Search

Engaging in empowering exercise develops movement competency (MC) and strength and supports physical health, mental well-being, and quality of life. Power building combines powerlifting and bodybuilding to increase physical activity (PA), MC, and strength. To our knowledge, power building has not been explored as an exercise intervention. This pilot study investigated the impact of an eight-week power building intervention on women's PA, MC, strength, and empowerment. Eighteen women aged 25.1±9.8 with no powerbuilding experience participated in the intervention, meeting three times weekly for one hour. PA and MC were assessed pre- and post-intervention. Three-repetition maximum (3-RM) tests in the squat, bench press, and deadlift were completed in weeks one and eight of the intervention. Data were checked for normality; the Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used for non-normally distributed data. The McNemar test was used to analyze differences in dichotomous variables. Effect size was calculated and interpreted as follows small r = 0.1 d = 0.2 omega = 0.1 ), medium ( r = 0.3, d = 0.5 omega ω = 0.3, and large ( r = 0.5, d = 0.8 omega ω = 0.5 ) Total PA ([ t(17) = 3.52, p = 0.003 d = 0.83I ) and participants who met the PA guidelines ( Z = 6.13, p = 0.008 omega = 0.82 ) increased significantly from pre-to post-intervention. Participants' MC scores improved significantly from pre- (24.3±3.5) to post-intervention (29.5±2.5; [ t(17) = 10.04, p < 0.001 d=2.37]). Significant increases in strength were observed (squat Z = - 3.73 p < 0.001 r = 0.881 bench press Z = - 3.73 p < 0.001 r=0.88], and deadlift It(17) = 16.41 p < 0.001 d = 3.87l ) . Empowerment in exercise scores averaged 56.3±6.6 (on a scale of 5-65). The intervention significantly increased total PA, improved MC, increased strength, and facilitated empowerment. Women's participation in powerbuilding may enhance their quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empowering females is a critical global priority. Sports participation is a mechanism to increase female empowerment employed throughout the world. However, measuring empowerment remains challenging because definitions often differ between geographical contexts. For example, empowerment theory constructs, especially individual or psychological empowerment, are frequently used in the Global North to examine and define empowerment. In the Global South, female empowerment, usually referred to as women's empowerment, explicitly addresses women's issues related to their ability to make life choices. Despite these differences, empowerment goals are similar regardless of geography within the sporting context. Therefore, this exploratory narrative review explores differences in empowerment and women's empowerment through sports globally and describes sports empowerment as its own construct. Sports empowerment illustrates feelings of empowerment that are the product of sports experiences that spillover to daily life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging evidence suggests that outdoor group exercise may reduce stress more than indoor group exercise because the outdoor environment provides unique mental health benefits. Stress leads to illnesses and diseases, but exercise mitigates harmful impacts. This study explored differences in perceived stress and outdoor physical activity participation among college students in an indoor or outdoor group exercise class. Data were collected pre-, mid-(after four sessions), and post-intervention (after eight sessions). Seventeen participants indicated an interest in the study, but 13 signed up. Participants completed a four-week group exercise intervention that met twice weekly in outdoor and indoor conditions. Mixed ANOVAs with Tukey post hoc tests determined between-group differences in perceived stress and outdoor physical activity levels. Partial eta-squared (X2 p) estimated effect sizes. Significant differences in perceived stress scores existed across time for the whole sample [f(2, 12) = 48.359, p < 0.001, X2 p = 0.890] and for the interaction between time and condition [f(2, 12) = 10.051, p = 0.003, X2 p = 0.626]. Post hoc analysis revealed that the outdoor group's perceived stress (p < 0.001) was reduced more than the indoor group post-intervention (p = 0.028). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Objective: Rural and emerging adult women report low physical activity (PA) levels. This study identified differences in current self-reported PA levels and perceived resources among US university women from metropolitan, micropolitan, and rural areas. Participants: Women were ages 18–24 y, full-time students who attended in-person university classes before COVID-19. Methods: They completed an online cross-sectional survey between July-September 2020 collecting demographic, university PA (via IPAQ), and perceived PA resource data. Results: Most participants reported metropolitan area high school (70.4%) and university (92.3%) attendance. Metropolitan participants did less job-related moderate PA during university (0.0 (0.0–360.0) MET-min) than rural (160.0 (0.0–1320.0) MET-min) participants. Metropolitan and micropolitan participants identified more high school community and natural resources than rural participants. Rural participants identified more university campus and community resources than metropolitan participants. Conclusions: University women reported similar levels of PA regardless of the rurality of their high school community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]