Influences of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Intuitive Exercise and Physical Activity among College Students

Abstract

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the health behaviors of people around the world, including their physical activity patterns. Intuitive exercise, a facet of one’s relationship with physical activity, is defined as one’s awareness, mindset (positive versus negative), and mindfulness when engaged in movement. The study’s purpose was to explore whether self-reported physical activity and psychological mindsets around exercise changed during the pandemic. College students (n = 216) described their relationship with exercise before and during the pandemic through anonymous completion of the Intuitive Exercise Scale (IEXS) and open-ended questions to provide in-depth contextualized responses about exercise habits. Participants reported significantly higher scores on intuitive exercise during the pandemic, such as on the Body Trust subscale (M = 3.43), compared to pre-pandemic levels (M = 3.20), p < 0.001. Moreover, varied themes related to physical activity were uncovered such as exercising for fun, exercise influenced by emotion, and loss of motivation to exercise. Important takeaways of the study include the diversity of responses to the pandemic (i.e., some participants reported an increase in physical activity levels and more positive exercise attitudes while others experienced the opposite), the need to promote self-care, and the need for positive coping strategies.

The Influence of COVID-19 on University Students’ Well-Being, Physical Activity, Body Composition, and Strength Endurance

“…The results of published studies [ 26 , 28 ] as well as the responses of the participants in the present study indicate that many college students had to cope with new stressors during the pandemic, which exerted a negative impact on their emotions, mental health, and PA. Regarding the students’ WB, it should be noted that both male and female participants were characterized by high PA levels not only before, but also during the pandemic.…”

“…Concerns about their own health and the health of loved ones, changes in living circumstances, disruptions in sleep patterns and diet, constraints on social activities, academic challenges, and changes in coursework delivery were powerful stressors that increased self-reported levels of stress, anxiety, and depression [ 26 , 27 ]. Yon et al [ 28 ] described the change in self-reported PA and psychological mindsets of 216 college students in the southeastern region of the United States. They relied on the Intuitive Exercise Scale to determine the most prominent dimensions of exercise during the pandemic, and they found that exercising for fun, exercising to influence emotions, and loss of motivation to exercise were the emerging themes.…”

Correlation and Change in Physical Activity and Physical Fitness across Four Years of College Students after One Year of COVID-19 Lockdown

“…This result is consistent with other studies [ 18 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 30 , 31 ]. Several studies have found that the COVID-19 outbreak increased college students’ intuitive exercises and more positive attitudes [ 14 ], and positive self-perception and motivation for fitness exercises during the pandemic [ 32 ]. However, from the results of the study, the trend of PA and PF among college students was consistent with the previous findings.…”

“…The health benefits of physical fitness (PF) and physical activity (PA) have been reasonably established [ 10 ]; however, college students are especially vulnerable to changes in psychology and physiology. One study found that college or university time is a critical period regarding unhealthy changes in energy-related behaviors in students [ 11 ], more than 80% of adults continue the same PA patterns that they established during their college [ 12 ], and low PF in college is proven to track into adulthood [ 13 ], some studies found COVID-19 even changed exercise habits among college students [ 14 ], so the restriction post-impact on the PA and PF of college students may be more severe than expected.…”

Psychological variables, physical activity and physical education

“…In order for universities to provide effective and efficient support for establishing an active lifestyle among students, identification of PA predictors among students is required (Michie et al, 2011;Atkin et al, 2016). The COVID-19 pandemic changed social and environmental factors, which could influence students' attitudes and feelings toward PA (Yon et al, 2022). A longitudinal study suggests that pandemic-related attitudes and feelings could be a predictor factor influencing PA levels (Sport England, 2020).…”