Chapter 2 Notes: Importance of the Physical Activity Experience

Chapter aims and chapter objectives (Pages 2–3)
- Spark thinking about types of physical activity across different social settings or “spheres.”
- View physical activity as a signature of humanity.
- Introduce potential benefits and limitations of physical activity.
- Show how experience expands human knowledge of and potential for physical activity.
- Develop insight into factors that influence perceptions of physical activity and decisions to engage in it.
- Preview kinesiology concepts relevant to prescribing physical activity experiences.
- Explain factors that influence personal experiences of physical activity.
What is meant by the importance of the physical activity experience? (Pages 4–5)
- Reflect on daily engagement in physical activity beyond explicit exercise or sports; includes routine actions (e.g., brushing teeth, walking to class, preparing food).
- Physical activity is a part of almost everything we do when defined as in Chapter 1.
- Two major domains of the physical activity experience:
- Direct experience of physical activity: any activity including training, observation of practice, and personal participation.
- Subjective experience of physical activity: one’s individual reaction to events, feelings, or stimuli.
Seven Spheres of Physical Activity Experience (Pages 6–7)
- Framework to think about the pervasiveness and importance of physical activity in life.
- Not a compartmentalization of activities; some activities may belong to more than one sphere.
- Spheres:
- Self-Sufficiency
- Self-Expression
- Competition
- Health
- Education
- Leisure
- Work
- “Physical activity experience” sits at the intersection of these spheres and relates to the broader “Scholarship of physical activity” and “Professional experience in physical activity.”
Sphere of Self-Sufficiency (Page 8–11)
- Definition: Physical activity is necessary to care for yourself and can be used to judge independence.
- Includes activities of daily living (ADLs), instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), and home maintenance activities.
- ADLs (Page 9)
- Personal care behaviors:
  - Bathing
  - Dressing
  - Transferring
  - Using the toilet
  - Eating
  - Walking
- IADLs (Page 10)
- More strenuous than ADLs:
  - Light housework
  - Preparing meals
  - Taking medications
  - Shopping for groceries or clothes
  - Using the telephone
- Home Maintenance Activities (Page 11)
- More complicated and energy-demanding than ADLs/IADLs:
  - Shoveling snow
  - Repair work
Sphere of Self-Expression (Page 12)
- Consider how you express yourself through physical activity.
- Examples: During a recent conversation, you might move hands, shift toward/away from others, etc.
- Messages sent through intentional movements (e.g., happiness, concern, interest).
Sphere of Work (Pages 13–14)
- Physical activity is integral to work; it contributes to creating goods and services.
- Roles for specialists: Ergonomists, Human factors engineers.
- As technology evolves, the physical demands of many jobs may decrease, increasing risk for diseases related to physical inactivity.
- Prompt: What kinds of physical activity are required to complete your job? (Think broadly about all jobs held.)
- Compare the types of physical activities across jobs.
- Consider that many desk jobs involve physical activity (e.g., typing, filing).
- Rate jobs by how strenuous they were and reflect on potential health benefits from additional activity.
The Challenge for Kinesiologists (Pages 15, 27)
- Workplace risks include:
- Decreased daily activity levels and related health risks due to technological advances.
- Injuries from repetitive activities or poorly designed workspaces, equipment, and tools.
- Psychological stress and increased cardiovascular disease risk.
- Kinesiologists’ contributions:
- Improve methods used to perform work.
- Redesign inefficient workspaces, equipment, and tools.
- Prevent and rehabilitate work-related injuries.
Sphere of Education (Pages 16–19)
- In most education programs, the goal is to change behavior (physical activity patterns).
- Physical activity is integral to all forms and levels of education:
- Writing (hand, wrist, arm movements) and reading (eye movement) for English tasks.
- Using a calculator for math problems.
- Physical education (PE).
- Instruction in sport and exercise (recreational and private).
- Employment training (assembly tasks, word processing, rescues).
- Fitness programs (private and corporate).
- Instruction in Sport and Exercise (Page 17)
- Historically limited to schools; now offered in gyms, fitness centers, resorts, studios, riding stables, private clubs, etc.
- Increasing interest among adults via media and professional instruction.
- Corporate managers promote healthier workforces through such instruction.
- Where do you see physical activity instruction? (Page 18)
- Examples across settings:
  - Physical therapists teach walking.
  - Dental/medical schools teach intricate surgical movements.
  - Parents teach children how to dribble a soccer ball.
  - Ergonomists train employees in new assembly techniques.
  - American Red Cross instructors teach rescue swimming.
  - Senior auto mechanics train others on tool use.
- Objectives of Public School Physical Education Programs (Page 19)
- PE as part of the U.S. belief that democracy thrives with accessible instruction.
- PE is broader than “gym class” and is of interest to physical activity and public health professionals.
- PE is influenced by societal forces and trends; there has been a shift from sport/exercise emphasis to fitness.
Sphere of Leisure (Page 20)
- Definitions:
- Free time: personal time not encumbered with obligations.
- Leisure: a state of mind/being with deep satisfaction and contentment.
- Consider examples of leisure in your life.
