Research Proposal to Open a Health and Fitness Club

Question: Describe about the Research Proposal to Open a Health and Fitness Club. Answer: Introduction: The benefits of participation in the programs of regular exercise are widely known to all. It is also a well-known fact that participating in regular exercise programs will reduce the risks associated with the comorbidities of obesity. Moreover, exercise is the one and only factor that can be used for maintaining the reduced weight of the previously obese people (Ivey et al. 2015). After examining the empirical that, it can be said that though the benefits of regular exercise is a well-known fact only a few number of Australians nearly 15% are into the habit of regular exercise and receiving the health benefits. Therefore, presently it has become necessary to spread the awareness of benefits of regular exercise and tom open a health and fitness club in a place where it will be convenient for the people to commute as well. Background of the Research: Presently in the era of development and growth and increasing competition people are too busy with their work and therefore they do not get enough time to look after themselves. This is one of the most important reasons of increasing obesity along with other physical and mental disorder. Regular participation in exercise involves a lot of physical and psychological benefits (Bartels et al. 2013). This can also reduce stress and tension of regular life. However, there is a disparity of motives among the people who are participating in regular exercise activities. This research proposal will trace out the impact of motives and reasons of the participants into his or her exercise behavior. This research will also find out the needs and importance of exercise in our daily life. The eating behavior and the other habits associated with daily life affects the human life adversely and this can be healed by using exercise as a tool. Rationale of the Research: What is the issue? Presently obesity and the health related problems have become a common issue among a large number of people in Australia. Excess weight or obesity is the primary risk factor associated with the cardio vascular disease, diabetes of type 2 and some type of cancer as well. Therefore spreading the awareness among people and influence all of them tom participate in regular exercise activities has become an important issue. Why is it an issue? As there is an increasing trend of obesity among the people of Australia, it has become inevitable to aware them about the diseases that are intricately associated with obesity. This increasing obesity may arise due to food habit, work culture and many other issues. But irrespective of the reasons there is a common way to deal with this issue that is exercise. Otherwise the problem will increase further and the death rate in the country may increase. Aims of the Research: The broader aims of this research are to find out the health related issues that can be dealt with exercise and the need of exercise in daily life. The research will also shed light on the health benefits of exercise on those people who are not suffering from obesity. Research Objectives: The objectives of the research can be summarized as follows, To determine the necessities of exercise To determine the health issues faced by the people of Australia To determine the relation between physical health and mental health To determine the plausible way to deal with the prevailing issues Research Questions: Based on the objectives of the research the following are the research questions, What are the needs of exercise? What are the health issues faced by the people of Australia? What is the relation between physical health and mental health? How the health issues in Australia can be resolved? Literature Review: Introduction: There is positive relationship between exercise and physical activity with mental and physical health of the human being. The positive alliance between the physical activity and overall health of the human being has also been demonstrated in an effective and efficient manner in the concerned literature. However, in the context of mental health a majority of these studies have focused in anxiety and depression rather than focusing on the other mental disorders. However, there is a conflict between the researchers in defining the term depression. According to Plowman and Smith (2013), physical exercise may help to cure moderate to high level of depression. Moreover, according to Thompson (2014), the recommendation of public health also suggests that aerobic exercises are beneficial and can be used as an effective treatment for healing up low to moderate level of depression. However, in the context of anxiety and physical exercise includes various numbers of systematic reviews and meta- analysis. These studies have concluded that there is a negative relationship between anxiety and aerobic exercise. Moreover, Heyward and Gibson (2014) pointed out that the evidences gathered till now suggests that physical exercise in some cases may be effective enough for alleviating anxiety as compared with any other treatment which is medication free. According to Smith et al. (2014), exercise is the miraculous way that is able to cure a wide range of physical ailments. However, people have neglected this aspect for a long period and as a result peoples health is suffering its consequences. There is enough evidence of the fact that dong physical exercise will help people to live a healthier life irrespective of the age. Moreover, as pointed out by Hoeger and Hoeger (2015), people who are in the regular physical exercise activities are also less likely to suffer from diseases like diabetes of type 2, cardiovascular problems and some type of cancers. Concept of health and fitness The World Health Organization (WHO) has provided the most extensively accepted definition of health. The definition statuses that health is nothing but a condition of the entire physical and mental condition along with the social wellbeing and it cannot be merely defined as the absence of any disease or disability. Presently this definition has been amplified and it has been compelled to include the statement Socially and economically productive life. The World Health Organization has also been criticized on several grounds; first of all it is too generic in nature. Corbin and Le Masurier (2014) states that health cannot also be defined as a condition rather it should