Determining the Relationship Between Physical Fitness, Gender, and Life Satisfaction

Abstract

Previous research has suggested a positive effect of physical activity on life satisfaction. Little research exists that has investigated the relationship between physical fitness and life satisfaction. For this purpose, this research was done to determine the relationship between physical fitness and life satisfaction in a sample of university men and women. Participants (N = 28, M age = 22.18) completed multiple indicators of physical fitness including cardiovascular fitness, muscular fitness, body composition and flexibility, and life satisfaction (SWLS). Descriptive and one-way between-groups ANOVAs were performed to determine gender differences on measures of life satisfaction and measures of fitness. In addition, the relationship between the five health-related components of fitness and life satisfaction were investigated using Pearson's product-moment correlation coefficient. Analyses indicated there were no significant correlations between any of the health-related components of fitness and scores on the SWLS. There were significant gender differences on all physical fitness measures, except partial curl-ups, but no significant gender differences on life satisfaction. Our findings suggest that improved physical fitness does not have a relationship with higher life satisfaction measures. Further tests, utilizing larger sample sizes, are recommended.Keywords physical fitness, life satisfaction, gender, physical activity 2 SAGE Open between PA and life satisfaction is also unclear. For example, research suggests that, among adolescents, as participation in PA declines, life satisfaction declines as well (Kaplan, Lazarus, Cohen, & Leu, 1991), higher life satisfaction scores are reported in younger adults participating in PA (Tasiemski, Kennedy, Gardner, & Taylor, 2005), and older adults participating in the most leisure-time activities report the highest life satisfaction (Heo, Stebbins, Kim, & Lee, 2013). On the contrary, Guven, Ozcan, Tasgin, and Arslan (2013) found that while life satisfaction scores did improve as PA frequency or duration increased, there was no significant relationship between PA and life satisfaction. Similar results were found in a study by Eime, Harvey, and Payne (2014), who found that life satisfaction was not significantly related to the level of participation in PA.Much of the existing literature has investigated the relationship of PA with life satisfaction relying upon recall or estimation of time spent in activity, and self-assessment of the intensity of an activity. Limitations of self-report data include recall bias and recollection problems. For example, individuals are most accurate when recalling sedentary behavior and high-intensity activities (Sallis & Saelens, 2000). Previous literature has suggested that a more appropriate form of research would be to use information, "with biological significance for the organism, such as the gas exchange or the lactate threshold, or the power-time asymptote" (Ekkekakis & Petruzzello, 1999, p. 357). This was in reference to po...

Untitled

“…The above correlations are clearly manifested in throwing sports (discus, hammer and push ball), where the best throwers are characterized by high body mass (in particular muscle mass) and height (Pavlović, 2019). A study evaluating the correlations between body fat and motor fitness in 14 female and 14 male students of a liberal arts university in the Southwest United States revealed that submaximal VO 2 was significantly negatively correlated (-0.66, p<0.01) with body fat and significantly positively correlated (0.39, p<0.05) with push-ups (Busing & West, 2016). Significant correlations were also reported between the sit-and-reach flexibility test and push-ups (0.588,p<0.01), and between push-ups and partial curl-ups (0.457, p<0.05).…”

“…In the cited study, men were characterized by significantly higher(p<0.00, F=88.33) values of submaximal VO 2 (62.60 and 40.58 l/min/kg, respectively) and performed a significantly higher (p<0.00, F=21.76) number of push-ups (29.71) then women (13.64). Body fat values were significantly higher (p<0.00, F=31.91) in women than in men (28.68% and 13.86%, respectively) (Busing & West, 2016). Body mass and BMI were negatively correlated with the endurance-strength abilities of female students performing the 3-MBT (Podstawski,Markowski, Choszcz, &Żurek, 2016a).…”

Sex-Mediated Differences Among University Students Performing Extreme Physical Activity During the 3-Minute Burpee Test

“…Additionally, significant percentage differences in selected physiological parameters (VO2avg, VO2max, EPOCavg, and EPOCpeak) were observed between the sexes, the corresponding values being systematically higher in males. In Busing and West's study [20], males were characterised by higher values of VO2 (males -62.60 ml/kg/min, females -40.58 ml/kg/min) and higher scores in strength tests (push-ups -29.71:13.64 [N], partial curl-ups - 33.15:18.36 [N]). In training practice, push-ups and partial curl-ups are used to measure muscular endurance, but aerobic endurance tests are classified as exercises longer than 4 minutes, which has considerable implications from a physiological perspective [21].…”

Socioeconomic Determinants of the Anthropometric Characteristics and Motor Abilities of Polish Male University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study Conducted in 2000–2018

“…However, PA and PF exert independent effects on health indicators [12]. The existing research suggests that improvements in PF are most conducive to minimizing selected health risks [13] and that PF exerts a greater influence on health indicators than PA [14]. The above findings suggest that low levels of PF are a risk factor that is directly associated with a sedentary lifestyle [12].…”