- Achieving leisure in free time requires psychological separation from other life aspects, which is challenging in modern society.
Figure 2.1: Percent U.S. Participation Rates (Page 21)
- Source: Physical Activity Council / Sports Marketing Surveys USA 2020.
- Categories tracked include Fitness, Sports, Individual sports, Outdoor sports, Racquet sports, Water sports, Winter sports.
- Data span 2014–2019 with yearly values shown; high-level note:
- Fitness typically highest (~80% in the chart).
- Some categories show lower participation (e.g., single-digit to low-double-digit percentages for certain years/categories).
- Representative values mentioned in the figure: $80 ext{ extpercent}, \, 67.3 ext{ extpercent}, \, 70 ext{ extpercent}, \, 60 ext{ extpercent}, \, 50 ext{ extpercent}, \, 40 ext{ extpercent}, \, 30 ext{ extpercent}, \, 20 ext{ extpercent}, \, 50.7 ext{ extpercent}, \, 45.0 ext{ extpercent}, \, 23.4 ext{ extpercent}, \, 13.0 ext{ extpercent}, \, 13.6 ext{ extpercent}, \, 8.2 ext{ extpercent}, \, 10 ext{ extpercent}, \, 0 ext{ extpercent}.</li><li>Data source and year labels indicate the chart compares multiple categories across years; exact category mappings are shown in the figure.</li></ul></li><li>Sphere of Health (Pages 22–23)<ul><li>Core message: There is a strong relationship between physical activity and health.</li><li>Low activity levels contribute to national concerns about high healthcare costs, disease prevention, and treatment.</li><li>Exercise has physiological and psychological effects; potential detriments include overexercise and injuries; more activity is not always better.</li><li>Prompt for reflection: What are some negative examples of physical activity you have experienced or heard about?</li></ul></li><li>Figure 2.2 (Page 23): Popular sports participation counts (Safe Kids Worldwide, 2015)<ul><li>Football: 172,470</li><li>Basketball: 119,810</li><li>Soccer: 394,350</li><li>Softball: 58,210</li><li>Volleyball: 43,190</li><li>Wrestling: 47,050</li><li>Cheerleading: 37,770</li><li>Gymnastics: 28,300</li><li>Track and field: 24,910</li><li>Totals: 394,350 and 389,610</li><li>Note: Data illustrate the relative scale of participation in various organized sports; figures come from Safe Kids Worldwide (2015).</li></ul></li><li>The Challenge for Kinesiologists (Page 24)<ul><li>Consequences of not integrating physical activity into daily life:</li><li>Health crisis of critical proportions.</li><li>Need to determine how to get people, especially at-risk populations, active in safe, effective, and efficient ways to achieve health benefits.</li><li>Each incidence of illness due to inactivity reduces potential for an active, productive life.</li></ul></li><li>Sphere of Competition (Pages 25–27)<ul><li>Competition is usually linked to sport but can exist in exercise as well.</li><li>Competition can be positive or negative but typically increases performance.</li><li>Meaning of competition: Latin origin meaning “to strive together”; common interpretation is striving against others.</li><li>Discussion prompt: Does the origin of the word change behavior in competitive situations?</li><li>The Challenge for Kinesiologists (Page 27): Competition is natural and important for expressing competitive natures; should be coached to emphasize positive aspects (fair play, similar performance levels, injury reduction, etc.).</li></ul></li><li>How Physical Activity Experiences Affect You (Page 28)<ul><li>Your life is filled with physical activity experiences.</li><li>Consider how experiences contribute to:</li><li>Independence</li><li>Ability to perform personal, social, and work-related tasks</li><li>Enjoyment of life</li></ul></li><li>Factors That Influence Kinds of Experience in Physical Activity (Pages 29–31)<ul><li>Central paradox: Why do some people explore physical activity to its fullest potential while others do not?</li><li>Influencing factors:</li><li>Social environment</li><li>Personal circumstances</li><li>Personal circumstances example factors (Figure 2.3):</li><li>Geography</li><li>Local physical activity culture</li><li>Economic considerations</li><li>Personal attributes</li><li>Social environment factors: Parents, Peers, Teachers or coaches</li><li>Quality and quantity of physical activity experiences result from the interaction of these factors.</li></ul></li><li>Ways Experience Can Affect Physical Activity (Page 31)<ul><li>Two fundamental effects of physical activity experience:</li><li>Development of skill through practice.</li><li>Development of physical capacity.</li><li>All experiences contribute to both skill and physical capacity, but the mix depends on factors that can be modified by the performer or a kinesiology professional.</li></ul></li><li>Figure 2.4 (Page 32)<ul><li>Visual not reproduced here; represents relationships among learning, practice, and skill (referenced in text).</li></ul></li><li>Learning, Practice, and Skill (Page 33)<ul><li>Motor skills: Physical activities in which performers aim to achieve goals by executing efficient, coordinated motor responses.</li><li>Practice: Physical activity experience involving cognitive processing that leads to skill improvement.</li><li>Learning: Permanent alteration in nervous system functioning enabling performers to achieve predetermined goals consistently.</li></ul></li><li>Training, Conditioning, and Physical Performance Capacity (Page 34)<ul><li>Physical performance capacity: Aspects of physical activity developed through training.