Relationship between body image and percent body fat among college male varsity athletes and nonathletes

Three groups of students from a large midwestern university (15 varsity swimmers, 15 varsity football players, and 15 nonathletes) were administered a 20-item questionnaire concerned with body image and subsequently underwent skinfold measurements to assess percent body fat. Scores obtained were correlated to estimate the relationship between body image and adiposity. For the groups combined (N = 45) the relationship was significant and inverse (r = -0.51). For the nonathletic group a significant value -0.76 was found; for the two groups of athletes there was no relationship (rs = 0.002 and -0.059 for football players and swimmers, respectively). We conclude that body image as measured in this study in inversely related to percent body fat among college men, especially among students not engaged in varsity sports.

Path analysis of a self-esteem model across a competitive swim season

An adaptation of the previously developed Exercise and Self-Esteem Model (Sonstroem & Morgan, 1989) was tested longitudinally with 93 male interscholastic swimmers from nine high schools who were evaluated at pre-, mid-, and postseason. Swimmers completed three self-perception scales that ranged from evaluations of specific swim skills (SKILL) through broader perceived physical competence (PC) to global self-esteem (SE). Performance scores (PERF) were calculated across events by standardizing swim times to a mean of 0 and a standard deviation of 1. Structural modeling analysis across the three time waves indicated an excellent data fit (chi 2 = 25.46, p > .15). The model was able to explain 84, 83, and 80% of PC, SKILL, and PERF, respectively, at the third testing period. Swim improvement tended to be small (median change = 2.9%). Relationships among variables at each testing period and among the same variables at different testing periods were large and as hypothesized. Several significant relationships occurred between different variables across different testing periods. These were not extinguished when social desirability was added to the model. Social desirability failed to significantly influence subsequent measures of any model variable.

Mood alteration with yoga and swimming: aerobic exercise may not be necessary

The mood benefits of Hatha yoga and swimming, two activities that differ greatly in aerobic training benefits, were examined. College students (N = 87) in two swimming classes, a yoga class, and a lecture-control class completed mood and personality inventories before and after class on three occasions. A multivariate analysis of variance indicated that both yoga participants (n = 22) and swimmers (n = 37) reported greater decreases in scores on Anget, Confusion, Tension, and Depression than did the control students (n = 28). The consistent mood benefits of yoga supported our earlier observation that the exercise need not be aerobic to be associated with mood enhancement. However, underlying and causal mechanisms remain uncertain. Among the men, the acute decreases in Tension, Fatigue, and Anger after yoga were significantly greater than those after swimming. Yoga may be even more beneficial than swimming for men who personally select to participate. The women reported fairly similar mood benefits after swimming and yoga. It seems that aerobic exercise may not be necessary to facilitate the mood benefits. Also, students with greater mood changes attended class more regularly than those who reported fewer psychological benefits. Maximizing the immediate psychological benefits of exercise might be one way to encourage adults to be physically active.

Perception of effort in female and male competitive swimmers

The primary purpose of this investigation was to compare 31 competitive female swimmers with 31 competitive male swimmers on their perceptual responses to submaximal swimming. A secondary purpose was to evaluate the relationship between heart rate (HR) and perceived exertion (RPE) in swimming. Each swimmer completed a 200-yd swim in his/her specialty stroke at 90% of the swimmer's current best time. Underwater and overhead pace lights were used to achieve an even pace during the swims, and HR was monitored by means of radiotelemetry. Ratings of overall and local perceived exertion were assessed immediately following each swim with Borg's 6-20 scale. ANOVA revealed no RPE differences across stroke classifications for the female or male swimmers, but local and overall RPE were lower (p less than 0.01) in the females. Mean HR, however, was significantly higher (p less than 0.05) for the female swimmers. Unlike research with other exercise modes, correlational analyses revealed that overall and local RPE were unrelated to HR (p greater than 0.05). Based on these findings, it is concluded that 1) female swimmers judged a paced swim to be less effortful than did male swimmers despite a greater objective strain in the females, and 2) HR was not correlated with perception of effort.

Dynamics of central nervous activation during motor imagination

Central nervous processes of sensorimotor and behaviour control are prerequisites of skills and motor performance. Eight students (Ss) in sports were tested during motor imagination. They were requested to imagine their own movements when swimming over a distance of 100 m (sitting in a resting position, without any real or imitated movements). Electroencephalograms (EEG), heart rate (HR), skin conductance (SC), and respiration rate (RR) were recorded before, during and after one series of 3 periods of mental training (MT). HR, RR and SC increased during MT. The highest level of SC can be found at the beginning of the first period of imagination. Mean alpha-frequency of the EEG over the left occipital and precentral area in all Ss was higher during MT. The degree of these changes varied during the 3 imagination periods.

Pre-competition anxiety and performance in female high school swimmers: a test of optimal function theory

This investigation attempted to test Hanin's theory of optimal function in 15 female high school swimmers. Each swimmer completed the State Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and the Body Awareness Scale (BAS) under the following conditions: I) baseline; II) retrospective recall of "best", "usual", and "worst" performances; III) 24 h prior to an easy and difficult dual meet with instructions to respond as to "how you think you will feel 1 h before the meet"; and IV) 1 h before the meets utilizing the standard ("right now") instructional set. Success was determined in each meet by two methods: 1) objective ratings based on comparisons with the average of times from previous meets; and 2) subjective ratings of performance made by the coach. In the difficult meet significant (P less than 0.01) increases in precompetition anxiety and body awareness occurred, and the correlations between predicted and actual pre-competition were .95 (P less than 0.001) for both anxiety and body awareness. In the difficult meet swimmers subjectively classified as successful were more accurate (P less than 0.05) in predicting precompetition anxiety, and possessed pre-competition anxiety values that were closer to their recall of optimal pre-competition anxiety compared to the unsuccessful swimmers. No comparisons based on the objective classifications were significant, nor were any of the comparisons in the easy meet. The present findings support Hanin's optimal function theory.