Exercise And Muscle Strengthening Activities

The typical age group of university students ranges from the ages 18 – 27, although 90% of students are under the age of 40. (Statistics Canada, 2010) This being said the physical activity requirements are the same for all university aged students. For the ages of 18-64 it is required that you receive 150 minutes of physical activity per week in bouts of at least 10 minutes. The intensity of these required minutes of physical activity must be moderate to vigorous. Moderate intensity is considered to make adults a little sweaty and short of breath, while vigorous intensity is considered to make adults sweat and be out of breath. It is also important to have two days a week to do muscle and bone strengthening activities. (Canadian Society for …show more content…
The definition of physical activity is “all body movements involving the use of skeletal muscles resulting in in an increase of the use of energy.” (Kolen, 2015) While exercise is defined as “planned, structured and repetitive body movements to improve or maintain physical fitness.” (Donatelle & Kolen-Thompson, 2015) Physical activity aids in receiving the proper amount of muscle strengthening activities. This is due to the fact that it activates large skeletal muscle groups and requires them to use more energy then normally needed. This concept is known as overload, which is needed to make gains in muscle. (Kolen, 2015) It also aids in meeting the at least 10 minute bout requirement as most physical activities are considered sports, or for example a cycling class which are typically 60 minutes at once. Exercise contributes to bone strengthening activities more then physical activity. Going to the gym and lifting weights repetitively aids in increasing bone mass density therefore strengthening your bones. (American Society of Exercise Physiologists [ASEP], 2013) Although, exercise still aids in strengthening your muscles if you lift heavy weights with less repetitions. With this type of workout you are overloading your skeletal muscle to see physical changes within it. Both exercise and physical activity are necessary to fulfill the physical activity …show more content…
It has been shown that students face barriers such as: minimal time and money, lack of facilities, distance from facilities, parental influence and influence of the opposite sex. Some other barriers are more individual as in cultural beliefs, lack of knowledge, and physical constraints. (International Sports Studies, 2013) These are some of the barriers keeping students inactive. Minimal time comes from dedicating most of your time to your studies, staying up late to finish a paper or getting up early to get an hour or two of extra studying. These tremendous hours of extra dedication often leave students very fatigued and using most of their spare time from classes on their studies. A minimal amount of money comes from paying for school itself. Especially if the student is paying for themselves, and have no financial aid from their families. Extra money isn’t often spent on a gym membership or to be put in an intermural sports league. Being a part time student you don’t get the same benefits of a full time student of using the facilities that is worked into your tuition. If you are part time you must pay for a membership most times with your own money, that most students don’t have from lack of funding. Having a lack of facilities is a common issue with small towns, as they only need one facility to support the demand they have. This issue means there isn’t a facility for