</li><li>Training: Activity conducted to condition one for performance in an athletic or other event.</li><li>Conditioning: Temporary end state of training; the performer has adequate strength, endurance, and flexibility to carry out desired tasks.</li></ul></li><li>Practice versus Training (Page 35)<ul><li>Practice: Primarily affects memory, cognition, perception, and other CNS processes related to problem solving.</li><li>Training: Primarily affects peripheral systems (muscle, bone, soft tissue) and cardiorespiratory system.</li><li>Decision guide: Which is more important depends on whether success hinges on skill (practice) or physical performance capacity (training).</li></ul></li><li>Experience in Physical Activity and Physical Fitness (Page 36–37)<ul><li>Not limited to one domain of athletic ability or physical fitness.</li><li>A physically fit person can:</li><li>Perform essential activities of daily living at a high level.</li><li>Have enough energy for an active leisure life.</li><li>Meet unexpected physical demands during emergencies.</li><li>Types of physical fitness:</li><li>Motor performance fitness</li><li>Health-related fitness</li></ul></li><li>Figure 2.6 (Page 37)<ul><li>Motor performance tests vs health-related fitness tests:</li><li>Anaerobic capacity</li><li>Muscular strength and power</li><li>Muscular endurance</li><li>Body composition</li><li>Speed</li><li>Agility</li><li>Flexibility</li><li>Cardiorespiratory endurance</li><li>Notes: Adapted from Pate (1988).</li></ul></li><li>Heredity and Experience (Page 38)<ul><li>Abilities as building blocks of experience:</li><li>Abilities = genetic predispositions that can offer advantages or disadvantages for particular activities.</li><li>Abilities set potential, but potential alone is not enough for high skill/performance.</li><li>Abilities + practice + training experiences = highest level of competence achievable in a given activity.</li><li>Conceptual equation:$ ext{Competence} = ext{Abilities} + ext{Practice} + ext{Training experiences} $</li></ul></li><li>Your Physical Activity Experience (Page 39)<ul><li>Reflect on your own activity experiences and how they influence your capability to perform specific skills or meet fitness goals.</li><li>Consider which factors had the greatest impact on performance and fitness outcomes.</li></ul></li><li>Subjective Experience of Physical Activity (Page 40–41)<ul><li>Definition: How we feel, think, and react to physical activity, not just the actual performance.</li><li>Emotions, cognitions, dispositions, knowledge, and meanings are all involved.</li><li>Subjective experiences are unobservable yet crucial.</li><li>Physical activity experiences are subjective and unique (Page 41)</li><li>Feelings while moving differ from feelings while resting.</li><li>Subjective experiences are often overlooked.</li><li>Emphasizes listening to your body: a quote from Reid (2002, p. 52):<ul><li>“What most athletes don’t know, but philosophical athletes do know, is just how much can be learned from listening to their bodies. Listen closely enough to your body and you might discover a window to your soul.”</li></ul></li><li>Physical activity is most meaningful when personally valued and meaningful.</li></ul></li><li>Preparing for Part II (Page 42)<ul><li>Listed disciplines and areas of study that will follow in Part II:</li><li>Physiology of physical activity</li><li>Biomechanics</li><li>Sport and exercise psychology</li><li>Philosophy of physical activity</li><li>History of physical activity</li><li>Sociology of physical activity</li><li>Motor behavior</li><li>Scholarship of physical activity</li><li>Professional experience in physical activity</li></ul></li><li>Summary connections to the course themes<ul><li>Physical activity is not just exercise; it encompasses daily life, work, education, leisure, health, and social contexts.</li><li>Experience in physical activity has both objective components (skills, fitness, capacity) and subjective components (emotions, meanings, motivations).</li><li>Understanding the interaction of heredity, practice, training, environment, and personal choice helps explain why individuals differ in their activity levels and capacities.</li><li>The role of kinesiology is to optimize experiences by considering safety, accessibility, and equity across populations.</li></ul></li><li>Key terms to remember (LaTeX-ready references)<ul><li>ADLs:$ ext{Activities of Daily Living} $</li><li>IADLs:$ ext{Instrumental Activities of Daily Living} $</li><li>Competence equation (concept):$ ext{Competence} = ext{Abilities} + ext{Practice} + ext{Training experiences} $</li><li>Motor skills, Practice, Learning relationships as described in Pages 33–34</li><li>Training vs. Conditioning:$ ext{Training}
 ightarrow ext{conditioning}
 ightarrow ext{performance}$$ (conceptual)
- Health-related fitness vs. Motor performance fitness (Page 36)
Quick reference to figures and data
- Figure 2.1: Percent U.S. participation rates by activity category; data source: Physical Activity Council / Sports Marketing Surveys USA 2020
- Figure 2.2: Participation counts by sport (Safe Kids Worldwide, 2015) with listed sports and totals
- Figure 2.4: Conceptual relationships among learning, practice, and skill
- Figure 2.6: Motor performance tests vs health-related fitness tests (as listed on Page 37)