Preventive medicine
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Preventive medicine · Jan 1999
Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical TrialLong-term effects of aerobic exercise on psychological outcomes.
Although the literature on increased physical fitness and psychological outcomes has grown large, a number of methodological limitations remain unaddressed. The present study was designed to address a number of these limitations while examining the short- and long-term psychological effects following completion of a 12-week aerobic fitness program using bicycle ergometry (and confirmed increases in fitness). ⋯ Overall, results indicate that exercise-induced increases in aerobic fitness have beneficial short-term and long-term effects on psychological outcomes. We postulate that participants in the exercise group did not increase the amount of weekly exercise they performed over the 12-month follow-up period and thus the maintenance of the psychological improvements occurred concurrent with equal or lesser amounts of exercise.
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Preventive medicine · Jan 1999
Insufficiently active Australian college students: perceived personal, social, and environmental influences.
A sustainable pattern of participation in physical activity is important in the maintenance of health and prevention of disease. College students are in transition from an active youth to a more sedentary adult behavior pattern. ⋯ Factors associated with physical activity participation (particularly social support from family and friends) can inform physical activity strategies directed at young adults in the college setting.