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1101 Fuller Ave

Big Rapids, MI 49307


November 11, 2014

Cindy Horn
Director of Ferris State Rec Center
401 South St
Big Rapids, MI 49307
Dear Cindy Horn:
I am writing you to propose making the Rec Center at Ferris State University into a 24hour gym. Many people like myself do not always have time during the busy day to make
it to the gym. With the gym being open 24-hour a day it would make it possible to go to
the gym when ever is convenient so you can still get exercise in.
Physical activity has been shown to have more than just physical appearance changing
benefits. It helps improve your body system functions, stimulate and work your brain for
things such as improving memory, and even improving your quality of sleep.
I greatly appreciate you taking the time to look over this proposal. I look forward to
meeting with you to discuss further options. If you have any other questions feel free to
contact me at standik@ferris.edu or anytime on my cell phone (269) 426-1031.
Sincerely,

Kristen Standifer
standik@ferris.edu
Attachment

24-hour Gym at Ferris State University


Proposal

Prepared for
Cindy Horn
Director of Ferris State Rec Center

Prepared by
Kristen Standifer
Ferris State University

November 11, 2014

Table of Contents

Executive Summary............................................................................................................. 1
Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 2
Background.......................................................................................................................... 2
Recommendation ................................................................................................................. 2
Concerns for Rec Center ..................................................................................................... 3
Target Audience .................................................................................................................. 3
Benefits of Exercise ..........................................................................................................3-4
Statistics ............................................................................................................................... 4
Weight Gain in College Students .....................................................................................4-5
Physical Exercise and Brain Health .................................................................................... 5
Physical Activity Impact on Quality of Sleep ........................................................................5-6
Physical Activity and Appetite Control .................................................................................... 6

Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 6
Appendix I ........................................................................................................................... 7
Appendix II .......................................................................................................................... 7
Appendix III ........................................................................................................................ 8
Appendix IV: Facts Sheet .................................................................................................... 9
Works Cited ..................................................................................................................10-11

Executive Summary
I feel a 24-hour gym would benefit Ferris States campus. There are positives and
negatives when looking at putting this into place. I will goes through recommendations
on what could help make this effective. Also, aspects that will benefits the students,
faculty and communities mental and physically health with increases physical activity.
The Rec Center is open each day for several hours. But, Ferris State University
has 14,000+ students on their campus. Plus, there are faculty and community members
that use the Rec Center. With there being so many people with access to the gym it is not
always so easy for them to make it to the gym.
I recommend that we open the gym to a 24-hour gym so students, faculty and
community members with membership can access it at their convenience. To help with
security you could add in ID scanners to see who is coming in and out of the gym at what
times. Also with these scanners could be used to help keep only certain areas of the gym
available during the night hours.
Concerns that may face you with this change would be when looking at staffing
and payroll. There would need to be staff to supervise the gym area while people work
out, security staff to make sure it is safe in and outside of the gym. Also, looking at the
payroll to pay the workers who would need to be added for the late night hours.
Physical exercise not only benefits your physical health it also helps your body
system functions and also you mental health. Exercise helps to boost your immune
system, increasing your heart rate increase brain cell development. Exercise is a small
task that helps your body in the future.
Many statistics have shown that many college students would like to work out if
they have the time. These students do not feel fully confident in their own body. With
exercise it helps to get the physically in shape but also helps to mentally feel confident
from the hormones that are produced in your bod during the work out.
A majority of college students in their first 2 years away at school gain an average
of 10 pounds. Built up from stress, lack in exercise and eating unhealthy meals many
students gain some college weight. I personally my freshman year of college did not have
time to go to the gym with my busy schedule. By having longer hours more students
would be able to go to the gym in their little free time they do have.
By exercising on a normal basis it helps your bodys desire for food. It has been
shown that with regularly exercise it helps control your bodys appetite control so you do
not always feel that urge to snack when you become bored.
Most people may not know but physical activity has a positive affect to your
brain. Briefly exercising for around 20 minutes helps with your memory functions and
information processing. It also helps with bringing up our brain activity helping to
prepare your brain for mental stress.
When you think of physical activity most do not always think of your sleep. But,
it has been shown with weekly exercises it can improve your overall quality of sleep. It
can help to keep you from waking up in the middle of the night and help with extending
the amount of time you are able to stay asleep and feel refreshed.
After looking at all the aspects of how physical activity can help the students,
faculty and community members. I feel that a 24-hour gym could help the community.
By making it not only a healthier community, but also a happier one as well.

