Facilitating Success in Fitness : Exploring the Beliefs, Mindsets, and Perspectives of University Students in Pursuit of Physical Activity Achievements
Creators: name: Le, Annie
name: Fritz, Jamie
name: Kan, Yi Jhen
name: Tam, Priscilla
name: Lewis, Tristan
Publisher: name: The University of British Columbia
Year: 2024

description: An intent for action does not necessarily translate into performance of an action – this is a phenomenon coined the “intention-behaviour gap”. Although there could be a plethora of factors feeding into this gap, our team has chosen to explore how various types of mindsets play a role in facilitating or preventing an individual from achieving their fitness-related goals. Ultimately, our objective was to synthesize practical short-term and long-term recommendations to help UBC Recreation tailor their Personal Training Program to be more supportive of the unique needs of their clientele. Our study sampled from physically active individuals who study, live, and/or work on or near UBC campus. Participants filled out an anonymous online survey composed of a series of short-answer and Likert scale-type questions that prompted participants to reflect on their recent successes and failures with regards to attaining fitness goals. Considering various course-related constraints for this project, snowball sampling and entry into a prize draw were two methods used in attempting to obtain an appropriate sample size within a restricted amount of time. Data from a total of 67 participants were deemed eligible for analysis at the time of termination of data collection. Participants’ self-reported data was categorized based on their qualitative or quantitative nature, then independently evaluated. Qualitative responses were analyzed thematically based on recurrent key words among participant answers; based on this data, a total of 9 and 8 themes contributing to successful and unsuccessful (failed) goal attainment, respectively, were synthesized. For instance, “maintaining discipline”, “focusing on the finish line”, and “self-positivity” were found to be the top three facilitators in helping an individual reach a goal, while “lack of dedication”, “being too busy”, and “unrealistic self-expectations” appeared to be common barriers to goal achievement. On the other hand, quantitative responses where participants evaluated the extent to which various personal, social, and material factors may play a role in impacting their fitness journey were analyzed based on count, then ranked in descending order of importance. Drawing from both subsets of data, we were able to synthesize a list of immediate and latent strategies that UBC Rec could implement in hopes of potentially improving the experience for both current and prospective users of their PT Program. Upon the conclusion of our current project, we recognized that there were several limitations. Notably, bound by the exploratory nature of this topic, our study sampled only from individuals who considered themselves as successful, by their own definition. As a result, we are unable to generalize our findings to those who may be seeking the help of a PT because they do not yet consider themselves “successful” in reaching their fitness goals. In light of this limitation, we propose that future studies of a similar design should include participants who do not consider themselves successful, by their own definition; supported by further thematic and statistical analysis, the results would not only allow for the comparison of similarities and discrepancies between the mindsets of successful and not-yet-successful individuals, but would also shed light on key areas for improvement so that targeted, actionable strategies focused on diminishing the discrepancies could be implemented. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”