be viewed as a dynamic state of continuous adjustments with the continuously changing demand for living. Apart from these limitations the definition provided by the World Health Organization also broad and depicts positivism in its insinuations, in this context it sets a very high standard of positive health. On the oth er hand, the physical aptness is defined as a general state of very good physical health. As argued by MilanoviĆ¡ et al. (2015), a person who is physically challenged may be healthy or fit, however, the ability of that person is likely to be lower than that of the optimum level. Physical fitness can be considered as a result of regular physical activity and proper nutrition. Physical fitness can also be divided into three different areas, namely, elasticity, strength and cardio respiratory fortitude (Lai et al. 2014). There are some facts that should be focused in the context of health and fitness, Good health should be the primary and most crucial focus of the adults in the society. Health condition may vary in accordance with the income, age, gender and family background. A person free from illness and disease cannot be considered as a healthy one. The concept of health and fitness are definitely multidimensional It is quite possible to possess wellness while being ill Need for health and fitness: Presently with an ever increasing number of reports regarding growing rates of obesity, diseases and conditions as result of being overweight or out of shape, it has become impossible to ignore the necessity of fitness and wellbeing in our daily lives. According to L.M (2014), the professionals associated with health related activities regards cancer, mental illness such as depression or anxiety and diabetes as the lack of physical fitness and wellbeing. Focusing on exercise and balanced diet can help these persons who are suffering from these diseases. It is also suggested that people should get into the habits of exercise and diet before developing an illness. Obese people are 10-50% more likely to subject to premature death from all reasons when compared to the persons with normal body weight (Vancampfort et al. 2013). There are five key components of controlling overall health, fitness and mental wellbeing. These components are, Aerobic or cardiovascular conditioning Strength training along with muscular development Stretching of muscles, tendons and ligaments Core Stability Nutrition along with Supplementation Aerobic or Cardiovascular Conditioning: Aerobic exercises can be defined as the activities that can raise the heart up to the target heart beating rate and maintain that level for at least twenty minutes. The most significant aspect of aerobic exercises is the sustained activity of the cardiovascular system. One should target an optimum level of heart rate. It has a number of benefits including reducing the body weight, and thereby reducing the risk that is amalgamated with being overweight (Barry et al. 2014). The aerobic exercise strengthens the heart so that it does not have beat very fast, it keeps the blood pressure at an ideal level, reduces the level of cholesterol in the human body. The aerobics also helps to keep in control the level of blood sugar. Strength training along with muscular development: Strength training can be characterized as a musculoskeletal exercise that enables the muscles to increase resistance the muscles can overcome in a progressive manner. Over the passage of time this enlarges and strengthens the muscles. The benefits strength training is multiple; it benefits the health of an individual by increasing the body mass and thereby increasing the metabolism. Weight training on the other hand takes care of the bone health (Kranz et al. 2013). About the age 30, bone density reaches at its highest level. Strength training and weight training stresses on the masses and thereby enriches the bone density. This reduces the risk of osteoporosis and fractures. Stretching of muscles, ligaments and tendons: Stretching is another component associated with fitness and wellbeing of individuals. Stretching should always be accompanied by strength training or aerobic exercises. Stretching should be done three times in a week (Myers et al. 2015). Stretching should always be done when the muscles, ligaments and tendons are warmed up properly. This means that the best time for stretching is just after a long warm up exercises. Stretching increases the flexibility of the muscles and tendons and increases their ability to elongate. By performing stretching one can increase his or her flexibility. Core Stability: Core stabilization exercises involves strengthening the muscles that lines up the spine and makes up the abdomen and pelvic floor. Strengthening the core muscles will make the athletic exercises easier and safer. Nutrition and Supplementation: The need of delivering our bodies the proper nutritional components cannot be neglected. Human body always requires the correct balance of minerals, vitamins and carbohydrates and fat on a regular basis for functioning optimally and disease free (Myers et al. 2015). Therefore, eating healthy is necessary for establishing proper functionality of the human body. Relation between physical health and mental health: There is a strict correlation between the physical health and mental health of individuals. It has been found that people diagnosed with depression are often occupied by worse physical conditions as well as worse self-perceived health compared to those who are without depression (Myers et al. 2015). Depression and other related mental health conditions have different but additive effects on the wellbeing of the human being. For example the combination of heart disease and depression may cause twice of the reduction in the social interaction that either of the conditions taken alone. Patients who are diagnosed with depression and other physical health conditions are at a particular risk. The physical health situation may complicate the diagnosis and treatment of depression by masking or mimicking its basic syndromes. It can also work in a different way as well. People who are diagnosed with a specific physical health condition may tend to feel more psychologically distressed when compared to the healthy people. Earnest et al. (2013) pointed out that, poor physical health condition brings about an increased risk of depression as the social and relationship problems cause which are common among the psychologically challenged