Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

It has been extensively documented that exercise leads to improvements in both physical and psychological wellness (Russel et al., 1995). However, 53.5 percent of Canadians over 12 years of age are considered physically inactive (Luo et al., 2007). Also, dropout rates within the first 3 to 6 months are reported to be as high as 50 percent in those attempting to live a healthier lifestyle through exercise programming (Lenchner & De Vries, 1995). Group dynamics researchers have suggested methods to significantly increase exercise adherence and satisfaction within exercise groups by the implementation of team building strategies (Spink & Carron, 1993). These interventions work by increasing perceptions of task and social cohesion among exercisers within a fitness group. This presents a novel way to combat the high dropout rates seen within the first months of those starting a new program. However, these studies have not investigated which team building strategies are the most effective at increasing task and social cohesion in the beginner exercise population (those with less than 3 months experience). Therefore, I plan to utilize the conceptual model developed by Spink and Carron (1993) to isolate and implement three popular team building strategies (developing distinctiveness, enhancing communication, and encouraging or recognizing sacrifice behaviours) within four circuit training (i.e., station to station set up) fitness classes (one group being allocated as a control), which will be comprised of beginner exercisers. The ultimate goal will be to determine which of the three interventions is more effective in increasing task and social cohesion and if enhanced perceptions of cohesion result in increased adherence and satisfaction among beginner participants. The goal of the proposed research is to indentify novel ways of decreasing beginner exercisers' dropout rates and facilitate their transition into living a healthier, proactive lifestyle.