Jenna Tomayko
Section: H01
Instructor: Peterson/Ewing
December 4, 2015
Physical Activity Monitoring Reflection
Throughout the semester we were required to wear a physical activity monitor such as a FitBit to record our steps and exercise on a daily basis. Every two weeks we’d compile the data we’d record and summarize our weekly averages to use as a guide in evaluating our physical activity over the 12 week period.
I believe this assignment was extremely beneficial for students in that in provided them with a visual representation of their progress and achievements. It’s challenging to evaluate your performance without being able to physically see your progress and compare whether or not you’ve made improvements from the weeks prior or decreased your amount of exercise. Tracking my progress and being able to visualize my results motivated me to strive to exceed my progress from the previous weeks and continue to make improvements and build upon my achievements.
Being a student-athlete in season I was never unable to meet the required weekly steps (70,000), however, in college it is challenging to maintain a regular workout schedule so having workouts built into my schedule was extremely helpful in keeping me on track with my physical activity. In season we’d have practices everyday in the afternoon and usually have fitness practices or lifting in the mornings so my activity was highly concentrated in the mornings and afternoons. I’d say that I’m very active since I’d only not meet the minimum required steps 1-2 days of the week, which was usually on off days (we are required 1 off day every week) or on travel days for away games. While I’d maintain high levels of activity throughout the week my physical activity would usually drop drastically on off days where I’d engage in very little physical exercise. While it is important for my body to recover on these days I could incorporate less physically exerting workouts to decrease the amount of time spent being sedentary without exhausting myself. For example, I could go for a long walk or swim since these activities would not be as physically demanding as my usual workout regimen but would still increase my activity on off days.
For my data, I took a graph from Wednesday, September 16th, a graph from Thursday October 15th, a graph from Wednesday October 21st, and a graph from Sunday September 27th, which was an off day. The graphs show how my daily exercise is concentrated in the mornings and afternoons between my two practices. The final graph also demonstrates how my exercise drastically decreases on off days.
I think this assignment is extremely beneficial and should be continued in the future to help students to visualize their progress and identify where they might need to make improvements so that they will be able to maximize their physical potential.