Introduction
In this report I will discuss the reasons I feel the Ferris State University Rec
Center should be open to students and faculty 24 hours a day. I will discuss the positive
aspects of having a 24-hour gym on campus. But, I will also show you some negative
aspects that you will need to look over to make this possible. I will recommend ideas on
what could be done within the gym. Ill also discusses how physical activity can help
improved peoples physical and mental health by working out. This report will show how
with the extra time will increase the number of people visiting the Rec Center each week.
Background
At Ferris State University there are 14,000+ students on the main campus both
registered on campus and online. The rec center current hours of operation are Monday
through Thursday 6:00AM to 11:00PM, Friday 6:00AM to 9:00PM, Saturday 12:00PM
to 5:00PM and Sunday 5:00PM to 10:00PM (Ferris State University). With there being so
many students on campus plus faculty and community members buying membership
these hours may not work for everyone. With the gym hours now student have to work
around the schedule of it being open around his or her own schedule. I personally cannot
always find a time to go to the gym with in the hours of the Rec Center is open. Between
having 16 credit hours and working 16 plus hours a week it is hard to fit time into my
busy schedule and their hours of operation.
Recommendation
Currently Ferris State University has a 24-hour study room for students at Flite
the library and it is beneficial for students who have busier schedules or work so they
have time to study in the library. The study room has an ID card scanner to make sure
that everyone coming in and out is a student or faculty member. It accounts for who is
there and what times they are coming and going. If you were to put these in you could
make it to were you could account for students, faculty and community member who has
memberships. By adding these ID scanners to the gym could help throughout the night to
be security of knowing who is coming in and out also could help to make sure you are
only able to access certain areas of the gym during the night areas. By doing this it can
help reduce the number of staff because you only need to have specific areas supervised.

Concerns for Rec Center


The concerns that you may face for this would be the staffing. The majority of
the staff at the Rec Center are students at the University. It might be difficult to be able to
have students who would be able to work throughout the night. They would need at least
one person on staff to watch all the students, teachers or community members and keep
an eye on the equipment. Also, to have security on staff to keep the student and faculty at
the gym safe. By having security it will help reduce liability for the school. There will be
an increase in costs when it comes to lighting the gym, keeping the machines running
throughout the entire day and paying the staff.
Target Audience
By extending the gym hours to 24-hours a day it would be beneficial to the
students, faculty and community members with memberships on campus so they will be
able to go and exercise at their convenience. Not everyone has a nine to five schedule and
have to work around everyday life. Today people are focusing more on healthier living
no matter their age. It is not just students that use the Rec center, but people from the
surrounding community also come to use the facility, too.
Benefits of Exercise
Obstacles that the average college student faces is different things that interrupt
them from being able to exercise such as classes, employment, family or social
responsibilities. Studies show that exercise help more than just their physical appearances
it also helps your physical health but your mental health as well. Exercise helps to
stimulate brain cell development, improve memory retention, increase focus and
concentration, improves mood, and also helps relieve stress. It shows that with three
thirty-minute exercises week can help to improve all of these key details. By having 24hour fitness area it can help the atmosphere of the campus and help improve grades,
mental and physical health of students and faculty on campus (5 Reasons College
Students).
Weekly exercise helps many of the body systems function. It helps to prevent
diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. Physical activity also helps to improve sleep.
It also discusses how walking is an ideal for many people. Especially for students on
campus it does not require any special equipment. But, moderate to vigorous exercise is
ideal to increase your heart rate and break a sweat this is when the endorphins start being
produced and help your mental and physical health. While walking and running is a great
exercise a gym is not always needed. It is not always safe especially in the dark or when