people. However, according to Randers et al. (2012), the rate of depression among the patients with a chronic disease is higher than that of the normal people. Therefore, depression and chronic physical condition share a reciprocal relationship with each other. It is also quite evident from the statement of Randers et al. (2012), depression when occurs along with other physical ailments is always less diagnosed compared to depression occurring alone. Therefore, the physical and mental health is the two inseparable component of the human body. Usefulness of a fitness club in the context of health and fitness: A health in other words a fitness club is a place that contains fitness equipment for the purpose of physical exercise. The health clubs are places that provide the users or the members to nurture the five main components associated with health and fitness. It is mainly divided into certain areas. The main workout area of a health club primarily incorporates free weights such as dumbbells, barbells and certain exercise machines. Sometimes this place also contains mirrors so that people can monitor their posture while they are working out (Randers et al. (2012)). There is a cardio area as well, this place many types of cardiovascular training related equipment. This includes stationary bikes, rowing machines, treadmills etc. And finally the group exercise classes where a certified fitness expert conducts exercise classes. Therefore, a fitness club or health club is a place where people may come to enhance their physical condition by participating in the physical exercise activities. H ence, for maintaining health and fitness it is quite necessary to have a fitness club where people will be able to gain knowledge about the exercises and practice them too. Summary: Now to summarize it can be stated that while conducting this literature review section a wide range of available literature in this regard have been reviewed and this has helped the researcher to gain a broader overview about the health and fitness related issues. On the light of the knowledge gained it has been tried to trace out the need of a health and fitness club in a community. The study so far reveals that presently health related problems especially the problems associated with obesity in showing an increasing trend. The main way to deal with this issue is exercise; therefore it has become necessary to have a fitness club for motivating and raising awareness among the people about the benefits of exercise. Research Methodology: Introduction: In order to carry out the research work effectively, in this chapter an appropriate research method will be selected. Research method is defined as the combination of various schematic procedures and algorithms that are used for conducting a study efficiently effectively (Mackey, A. and Gass, S.M., 2015). On the other hand, research methodology is defined as the systematic approach adopted for solving a problem. There is a number of methods for conducting a research work. Hence it is essential to choose an appropriate methodology for completing the research. Research Philosophy: Research philosophy can be divided into two brad categories namely interpretivism and positivism philosophy. The positivism research philosophy is based on examining the research problems which based on real fact or truth. On the other hand, the interpretivism research philosophy is dependent on the perception that most people have expressed in the context of a particular situation (Taylor et al. 2015). Here in this research work positivism research philosophy will be used as it will help the researcher to conduct the research on the basis of true facts. Research Paradigm: The research work will be based on the positivism philosophy. As the research work will be solely based on the usefulness of a health club in relation to the health and wellbeing of the people of Australia. The positivism research paradigm is selected as it is based on positive phenomena (Brinkmann 2014). Research Approach: There are broadly two types of research approaches, which are used for the conduction of a research work in an efficient manner (Billig and Waterman 2014). These research approaches are deductive approach and inductive approach. The deductive approach focuses on gathering information. There are a few stages involved in conducting a research such determining the theory, designing hypothesis, confirmation as well as rejection of the hypothesis (Flick 2015). The deductive research approach uses a top down method for obtaining the desirable outcome of the research. Here in this research the deductive method will be used. Collection of Data: There are mainly two types of research approaches from which data will be collected for conducting the research. These are primary data and secondary data (Smith 2015). The secondary data will be collected from journals, articles, books and research papers. On the other hand, the primary data will be collected by conducting a primary survey. The researcher here has planned to survey a total 45 persons who are regular visitor to a health club and 5 managers of the health clubs, Data analysis: The collected data will be analyzed by using MS Excel and other statistical packages such as SPSS and STATA. After analysis the outcomes or results will be represented with the help of graphs and charts. This will help to develop a better understanding of the research work (Panneerselvam 2014). Conclusion: In order to conclude it can be said that the proposal has tried to ensure that the research questions and the objective of the research gets addressed in a proper manner. It has also ensured that the research can follow a proper methodology as well. The researcher has undergone a wide literature review and gathered a lot of experience while conducting the study. This has helped the researcher to determine and distinguish the research issues effectively and efficiently. Reference List: Barry, V.W., Baruth, M., Beets, M.W., Durstine, J.L., Liu, J. and Blair, S.N., 2014. Fitness vs. fatness on all-cause mortality: a meta-analysis.Progress in cardiovascular diseases,56(4), pp.382-390. Bartels, S.J., Pratt, S.I., Aschbrenner, K.A., Barre, L.K., Jue, K., Wolfe, R.S., Xie, H., McHugo, G., Santos, M., Williams, G.E. and Naslund, J.A., 2013. Clinically significant improved fitness and weight loss among overweight persons with serious mental illness.Psychiatric Services. 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