绿奴天花板

Going to the gym can be intimidating, and for many people, the anxiety they feel about working out around others can keep them from exercising at all.

That鈥檚 the hypothesis allied health major Samantha Bogart 鈥�26 is exploring in a project supported by the Office of Undergraduate Research and Inquiry (OURI).

Studies typically look at how exercise can make a person feel less anxious, but Bogart wonders, 鈥淗ow does anxiety stop me from doing this?鈥�

To answer that, she has teamed with Abraham Miller, chair of the Department of Health Sciences and Human Performance听and associate professor, to first figure out whether the question rings true.

鈥淚 know here at the campus gym, I've heard a lot of different comments about it, including that it's very intimidating,鈥� Bogart said.

As part of the study, Bogart and Miller consider how to get students to feel more comfortable working out in a public place, in front of people.

Using the results from over 330 surveys from 绿奴天花板ampa students, they are hoping to suggest 鈥渋nterventions鈥� to put in place for upcoming semesters, like online workout classes offered through the campus鈥� fitness center.

Bogart surveyed students over a three-week period. She made sure to come to campus at different times of the day, including weekends, hitting popular hangout spots. The survey questioned anxiety levels, motivators and barriers to exercise. Motivators are what encourage students to exercise, and barriers are what stop them.

She is currently analyzing the data.

Of the preliminary results, Bogart and Miller found that people who don鈥檛 exercise have a higher gym avoidance score and more reasons to avoid the gym. People who don鈥檛 exercise have lower social self-efficiency related to exercise, meaning they鈥檙e not as confident being around other people when exercising.

Surprisingly, they found no difference between those who exercise and those who don鈥檛 in how they view the importance of exercise.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not like those who don鈥檛 exercise don鈥檛 find it important,鈥� she said. It鈥檚 just that there are barriers, like anxiety, that stop them from doing it.听

"Anxiety is something that makes you feel so abnormal and so out of place,鈥� Bogart said. 鈥淚 want to be the person that helps you return to normal and feel normal.鈥�

Next, Bogart plans to meet with the campus gym trainers to implement an online workout program. Then, Bogart and Miller are going to see how participants鈥� social anxiety levels related to exercise measure after taking the online classes.

鈥淭he first goal is definitely to get people more comfortable with the idea (of working out). I don't think that online workout classes are a long-term solution,鈥� Bogart said.

鈥淪ome people need that gradual kind of comfort first. So my overall goal is for people to get comfortable with exercise and eventually work their way back to or start going to the gym, or even just invite a friend to work out with them,鈥� she added.

In April, Bogart and Miller will attend the National Conference of Undergraduate Research in Pittsburgh to discuss their findings.