Functioning in Youth with Implications for Adult Work Productivity Plato once said, “In order for man to succeed in life, God provided him with two means, education and physical activity. Not separately, one for the soul and the other for the body, but for the two together. With these two means, man can attain perfection.” If we delve into this quote we can see that even 2400 years ago in ancient Greece a famous philosopher linked physical activity with education and that the two are not mutually exclusive. A study presented to the American College of Sports Medicine, for instance, found that workers who spent 30 to 60 minutes at lunch exercising reported an average performance boost of 15 percent. There are many studies that show adult work productivity with the encouragement of exercise in the work place, where the lack of research lies is in the younger populations. One area that needs to be addressed deeper is the effect of physical activity on cognitive functioning across the school age spectrum along with the productivity of adults who exercise regularly or are encouraged to exercise in the work place. Using a mixed method research design in the pragmatic worldview I will look at the affects of physical activity on cognitive brain functioning after moderate physical exercise. Looking into the implications on students work in school and on
The present review will analyze and critique five empirical sport psychology-related research articles. Moreover, the discussion of each article will include which statistical method was used, why it was used, and whether or not it was appropriate for the data. In addition, the article discussion will include a description and possible critique of the author’s interpretations of the results.
Thesis: It’s hard being a student and working at the same time, and find energy for both. I will show you why starting an exercise program can boost your energy and your mental health.
“Sports teaches you character, it teaches you to play by the rules, it teaches you to know what it feels like to win and lose-it teaches you about life.”(Billie Jean King) Most students from first grade to twelfth grade say that sports are a big part of their life and make them who they were meant to be in a positive way. Some people might argue that students in sports or extracurricular activities have lower grades than the other students, but it's the opposite way around. Sports improve your performance in school because they strengthen your concentration ability and leadership traits.
Firstly, there are many benefits to participating in physical activity. Grissom’s study of the relationship between physical fitness and learning shows that physical fitness is linked to success and achievement in the
This paper perpetuates to expand fortifying major health benefits of conventional physical activity and exercise. However, there is withal a growing body of erudition that substantiates that physical activity withal amends psychological salubrity. The following literature attempts to review the various effects of physical activity and the mental health variables. It will especially focus on the psychological effects of exercise
America's children are not getting enough exercise, and the health risks due to obesity are becoming epidemic in nature. Even First Lady Michelle Obama is supporting an initiative to help children become more active and to provide for exercise (at least 30-60 minutes per day) in all schools. Even limited amounts of exercise can have great health benefits. When humans exercise, the brain produces chemicals that help enhance mood, limit cravings for sugars, and contribute to healthier joints, muscles, the heart, and kidneys. In turn, this translates into more productive work time, the ability to sleep better, increase memory, and reduce dependence on medications. Children are so vulnerable to this health risk that if it continues, over 60% of graduating seniors will be clinically obese. Written by a medical journalist, the book is designed for the lay reader but has a number of documented scholarly sources.
Sara D’Esposito The job I have chosen to do my interview on is a sports psychologist. The responsibilities of a sports psychologist include the following things: evaluate what the client is in need of as well as evaluating their abilities; and observe athletic performance and behaviors that go with that; come up with different strategies that are going to help the client overcome whatever they are having a hard time with and putting these strategies into effect; putting an update on the athletes performance; seeing that the individual has the ability to develop as time goes on; working with a other psychologists, nutritionist, and physiologists; providing the individual with counseling and different kinds of workshops that go over the different
Not only does it help lower the likelihood of becoming afflicted with serious health problems. It has also been proven to improve the academic skills, especially in students. The usefulness of having a daily exercise routine, in terms of physical attributes, mainly at a young age, benefits the child with the development of healthier and stronger bones, muscles and ligaments. The benefits can also extend to an academic level, improving their memory, concentration and cognitive thinking skills. There are benefits that don’t only affect children, but also those of various ages, which are the improvement of blood and oxygen flow, thus lowering the risk of these numerous issues.
