Sports and Exercise
A lot of people in England, especially young children, are
encouraged and made-aware of the benefits of regular exercise.
The National Governing Body set up strategies such as the
PESCCL and the PESSYP in order expose the youth (from
primary school to college) to sport and exercise. For example,
PESSCL strategy states that schools should at least have 2 hours
of compulsory practical Physical Education in their timetables as
well as an additional 2 or more hours of sport beyond school time
(extra curricular activities) which is set up by school, community
and/or local sporting clubs (hence club links).
So, the school children are sorted; they are able to exercise regularly
and achieve the benefits of exercise. But what about the adults?
Benefits of Exercise
The following are the reasons why exercise is beneficial and
why people exercise
Health Benefits

better sleep

reduce the risk of getting illness or
diseases

reduce stress

Helps to improve basic levels of
fitness such as strength, stamina
and flexibility
Health Benefits

better sleep

reduce the risk of getting illness or
diseases

reduce stress

Helps to improve basic levels of
fitness such as strength, stamina
and flexibility
Enjoyable

Takes away stress and tension
Self-esteem

Feel good about yourself

Reach a certain goal and achievement

Body shape will look good as exercise
will reduce stress, improves posture,
tones muscle and reduce fat

Feel satisfaction from achieving the
desired weight target
This is why adults should exercise regularly as they would need these to stay
healthy - physical, mental and social.
Effects of Psychological
Factors in Exercise
Environment
By: Mark Jonathan Serafica
Reasons that influence people in
exercise environments
A variety of psychological reasons are available as to how and
why they influence a person’s motivation to exercise.
Three of the psychological factors that affect people in exercise and
sport environment are identified below. They are:

Barriers to exercise

Determinants of exercise

Behaviour change models
Barriers to exercise
Some people have reasons which prevents them from
exercising. This is called the barriers to exercise. The
barriers can be classified to 5 categories

Physical

Emotional

Motivational

Time

Availability
Physical
Physical barriers are the physical problems that a person may have and uses
this reason to demotivate participation in sport and exercise.
These barriers may come from health issues, injuries and disabilities.
How and why this affects people in sport environment
This affects participation because a person may not physically able to exercise. For
example, disabled people who requires wheelchair use could not do certain types of
exercise such as jogging or swimming. Although, they are exercise they can do
although they are still very limited. This links to psychological aspects because if a
person can’t take part in an exercise because of physical issues, they may lose the
interest to participate other exercise options such as swimming or yoga
For example, a person may refuse to participate in exercise as they are too old. This
means they have less mobility and strength to participate in some exercises. This
can also be seen in the professional world as we see athletes retire from their sport
just when they reach their late 30s i.e. David Beckham
Another example is when a person has asthma, they may feel that they shouldn’t
take part in exercise that requires a lot of running as they are more physically
challenged
Emotional
Emotional barriers are the worries and mentality that people has to refuse
doing exercise. This could be caused from having low self esteem or
paranoia regarding their safety.
How and why this affects people in sport environment
This may affect participation because a person may refuse to take part as
they are too shy which is caused by the fear that they would make a fool
out of themselves (lack of self confidence) and therefore doesn’t want to
exercise for example they think they may be too un-skilled to do dance
exercises. Also, if a person is too concerned about the risks of the exercise,
they may refuse to take part as they may get injured.
For example, a person with hydrophobia may refuse to take part in exercises
such as swimming.
Motivational
Motivational barrier is the inability of a person to commit or strive to exercise.
This is mainly caused by exhaustion or boredom when taking part of the
exercise. This is the main cause of failing to do exercise
How and why this affects people in sport environment
The reason why this affects participation is because if a person lacks motivation,
they would not take the exercise seriously causing them to get bored. Soon, they
will no longer participate. Another reason is that a person is too exhausted that
they do not want to do any exercise as they find a need to relax or do other
things on their spare time.
For example, a person may lose motivation if they find the exercise too
exhaustive. Therefore, they don’t want to do the exercise anymore. In addition,
a person may not be well motivated as they have other priorities.
Time
Time barriers are caused by the inability of the person to make available time
to do exercise. This is mainly caused by having other priorities or
commitments such as work and family (i.e. looking after their children)
How and why this affects people in sport environment
This affects participation because people would find it hard to have time for
exercise. This is a possibility if they are too busy with other activities they
prioritise. There are other time-related issues such as prioritising leisure
activities such as watching TV or socialising with friends.
A person may have work on the whole day that they do not have time to do
exercise. Although, some people may also procrastinate exercising which
means they make time for leisure activities such as watching television or
going out with friends to socialise instead of exercise.
Availability
Availability barriers are the factors which prevents a person from taking
part of an exercise due to the lack of needs such as finance, equipment,
facilities as well as lack of others’ participation
How and why this affects participation
The reason why this affects participation is because the person could not
take part if they don’t have money to join, facilities and equipment to do
the chosen activity.
If a person wants to do swimming but the local leisure centre
does not have a swimming pool, this means that they are
unable to do their choice of exercise.
Summary
The barriers of exercise affects the people
in exercise environments negatively. This
is because the barriers causes the person
to unable to do their chosen exercise. This
will cause them to be demotivate them to
exercise causing their participation to
decrease.
Determinants of exercise
(exercise adherence)
Exercise adherence is psychological factor which involves
being able to keep up with their exercise routine.
The factors of exercise determinant can be divided to 3
categories. They are:

Personal Factors

Environmental Factors

Activity-related Factors
Personal Factors
Variables
A person’s adherence may depend on
his motivation and how he enjoys the
exercise.
This is because if a person feels
motivated and enjoy the activity, they
would like to continue and do it again.
On the other hand, they are bored and
unmotivated, they would soon refuse to
do the exercise.
Demographic Variables
Behaviours
A person’s adherence may depend on
their income.
A person’s adherence may depend on
their routine and how they are able to
quickly change it for the exercise.
This is because if a person is low in
income he may decide not to take part.
Also if a person is busy doing school
work, he may decide to postpone
exercising.
This is because, if a person is used to
exercise and have been doing it for a
while, they will able to keep their
routine. On the other hand, a person
who just started may find it hard to get
used to it.
Environmental Factors
Social Environmental factors
Physical environmental factors
A person’s adherence may depend on
their peers and family’s support.
A person’s may depend on the
environmental factors on nature.
This is because, it is highly likely that a
person will continue doing their
exercise if their family and friends
supports them. For example, they could
join them to go to the gym or jogging
etc.
This is because if a persons wants to jog,
he would not be able to do it if the
weather is terrible i.e. stormy. Also, if
the air is too hot and humid, the person
may be demotivated to jog as it is too
hot and it may cause dehydration.
Activity-related Factors
Group vs. individual activity
The type of activity may affect the
person’s adherence.
Individual activity could be done
anytime, however there is a higher
probability that the person may fail to
keep up as there would not be a person
that may encourage and motivate them.
Although, in group activities, if a person
is absent, they would not be able to do
the usual exercise therefore social
loafing may take place.
Intensity, frequency and Duration
of Exercise
The intensity, frequency and duration of
exercise may affect the person’s
adherence.
This is because if the exercise is done
more frequently, it is highly likely that
they will get used to the routine. If the
exercise is highly intense and has a long
duration, this may have a negative effect
as the person may become too
exhausted therefore, they may need rest
and refuse to do it again because they do
not want to feel that exhausted again.
Summary
The level of exercise adherence affects the
people in exercise environment as it shows
how much a person can continue with their
exercise plan.
Behaviour change models
This is the way how people changes their behaviour towards
exercising

Transtheoretical model

Health belief model

Planned behaviour theory
Transtheoretical model
Stages of transtheoritical model
I.
Precontemplation
- stage where a person is happy being
inactive without an intent to change it
II.
Contemplation
- stage where a person has an intention for
a change – exercising in the future
III.
Preparation
- stage where physical and psychological
states are changed to get themselves ready
IV.
Action
-period of behaviour change occurs and
start of the exercise programme
V.
Maintenance
- stage where the person is trying to keep
the routine in his everyday life
VI.
Termination
- the person reverts back to their original
state and dropped their new behaviour
Developed by Prochaska and DiClemente
(1983), this is when a person goes through a
period of behaviour change, experiencing a
series of different stages. It can be applied to
any behaviour change such as a person
changing from inactivity state to participation
state. (Stafford Brown, 2010).
How and why this affects people in sport
environment
This affects people in the exercise
environments as it shows the stages how a
person is able to change their behaviour to
start exercising. This means that it could
show when a person starts to exercise and
when he starts to lose motivation and
gradually decrease participation
Health belief model
Changing their behaviour and become active depends on
how much the person is eager to stay healthy and prevent
acquiring disease and illness.
Example
If a person is overweight, they may feel the need to start
exercising in order to avoid getting heart problems and
diabetes
How this affects people in exercise environment
This affect people in exercise environment as they are able to
motivate themselves by thinking of the health benefits.
Although, they may think of the consequence such as time
availability and money.
Planned behaviour theory
Ajzen (1985) suggests that this theory are the best
behavioural change predictor. This is because if a person
thinks positively towards exercise thinking it is a good thing,
they will tend to exercise regularly. However, their
perception of ability may be dull as they may overestimate
therefor it may not result in actual behaviour change as it is
reliant on one’s ability if they were able to succeed or fail
How and why this affects people in sport environment
This affects people in sport environments as this
theory shows how a person is able to motivate
themselves to start exercising.
Summary
How does the behaviour change models affect
participation
Behaviour changes affects participation as it
influences the person’s motivation levels upon
exercising. This is because as the person is able
to convince himself to exercise, he will naturally
change his behaviour in order to keep up with it.
This depends on how much they want to achieve
change.
Weinberg and Gould (2007) shows us a research
where a graph is shown that in the first 3
months, massive number of people dropped out
however, after 6 months, it only gradually
decreases. This is means that if a person is able
to convince themselves to start and continue to
exercise for 6 months, they are highly likely they
will be able to continue to keep with it.
Bibliography

Kirk Bizley. 2009. “AQA GCSE Physical Education”. Pgs.
10-12, 59. Cheltenham, UK.

Adams, M. et al. (2010) “Sports and Exercise Science
Level 3 (1st Edition)” pgs. 80-81. Essex, United Kingdom.

Stafford Brown, J. (2010) “BTEC Level 3 National Sport
and Exercise Sciences (3rd Edition)”. London, United
Kingdom.