Effects of a Personalized Fitness Program Provided by Undergraduate Exercise Science Students on Attitudes Toward Exercise, Mental Health, and Quality of Life.

Personalized fitness training is designed to improve physical health and fitness, but may also promote mental health and well-being. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there are positive psychological outcomes for clients participating in a community-based personalized fitness program led by undergraduate Exercise Science students. A total of 44 participants completed a battery of psychological scales both before and after participation in a 12-week university-sponsored personalized fitness training program. Psychological measures included the Exercise Attitudes Scale, Self-Efficacy Scale for Exercise, Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale, Health Status Questionnaire, and Visual Analog Scale for quality of life. In addition to expected gains in various biometric indicators of physical fitness, we observed significant improvements in clients' attitudes toward exercise, mental well-being, perceived health, and quality of life. Effect sizes were generally in the small to medium range (0.19 to 0.58) across 15 psychological measures. Results provide convincing evidence of the mental health benefits associated with participation in personalized fitness training. Our university-sponsored fitness training program can serve as a model program for both engaging undergraduate students in authentic fitness training experiences and promoting community health and wellness.