you alone. With a 24-hour gym it would help to get those moderate workouts in and also
provide a safe place to work out (The Benefits of Physical Activity).
On campus there are students of all ages starting at 18 years old to faculty and
community members being 60+ years old. If you were to open the gym to 24-hours a day
it would help the open the opportunity to exercise. Different journals have found that
physical activity can improves ones health status. With regular exercise it help to prevent
or reduce the chance of getting chronic disease such as: cardiovascular disease, diabetes,
cancer, hypertension, obesity, depression and osteoporosis. Also, exercise helps boost the
immune system helping to prevent illnesses. This helps to show with regular exercise it
helps to improve ones overall health. This helps to reduce the amount of colds on
campus (Warburton).
Statistics
Appendix III shows a sample of students who exercised on campus. With a 24hour gym there would be more time for people to work out so there would be even more
people would be using the gym at any given day. This table sets the numbers for the other
two tables. In Appendix I it shows how often each person exercised from 0-2 to 5+ times
a week. Where a majority of the people was in the middle working out 3-4 times per
week. Next it asked what level of intensity their exercise was from light to heavy. It
shows when an individual was able to make it to the gym they made it worth there while
by doing a heavy intensity workout. Then it goes into asking what types of work out they
do such as cross-training, strength-training, competitive sports, etc. Lastly this table asks
how each person feels about their own body from not confident to very confident. In
appendix II it looks over reasons for exercising. The main reasons for exercise is weight
control, stress relief, enjoyment, muscle gain, strength and fitness. The top two were
weight control and stress relief. I feel that if the Rec center were open 24-7 the number of
people visiting the gym would increase.
Weight Gain in College Students
The average college freshman will gain around 10 pounds in their first year at
college. Statistics from the Journal of American College Health show that around 70 %
of all college students have a significant amount of weight gain in the first 2 years of
living on a college campus. Some students may come to school eating a healthy diet and
working out. But, when it comes to campus living, students lack not have mom and dad
there with you making your meals. You have The Rock Caf, which has many different
delicious foods to tempt you away from your fruits, veggies, and proteins you need.
Many students once away like to go out with friends and have fun that often leads to
partying and drinking. Also, with campus being in the heart of Big Rapids it is easy for

students to just walk to local fast food to grab lunch (Dryden).


I know when I started at Ferris State I was eating healthy at home and working
out 3-4 days a week, with my class schedule that reduced that number to almost 0. The
Rock Caf with unlimited everything from mongo to pizza didnt help to eat healthy.
With all of these adding up it leads to weight gain, not normal mood swings, and
increased stress levels. With more hours of operation to the gym it might have been easier
to find time in a busy schedule to work out.
Physical Exercise and Brain Health
When you think of exercise most people automatically think its to get in
better physical shape. But, even briefly exercising for about 20 minutes accelerates
information processing and memory functions within the brain. Physical exercise benefits
several parts of the brain. When your heart rate increases it pumps more oxygen into your
brain. It also helps your body to releases hormones, which helps in aiding and nourishing
the growth of your brain cells.
When looking at what physical exercises will be the best for your brain there are a
few tips that will help. First anything that will increase your heart rate is great for your
brain. Exercising in the morning before going to school or work helps to spike brain
activity and also helps prepare you for the mental stress for the day ahead. Also, by
exercising in the morning it helps your retention of new information and greater reaction
to complex situations (Physical Exercise for Brain Health).
Physical Activity Impact on Quality of Sleep
Sleep plays a dynamic role in everyones health. Getting enough sleep
each night is crucial for you mental and physical health. Sleep helps your brain to work
properly, and also helping your brain to be able to properly work the next day (Why Is
Sleep Important). Studies have shown that with 150 minutes of weekly exercise it will
have a dramatic effect to improve your sleep and make you feel refreshed and alert for
the next day, it has also shown to reduce the drowsy/tired feeling you feel throughout the
day when your have less physical activity. It is shown that regular physical activity may
work as a non-pharmaceutical alternative to improve sleep. Some may say I need to sleep
more it will be better than working-out but, in the long-term health it would be beneficial
to get that daily exercise (Study: Physical Activity Impacts Overall Quality of Sleep).

In a study looking at a small group of individuals diagnosed with sleep insomnia.


They looked to see if physical exercise has a positive effect on the groups sleep. With
three to four 30 minute exercise sessions a week for 16 weeks, they were sleeping better,
waking up less at night and sleeping 45 minutes to an hour longer of a majority of the
nights. This shows that with exercise it helps to improve sleep and with better sleep it
help to energize them for the next day (Reynolds).
Physical Activity and Appetite Control
While we have been looking at the physical, emotional and mental aspects of exercise.
There are also affects that are happening within your body system such as your bodys
appetite control. Physical activity improves your sensitivity of the physiological satiety
signaling system by altering food choices and adjusting your response to food. Also, by
increasing your physical activity levels it impacts your energy levels. It is believed that
physical activity pushes hunger and increase food intake. But, it is also shows that with
the increase in physical activity it decreases the desire for food therefore helping with
weight loss (Blundell).
Conclusion
I feel that you should strongly take this proposal into consideration. I have given
great recommendations on how to make this effective in the safety of the students and in
effectiveness for the students, faculty and community members. There may be a few
things that need to be looked over and gone further into details to see how we could make
this possible such as staffing and payroll. I have gone over many different aspects of how
increases physical actives can benefits ones health such as physical health, mental
health, social awareness and the health of your body system.

