High School Girls' Perceptions of Selected Fitness Activities

Authors

  • Carol Wilkinson
  • Robyn Bretzing

Abstract

High school students, and particularly girls, are not very active (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2006). To help girls develop the abilities to enjoy lifetime, healthy physical activity, physical educators need to provide curricula that will achieve this goal. In the process, they need to make sure they are aligned with the current trends and interests of their students. Fitness activities such as Pilates, kickboxing, and core training have become popular at fitness centers and some physical educators are incorporating them into their curricula. There is a lack of research examining students’ views of these activities. This study examined 83 high school girls’ perceptions of selected fitness activities, after  participating in several fitness units. From the students’ comments, 74% of the girls preferred fitness units to sports units. Eight themes were identified from student comments showing that students found the fitness activities to be: health-promoting, fun and varied, more physically active, easier skills than sports, good lifetime activities, easy to schedule outside of school, a help in increasing other abilities, and not competitive. The findings reinforce the need for high school physical educators to include such activities as options in their high school curricula to motivate girls to be more active.

Published

2011-05-10

Issue

Section

Articles