ASSESSING EXERCISE HABITS OF RETIRED DIVISION I NCAA FOOTBALL PLAYERS

Trever McFalls, Paul Maggio, Mark DeBeliso

Abstract


This study assessed the exercise habits among former NCAA Division I College football players. Methods: Former NCAA collegiate football players (n=56) from the USA completed two different questionnaires relevant to exercise habits. The Global Physical Activity Questionnaire GPAQ questionnaire was used to measure the time spent exercising once retired. The Exercise Benefits/Barriers Scale EB/BS questionnaire was used to determine the perception of exercise benefits and barriers. Results: The GPAQ identified 18% (10/56) of the retired football players as not engaging in an adequate amount of physical activity per week based on the recommendation of the World Health Organization (>600 MET-minutes/week of moderate and/or vigorous physical activity). Noting that 13% (7) of the participants reported no physical activity. The remaining participants 46/56 (82%) scored above the 600 MET-minute per week recommendation. The participants were also asked about the primary sources and time spent when engaging in physical activity (work, travel, or recreational activity). The results indicated that the primary source of physical activity (226±248 mean minutes per week) was engaging in recreational activities. The EB/BS was broken down into Benefits and Barriers Subscales to be evaluated independently. The Barriers subscale results indicated the participants responded strongly agreed/agreed (SA/A) to the questions ranged from 2% to 70% across 14 questions, noting only 3 questions where participants scored the questions as SA/A ≥50%. With the Benefits subscale, participants’ SA/A answers ranged from 48% to 100% across 29 questions, noting 28 questions where participants scored the questions as SA/A ≥50 %. Conclusion: Within the parameters of this study, retired Division I college football players strongly perceive the benefits of exercise outweighs their perceptions of barriers to exercise, however, approximately 18% discontinued exercise.

 

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Keywords


sedentary lifestyle, cardiovascular disease, body mass index (BMI), BMI shift, athletic identity, psychosocial health factors, metabolic equivalent (MET)

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejpe.v9i4.4611

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