Appendix I

Table 1
Responses to Exercise/Body Image Questions by Gender

Question

Female (%) Male (%)

p Value (x2)

How often do you exercise?


I exercise 0-2 times per week
I exercise 3-4 times per week
I exercise 5 or more times per week
At what level of intensity do you exercise?
Light
Moderate
Heavy
What type of exercise do you usually do?
Cross-training
Aerobic
Strength-training
Competitive sports
Combination
Other
How do you feel about your body?
I feel confident with how my body looks
I feel somewhat confident with how my body looks
I dont feel confident with how my body looks

38
45
17

32
37
30

.003

8
41
51

7
22
71

.001

8
40
2
6
42
2

7
11
19
16
47
1

16
61
23

38
51
11

.001

.001


Appendix II
Table 2
Reasons for Exercising by Gender
Stated Reason

Female (%)

Male (%)

p Value (x2)

Weight Loss/ Maintain Weight

56

25

.001

Stress Relief

47

32

.001

Enjoyment

28

46

.001

16

.022

22

30

.051

Gain Muscle/Strength/Fitness
Other

Appendix III
Table 3
Characteristics of the Participants

Characteristics

# Of Participants

Gender
Male
Female
Age (years)
18-21
22-25
26+
Class Standing
Freshman
Sophomore
Junior
Senior
Graduate

% Of Participants
199
264

43
57

281
149
39

60
32
8

98
93
144
127
8

21
20
31
27
2

Appendix IV


Fitness on College Campuses

Ferris State University




What is exercise?

Exercise is an activity requiring physical effort, carried out especially to sustain or
improve health and fitness.

Benefits of exercising:

More energy
Improved self-image
Weight control without dieting
Control over appetite
Higher endurance or stamina - not being winded easily
Better conditioned heart and lungs
Less tension
Greater management of stress
Better ability to fall asleep and stay asleep
Less chance of injury
Toned muscles
Healthier cholesterol level
Quicker healing

Works Cited
5 Reasons College Students Should Make Time For Exercise. (2012, September).
Retrieved November 9, 2014, from http://www.aiuniv.edu/blog/september2012/5-reasons-college-students-should-make-time-for-exercise
Blundell, J., Stubbs, R., Hughes, D., Whybrow, S., & King, N. (n.d.). Cross talk between
physical activity and appetite control: Does physical activity stimulate appetite?
Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 651-661. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
Dryden, J. (n.d.). Study finds most students gain weight during early college years |
Newsroom | Washington University in St. Louis. Retrieved November 17, 2014,
from http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/5690.aspx
Ferris State University. (n.d.). Retrieved November 14, 2014, from
http://www.ferris.edu/htmls/ferris.htm
Physical Exercise for Brain Health. (n.d.). Retrieved November 18, 2014, from
http://www.brainhq.com/brain-resources/everyday-brain-fitness/physical-exercise
Racette, S., Deusinger, S., Strube, M., Highstein, G., & Deusinger, R. (n.d.). Weight
Changes, Exercise, and Dietary Patterns During Freshman and Sophomore Years
of College. Journal of American College Health, 53(6), 245-251.
Reynolds, G. (2013, August). How Exercise Can Help Us Sleep Better. Retrieved
November 18, 2014, from http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/21/howexercise-can-help-us-sleep-better/?_r=0
Silliman, K., Rodas-Fortier, K., Neyman, M. (n.d.). A survey of dietary and exercise
habits and perceived barriers to following a healthy lifestyle in a college
population. Californian Journal of Health Promotion 2004, 2(2), 10-19. Retrieved
from
http://www.hawaii.edu/hivandaids/Survey_of_Diet_and_Exercise_Habits_in_a_C
ollege_Population.pdf
Study: Physical Activity Impacts Overall Quality of Sleep. (n.d.). Retrieved November
18, 2014, from http://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-news/study-physical-activityimpacts-overall-quality-sleep
The Benefits of Physical Activity. (n.d.). Retrieved November 9, 2014, from
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/staying-active-full-story/
Warburton, D., Nicol, C, W., Bredin, S. (2006, March). Health benefits of physical
activity: the evidence. CMAJ (174). doi: 10.1503/cmaj.051351

Why Is Sleep Important? (2012, February). Retrieved November 18, 2014, from
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/sdd/why.html

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