Study finds students drop exercise when they hit campus - MacInsiders - Student-run McMaster University Help Forum

**Chad**

Via Daily News

Regular exercise tends to steeply decline among youth as they move to university or college, according to a study by researchers at McMaster University.

The team found a 24 per cent decrease in physical activity over the 12 years from adolescence to early adulthood. The steepest declines were among young men entering university or college.

The researchers found the rate of decline in physical activity was greater for men than for women, who showed only a modest 1.7 per cent decrease in their overall activity levels. Women were found to be less active in high school.

"It may be that girls experience the greatest declines in physical activity earlier in their adolescence," said Kwan.

Question for the forums: Are you going to the gym/working out less or stopped completely now that you're at Mac?

Chevalier · 01-10-2012 at 02:28 PM

SOOOOOOOO ture..... lol the only exercise i get now are the walks to and form school and in between classes :p

anonanon987 · 01-10-2012 at 02:28 PM

To a certain degree, yes.

Buszaj · 01-10-2012 at 02:36 PM

It hasn't really decreased. Stayed the same or maybe went up a bit.

But I can't blame any student for it decreasing. Most students have to balance school, social life, work, and then exercise on top of that. It's a tough task.

Bug324 · 01-10-2012 at 02:50 PM

I'm actually the opposite. I went to an arts high school for four years, and though the girls' sports teams there were actually quite good, I personally did not find I had enough time for sports extra-curriculars on top of wind ensemble/symphony orchestra/flute choir/pit orchestra. Also, my school wasn't within walking distance of my house, so I either got a ride or took the subway. I haven't really done any sports since grade 8.

However, since coming to Mac, I've been walking a lot more (Les Prince, lol, everything's so far away). I'm also on the varsity fencing team now, which is two evenings a week, during which the first hour is all regular fitness rather than actual fencing. I feel a lot healthier than I have in quite a while. I would definitely not be getting as much exercise if it was up to me to make an individual commitment to go to the gym, but being on a team gives me that extra push.

akikokoyoki · 01-10-2012 at 02:54 PM

since highschool i hardly exercise, so this is quite true. The only exercise i get is going to and from classes. And also going from home to school or vise versa

RyanC · 01-10-2012 at 02:56 PM

i excersize the brain muscle all day err day

Allan · 01-10-2012 at 05:28 PM

Didn't need to do a study to prove this. Just look how obese people are these days.

Lois · 01-10-2012 at 05:46 PM

:| People who say that they're "too busy to exercise" are just fooling themselves.

Studying is most efficient when you take breaks. One can easily cut out 30 minutes/day of fooling around on the internet/watching TV to do some exercise.

nomchock · 01-10-2012 at 07:56 PM

i don't understand how people think walking to/from res and around campus is a suitable (a better word may be sufficient)amount of exercise

to a degree, yes its better then nothing but you're absolutely fooling yourself if you're patting yourself on the back every night thinking "great job chief, i walked for a whole 20 minutes today!"

hit the gym, go for a run play some sports

studying and sleeping are infinitely easier if you have a focused mind

AngieC · 01-11-2012 at 12:14 AM

I think the only way one can still get a decent amount of exercise in University is to join a team and go to practice , or have a super committed work out buddy (buddies) and make each other go to the pulse or the track or whatever else , other than that even the most committed work out person will eventually drift off their plan since there's no reason beyond their own will power to keep them going and we all know what happens to that

but that's just me : )

andrewjdg · 01-11-2012 at 08:19 AM

First year it significantly decreased. Now it's easy to go the gym 3-4x a week. Some people can find every excuse in the world to NOT exercise though, which is sad.

JBeans · 01-11-2012 at 11:12 AM

I found that my activity levels significantly dropped when I started university. However, I was a competitive racer in highschool and didn't have enough time in university to maintain the same level of competitiveness (I tried to race in my first year without training as often and ended up injuring myself). I turned to just coaching younger skaters when I had the time.
Since graduating, I have become more active than I ever was in highschool, training 5-7 times per week and I have continued to coach the younger skaters in the club.