Date of Award

5-2008

Document Type

Access Controlled Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Kinesiology

First Advisor

Philip J. Buckenmeyer, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Joy Hendrick, Ph.D.

Third Advisor

Katherine Polasek, Ph.D.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze various barriers to physical activity and to determine whether extrinsic barriers were more relevant than the intrinsic barriers among young sedentary adults. University students and residents from community (n = 77, age = 24.72 + 7 years) participated in this study. All participants self disclosed that they were not active for no more than 20 minutes once a week. Using a Likert type scale, participants responded to an instrument with 21 items representing barriers to physical activity. The results showed that lack of will power (98.5%) was the most important barrier. Lack of time (94%), lack of energy (91%), and social influence (86%) were also some of the important barriers cited by the participants. It was concluded that intrinsic barriers were more important than extrinsic barriers to physical activity in young adults.

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