Furthermore, the crafting of the term “student-athlete” was deliberately ambiguous in an attempt to keep collegiate athletics as an activity instead of professional sports (Afshar, 2015). College players were not students at play which is not to understate their athletic obligations nor were they just athletes in college implying they were professional athletes rather they were viewed as high-performance athletes meaning they did not have to meet certain academic criteria of compared to their peers. Being a student first meant that they did not have to be compensated for anything more than the cost of their studies (Mitten, Musselman, 2009). When Byers, the creator of the term student-athlete pointed out the unethicality of the NCAA stance
Youth sports have many issues that affects kids like injuries, lack of interest in the sport and most importantly bad parenting. The problem in youth sports is that parents expect too much from their children at a young age causing them to stop doing sports at the age 13, more or less. Parents are making their children play year round sports that can lead into injuries. What I’ve researched so far, many articles and journals are meant for parents to make them improve their parenting on young athletes. I’ve read that many parenting styles regarding youth sports are repetitive. In other words, many parents are making the same mistakes like being too hard on their kid or enforcing training for many hours. From my research so far there are good and bad physical and mental outcomes of kids doing sports at an early age. Many of which are mainly good but all
Over the last 30-40 years, the amount and intensity of exercise has gradually declined. Few children in the United States have actually met the recommended “sixty minutes of vigorous exercise” per day (Institute of Medicine, 2013). Although most states and districts have policies pertaining to physical education, these programs lack reinforcement and are often considered weak. Physical education has slowly declined throughout the years, and the the purpose of encouraging students to make physical activity part of their daily lifestyle has been lost. Recent research from Cornell University has found that the average high school gym class consists of students being active for an average of only sixteen minutes! This is nowhere near the recommended sixty minutes of physical exercise. Physical education has been pushed to the side while academics have been prioritised. P.E. classes have become overlooked by society as a whole. Students simply see it as a courses used only for socializing, or to avoid academic courses such as Algebra, Biology, and History. While teachers no longer encourage students to be active, this should not be the path in which we take physical education. The importance of exercise and physical activity goes beyond the classroom with is proven benefits in memory, cognition and attention which are skills that can be used for daily life activities. In recent times, many programs are popping up across the country to emphasize the importance of being active!
Have you ever felt and noticed the difference when something is given to you versus having to truly work hard for it? Whether it is as simple as saving your own allowance for a year to buy a fishing rod you’ve always wanted or putting every ounce of effort and thought you have into making an “A” for a writing assignment in class. Would you appreciate the fishing rod the same over time if it was just given to you for no reason? Would you feel good about your writing assignment knowing you could have given more effort for that major grade? Believe it or not, over time these types of questions, feelings, and thoughts have led to the rise of Youth Competitive Sports across the United States and made it to where it is a 15 billion dollar industry
Sports, play time, and eating healthy are ways to prevent obesity and other diseases that can stem from lack of physical activity and a healthy diet. On average, adults should get about 150 hours per week of exercise, or some vigorous activity. Children should get about 60 minutes of physical activity or play time at least three days out of the week. Even though there are pros and cons of different exercises and sports Americans can still help out their bodies for the better. Playing sports and exercising are shown to improve the way people think, act, and how they perform their daily lives, especially for children and teenagers. Marianne Engle author of “Kids and Sports” confirms “Kids who do sports build muscle, improve reflexes, attention span, focus, thinking, and reduces the likelihood of obesity (Engle Marianne
Most of the time when exercise is being performed, it is perceived that there is a need or want to become healthy, or stay healthy. When the word healthy comes to mind the first instinct is to think of the health of the body; to lose weight, tone the muscles, increase strength. Today there is a big focus on exercise for its many benefits that have been found from research in recent years. With great focus on weight, diet, and reducing the risk of disease in the future. This is proven, we need exercise to keep the body systems healthy. It helps reduces weight, blood pressure, the risk of many diseases, and helps us lead a long healthy lifestyle. What most are blind to however, is that not only does exercise help with body composition and reduction of risk, but it can also help to increase the cognitive function of the brain. Exercise is the food for the brain. ?Studies in ageing humans show that endurance exercise is protective against cognitive decline, especially executive planning and working memory. In both humans and primates, exercise increases attention and performance on cognitive tasks? (Ploughman, 2008). Exercise is a must, not only for the benefits for the body systems, but most importantly for the brain. Most individuals exercise for reduction of disease risk to in turn
Another unfortunate hindrance to physical activity in schools is the notion that physical activity takes away from time that could be used for academic studies. This is unjustified however, because children of this age group are unable to sit and concentrate for long periods of time without being able to get up and move (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2010).