Terry Alan Wilver Jr. 2405 Plaza Dr. State College PA, 16801 (570)412-9670 March 11 th , 2013 Mike Bergey Manager Gold’s Gym 131 Silvermoon Ln Lewisburg, PA 17837 Dear Mr.Bergey, I am excited to present this program proposal to you. The proposal will lay out a step by step program to help lower income families use gym facilities. Also to encourage less motivated individuals to exercise more often. As you are well aware, exercise plays a key role in our health throughout our lives. Our country has the largest population of obese and sedentary people in the world, causing nearly 300,000 deaths per year. Less than 20% of the population gets the daily recommended amount of exercise. This program will work side by side with professionals in the field, as well as with students entering the field looking to gain knowledge and experience. These professionals will include staff trained in nutrition, exercise psychology, strength, and conditioning.
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Terry Alan Wilver Jr.
2405 Plaza Dr.
State College PA, 16801
(570)412-9670
March 11th, 2013
Mike Bergey
Manager
Gold’s Gym
131 Silvermoon Ln
Lewisburg, PA 17837
Dear Mr.Bergey,
I am excited to present this program proposal to you. The proposal will lay out a step by step program to help lower income families use gym facilities. Also to encourage less motivated individuals to exercise more often. As you are well aware, exercise plays a key role in our health throughout our lives. Our country has the largest population of obese and sedentary people in the world, causing nearly 300,000 deaths per year. Less than 20% of the population gets the daily recommended amount of exercise.
This program will work side by side with professionals in the field, as well as with students entering the field looking to gain knowledge and experience. These professionals will include staff trained in nutrition, exercise psychology, strength, and conditioning.
By implementing this program at your gym it would most defiantly catch on in other Gold’s Gyms and fitness centers alike. As a member of this community, I would want our citizens to be able to learn, and apply the exercise techniques learned through this program to help them make better life choices about their health.
Thank you for your consideration, if you have any question please feel free to contact me through the information provided above.
According to recent surveys conducted by the Center for Disease Control and Harvard Medical school only 20% of the United States current population gets the recommended daily amount of exercise (1). Current Guidelines include 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise like walking and light swimming, or 75 minutes of intense exercise such as running or cross training, along with 2 days of muscle training sessions per week (4).
This explosion of laziness accounts for a lot of variables. Lack of knowledge, motivation, funds, and the most common excuse is time. Today people in America people are no longer dying from sickness that years ago would have killed the average man. Today people in America are dying from diet and exercise preventable diseases like heart disease. Nearly 300,000 people per year die of a preventable disease related to health and fitness (1).
Project Discount is a three month program aimed at educating people on what exercise really is, how to perform crucial exercise techniques, and how to continue an exercise regimen for life. Clients who enroll in the program will be between the ages of 30-50. These clients will be presented with educational materials on basic health and fitness skills. Clients will be asked to attend educational sessions weekly.
During Project Discount the client’s initial fitness level will be recorded, as well as timed intervals throughout the program to evaluate the progress. Not only will physical elements be recorded, mental processes will be recorded as well. A sport psychologist will evaluate each of the clients pre, mid, and post program. In the middle of the program there will be a program evaluation as well, to determine any changes that may be required to ensure a quality program.
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Goal:
To educate a group of 30 people between the ages of 30-50 on the basic elements associated with diet and exercise. Upon successful completion of the program clients will be eligible for a discount or free gym membership.
The start of the New Year presents great opportunity for most people. New Year’s resolutions about weight and fitness are always present. This is the time of the year where everyone sets goals to lose weight and look like the models on the front of men’s and women’s health magazines. There is no greater feeling than to go to the gym and feel accomplished and young once more. However with all this excitement about being fit again, comes failure upon failure. The Center for Disease control also published a survey and found that almost 80% of the people who set a New Year’s resolution end up quitting and stop going to the gym by spring (1). Among the questions in the CDC survey, participants were asked why they stopped attending the gym, lack of time, motivation, and knowledge were all frequent responses to the survey (1).
There is a lot of information about exercise, health and fitness that is readily available to the public. This amount of information is great for people who are looking to get into improving their quality of life. However so much information can be hard to interpret if a person has little to no exercise experience. Learning how to interpret this information has been lost in translation due to lack of funds and teachers.
In order to address the problem it is necessary to examine the cause to see what has driven us to be so unhealthy. As discussed before, time, motivation, knowledge, and money are all factors in what cause people to make unhealthy life choices.
Let’s address time, the most common excuse people use to not exercise. Although most people have very busy days, it only takes around 20 minutes of moderate exercise per day to reduce your risk of many health related disease. Lack of funds is also a problem; a single person can spend over $1000 per year on a gym membership that they most likely won’t use (5). There are many things people can do on their own without the aid of the gym, however as reported in the CDC survey one of the top reasons people stop exercising is lack of knowledge.
