Abstract
It is important to identify motivators and barriers to exercise to help support physical activity in order to combat the rising obesity rates and chronic diseases associated with inactivity. The workplace is one setting with limited research on its affect on exercise participation. The certified athletic trainer (ATC) works in a unique professional setting with the potential to support exercise behavior. The profession and work area were evaluated to determine specific exercise trends, motivations and barriers that could be applied to other professional settings. The individuals that served as subjects in this study identified themselves as either working in the traditional (TS), non-traditional (NTS) or traditional/non-traditional (TS/NTS) setting of athletic training. These three groups were compared to identify any significant differences between them in regards to specific exercise habits, motivations and barriers. Plotnikoff (2005) described a social-ecological framework with respect to numerous factors that affect an individual’s decision to exercise; such as: intrapersonal, interpersonal, organizational, and the physical environment. A non-validated survey was created using the social-ecological framework to identify multiple factors related to exercise participation of the ATC. Data gathered from this survey were used to determine differences between the TS and NTS ATC. The two groups were compared in regards to their hours worked per week, days spent exercising, partner exercise, physical and social work environment motivators, and barriers to exercise. Differences between the two groups were found in regards to three specific physical work environment motivators and three specific barriers to exercise. This allowed the researcher to conclude that the two groups were similar in most aspects of their exercise habits, however, had specific differences in regards to motivators of the physical work environment and exercise barriers. The results of the survey allowed the researcher to conclude that social and physical work environment motivators both affected exercise participation of the TS and NTS ATC, but that the social work environment played a stronger role in exercise participation.