Project writing

Project Overview

ensure that you are clearly stating your project/research plan, delivering a succinct and clear explanation of your topic. Why are you interested in this topic? What do you hope to learn about or complete through this project? You will also need to state your research question(s), topic, or wondering.

The overarching topic leading to my work on this project involves numerous things but summarized comes to me as a simple question. How does elitism affect group exercise? Within my Integrative Studies major I have focused mainly on Health Sciences and I find the most personal interest in preventative health methods and practices. One of the most important being movement and exercise. My interest in exercise and physical fitness connects with my desire for the promotion of health in all communities. Exploring elitism and other factors that separate people from certain forms of exercise and movement that could significantly improve their lives is something I find important as I move forward in attempts to enter the workforce in related fields. I hope to find or create statistics based on my community related to diversity in exercise spaces and marketing and provide useful information for how businesses and exercise instructors, or how I in my future career can work to be more inclusive and improve their communities.

Narrowing down for the scope of the project and looking at specific factors to research I will be focusing on Pilates as the form of group exercise. In order to look at “elitism” for the purposes of this project I will be looking at factors including race, class, culture, and media or marketing. Through future research and reading defining terms I will further specify details as needed but this leaves me with a more specific and solidified research question: How does elitism affect Pilates as a form of group exercise in Orange County, Florida?

Past GEP Connection

ensure that you are connecting your experiences in and out of the classroom to your research topic. What classes in your GEP program piqued your interest in this topic? What life and academic experiences connect to this topic? How do your “past” experiences tie in with your “present” research in this project?

Throughout my time here at the University of Central Florida, Preventive Healthcare has been the class that has most influenced my future career aspirations and given some clarity regarding what I am most interested in. But before getting to this upper level course work I was definitely inspired by the work that I did in my Composition II class in my freshmen year. At the time I didn’t take much from the experience as I had different goals and a different path that I thought I had to follow. But the project I researched in that class emphasized the importance in my mind of culture, diversity, and representation of those topics in daily life. So after taking Preventive Healthcare I found the intersection of these topics that really peaks my interest. Throughout my time as a student I’ve tried to remain active and try out different forms of exercise. I’ve recently gotten into Pilates and was participating in yoga a lot throughout the last year. Group exercise classes have been a large part of how I have been able to stay physically active. All of these elements from my time in university are tying together in this research project to give me an informed and interdisciplinary view of group exercise, something that has become an important part of my life and my physical health.

Short & Long-term Goals

discuss your project’s connection with your future long-term goals after graduation. You will also list your short-term goals to be completed through this project this semester

In the short-term, looking solely at this semester, I will be completing a research paper detailing specific data related to Pilates classes, instructors, general culture, and other factors from the Orange County, Florida area. In the research paper this data will be used to provide insight into diversity within the community and show areas for growth and improvement. My hope is that the data can also add evidence to conversations regarding elitism with class and race in the fitness communities. Moving forward and entering the work force I am hoping to maintain activity in group exercise classes in my own community and participate in a more active role through teaching or assisting businesses in different ways. In teaching, I would utilize the information gathered through this project and future research to provide classes in more underserved communities and populations as much as possible. I would also be interested in working in marketing and would use information gathered in attempts to diversify and grow the community and reach audiences previously not catered to.

Integrative Learning Plan

go over how to meet shot term goals and some long term goals while mainly making sure plan includes what research you will conduct for your project

In order to complete my short-term goals with my project this semester as mentioned, I will be gathering data specific to Pilates classes in the Orange county area. I will collect information from the different cities in the county looking at the number of Pilates studios, pricing of classes, and diversity of instructors. If applicable I will also be referencing the websites and social media pages of the studios included to get a glimpse of their marketing tactics, class culture, and diversity of classes if possible. Outside of the information from the actual studios I will also be looking at population and income statistics from all of the cities in the county. All of this data will be collected and presented alongside evidence and information collected from scholarly sources surrounding the topics of elitism, race, class, group exercise, Pilates, and any other topics found relevant or necessary in the process.

Once I have entered the field I would ideally like to share my findings with the business I am a part of. I would likely refer to my findings from this project in combination with updated research as a proposition for either new marketing tactics or new class opportunities to increase our audience or the reach of our business into our community. During this research project it would be helpful for me to create visuals of the data that I collect for future reference or presentation of my material so that it’s easier to share parts of it with or without the entire scholarly paper.

Social Change Connection Plan

Research should be shared with the general public and/or decision makers to positively impact social change

For my own future plans I have shared how I would present that information but there is a larger community that would likely find it helpful and important for growth and health in our area. There are multiple ways I would plan to spread awareness of the information I learn and obtain through my research project. One way is through community events and outreach projects. Once I get into teaching or am working with studios where Pilates is taught I would definitely push to get out and into underserved areas to teach classes on a voluntary basis and get people moving in their communities. The effort would be good for businesses to be involved in to get more awareness of their brand and it would be a great opportunity to help spread helpful health information. People would be able to learn about movement and ways for them to be active and taking care of their bodies even if they can’t afford going to classes regularly or don’t have a studio close by for them to go to.

Another way I would attempt to share the results of my research project on a larger scale would be through social media. Once I become licensed to teach I would want to create a professional account across social media platforms for my teaching and classes. On top of sharing routines I would share lots of information through graphics and short informational videos regarding good ways to stay active and practice even if you aren’t attending classes in a studio or can’t afford to at the moment. The importance of staying active and participating in movement I think is something missing from a lot of teacher and business accounts. Being able to connect deeper with the community and encourage good health practices even if they aren’t coming to the studio would be something I would emphasize. If I am able to work in marketing with a studio specifically I would suggest similar promotions to spread the information through communities online.

Whether or not I end up teaching, working with a specific studio, or not involved in that way at all, this will still be something I bring up to studios or gyms that I am a member of. Group exercise classes or going to continue being a part of my life and I can still share what I learn with those around me to benefit my community. Even with instructors of independent business this topic I feel would be an important one to discuss for their benefit and for the benefit of those they are teaching and influencing.