There are many current efforts that are attempting to encourage people to exercise. An advertisement on television for exercise DVD’s is trying to get you to exercise, but the company is also just trying to fill their pockets. Organizations like the World Health Organization, Center for Disease Control and the gym down the street are all interested in a healthier America. Research also aims to help find new ways to exercise and what steps to take to improve overall health.
Project Discount is a program aimed to teach a new style of physical education to 30-50 year old men and women. By presenting these individuals with new information and step by step exercise programs, Project Discount will give them the tools to live a better, healthier, quality of life. This initiative will not only get the clients involved, but many of the clients will have children, and the program will have a trickledown effect. The children of the clients will learn a healthier lifestyle and what exercise has done for their parents, and get involved. While virtually impossible to eliminate obese and sedentary people, if we can reduce these amounts by any measure this program will had been a success.
Need Statement:
In today’s world we are no longer facing the epidemic of polio, malaria, or even the common cold. Today we are facing a much more grappling problem. Chances are you know of someone that is obese, overweight, or sedentary. Sedentary is a life style defined by little to no activity or exercise (3). Obesity is a condition where your excess weight, usually fat, is causing adverse health effects (3). About 34% of the population is considered to be obese when measured with BMI, body mass index (2). BMI is a calculated number ratio of a person’s height and weight that gives a range of fitness, and risk for disease. Most disease can be linked to being overweight and unfit. Nearly 300,000 deaths were related to obesity in 2011 (2).
Being a health and exercise leader you and I share common interests. As a leader you have already seen the effects of obesity first hand. We know what things can result from the lack of knowledge, exercise and diet. The more I age the more it seems people around me, loved ones and friends, are being diagnosed with heart disease and diabetes, otherwise preventable diseases. We are both interested in finding new methods and techniques to reduce the waste lines of the American population.
America has an ever growing problem, and an every growing waste line. The problem of obesity is huge. However we know what causes obesity and how to fix and reverse many of the side effects associated with it. Obesity is not the main problem, keeping people exercising and on the right track is the problem. Many programs exist at solving this problem. The average gym membership costs around $65 per month, or $780 per year. Most people cannot afford this bill on top of their mortgage payments, student loans, and car insurance. It’s just one more thing people cannot afford.
As a community member of Lewisburg Pennsylvania, I know that many of our community members simply cannot afford this gym fee. The average yearly income for Northumberland County is $29,342, not very high (8). Our community is mostly all middle class to low income families. On a global scale the gym memberships can range from free to almost $200 per month depending on your location. Money is not the only issue, as said before; motivational factors are huge as well. My program will be similar to other programs in the physical aspect of things. However having a trained sport psychologist on staff will have great effect on our success. The exercise psychologist will be able to identify mental barriers that a strictly physical program would not be able to accomplish.
Many consequences are to come, if we continue to live larger, and exercise less. It is predicted that by 2030, 86% of all Americans will be obese or overweight including children (2). This includes the adults and children in our community. If these predictions are correct $860 billion to $956 billion dollars will be spent annually to treat obesity-related illness (2). The United States spent only $86 billion in 2006. $344 billion dollars are projected to be spent in 2018 on obesity-related health care costs, 21% of the total health care spending for the year (2). Along with health care spending more and more people will die because of obesity. Right now 300,000 people die annually because of obesity related illness. This number is projected to rise.
We as a nation are trying to address the problem by creating organizations like myplate.gov which is an online diet tracking website that gives basic information on nutrition. Also, just the local gym is an attempt to help reduce the problem. Many programs fail to include a psychological stand point on health and fitness. For this reason many people drop out of existing programs and still fail to meet daily exercise requirements.
My program will address basic aspects of exercise, nutrition, and psychology. People have a general sense of exercise and diet but still fail to perform them. My program will go into more detail, by creating a custom plan, about what is right for certain individuals when exercising and dieting. My program will narrow its focus to a group of 30 people, from ages 30 to 50. My program will not only address the fundamentals of exercise, diet, and how to use them in the field, but also psychological aspects as well, a key element other program forget about.
In summary, the main goal of Project Discount is to design and facilitate a gym program that will improve overall health in a group of 30 people. It will combine the most successful characteristics of other programs in order to make the most beneficial program possible. This program is designed to teach participants about basic exercise, nutrition, exercise techniques, nutrition guidelines, and psychological skills. Plus, this program focuses strictly on being able to teach clients lifelong techniques that they will be able to use outside the setting of a gym to improve their health. Project Discount will provide clients with the tools for a healthy way at approaching their health, with incentives in a reduced gym membership.
During this step of the implementation, participants will meet with the Sports
Psychologist to develop their own PST. The PST will consist of materials learned through the
pre-program evaluation and target the trouble areas of that person, whether it is anxiety,
depression, or over arousal.
Step 4&5: Mid/Post Program Fitness and Psychological Evaluation March-April 2015
These steps will be similar as the protocol called for in step 1. Psychological evaluation
will remain the same by questionnaires, peer review, anxiety, and depression tests. However, the
fitness evaluation will be having some minor changes. The fitness evaluation will now include
technique, participants will be asked to perform certain exercises with accurate form.
Phase V: Program Evaluation May 2015
During this time the whole program will be evaluated to check its effectiveness. One
week after the program has been complete each of the 30 participant’s information will be
compiled and reviewed. This information will include the participants pre, mid, and post fitness
and psychological evaluations. Along with this compilation of material, interviews will be
conducted asking the participants a series of questions about their future life choices in terms of
health and fitness. Upon completion of the program participants will be rewarded with a
discounted gym membership of 25%.
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Goal: Design Psychological Skills Training Program that will identify mental barriers of the participants, and regulate a plan for them to overcome them.
Goal: To have participant perform exercises with proper technique, as well as a fitness and psychological evaluation to determine progress.
(1) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16 Oct. 2012. Web. 4 Mar. 2013.
(2) "ACTIVE Life." The Crisis. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2013.(3) Howley, Edward T., and Dixie L. Thompson. Fitness Professional's Handbook. Champaign, IL:
Human Kinetics, 2012. Print.(4) "Harvard School of Public Health » The Obesity Prevention Source » Economic Costs." The
Obesity Prevention Source. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2013.(5) Ungar, Rick. "Obesity Now Costs Americans More In HealthCare Spending Than Smoking."
Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 30 Apr. 2012. Web. 08 Mar. 2013.(6) "2013 New Year's Resolution:Get in Better shape!" Harvard Health Blog RSS. N.p., n.d. Web.
08 Mar. 2013.(7) Weinberg, Robert S., and Daniel Gould. Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology. Leeds:
Human Kinetics, 2011. Print.(8) "Northumberland County, Pennsylvania (PA)." Northumberland County, Pennsylvania
Phase I: Develop Program Curriculum November-December 2014
- 2 months of preparation creating the program
Phase II: Recruitment November-December 2014
- During these 2 months the program will recruit lower income families into the program
Phase III: Information Session January 2015
- In the first week of January the group of 30 participants will meet where they will be presented with the curriculum
Phase IV: Implementing the Program/Curriculum February-April 2015
- From the beginning of February to the end of April the program will be in full swing, individuals will be coached on mental, physical, and nutritional aspects of their health.
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Phase V: Program Evaluation May 2015
- 1 month after the program has ended, the information will be compiled and reviewed to determine the effectiveness of the program
My name is Terry Alan Wilver Jr. and I am 21 years of age. I am currently enrolled at the Pennsylvania State University where I am majoring in kinesiology with focus on fitness. I am a junior and will be graduating in the spring of 2014. Being a kinesiology major I am very interested in all things health, fitness, anatomy, and physiology. Obese and sedentary people are right up my area of focus. Having knowledge of this epidemic and being able to understand from a different view point I see it for what it really is. I was born and raised in a small ranch style house outside of Lewisburg in Milton. I know what it is like to live in the area, and know the people and kind of people that reside here.
My goal as a kinesiology undergraduate student is to find more effective ways for obese and sedentary people to become active and thus healthier. Other goals include graduating with a 3.0 GPA or higher, and obtaining a career in health and fitness related fields. I have accomplished many things thus fair. Being accepted into the best kinesiology program in the country is one of my top accomplishments, followed by graduating from high school, I also maintain a 3.0 GPA. I have sport accomplishments as well. In the 10Th grade I achieved local ranking for weight lifting, the 800lb club, followed by the 1000lb club and the 1200lb club until my senior year.
Milton Area Senior High School – Milton, PA 2006-2010The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pa Current-2014Overall GPA: 3.06Major: Kinesiology-Fitness Studies
WORK EXPERIENCE
Pro-Tech Home and Business – Milton, PA 2006-PresentSubway Restaurants – State College, PA 2012-Present
HIGH SCHOOL
Sports:Track & Field - Shot-put, Discuss 2008-2010Powerlifting - 800 lb. club as Sophomore 2006-CurrentMale Cheerleading 2009-2010
Activities: Flag Football Powerlifting Music (Guitar/Drums) Fishing, Hunting, Outdoors 4-wheeling, Dirt Biking
Coordinated group warm ups, practices, and meets.Link Leader
A program designed to help incoming high school freshman be more comfortable with the transition.
Mentored my assigned group of freshman for 2 years 2008-2010 Coordinated seminar groups and freshman orientation
Volunteer Work: Haunted trails Halloween event with ROTC, Red Cross, and Salvation Army Oct. 2006 Coordinated events for church bible school Summers 2004-2007
SKILLS
Computer: Proficient in all Microsoft related programs Solidworks Adobe Flash Animation professional Adobe Premiere Adobe After Effects Sony Vegas Basic Programing
Building: Engineered cardboard robots to complete tasks and obstacles 2007-2010 Crafted my own circuit board that powered a censor driven robot Automotive assembly and rebuilding CSIU governors program
Language: 2 years of high school Spanish 2008-2010