A study surveyed Rutgers students about stress levels and exercise habits. 85% reported daily stress primarily from academics. Only 40% exercised weekly. Two surveys found 64% did not exercise due to lack of time, but 77% would find 15 minutes daily. The study aimed to create high-intensity interval training videos under 15 minutes to help stressed students incorporate exercise. However, video creation was not completed due to time constraints. Further research is needed to understand how short high-intensity exercise can specifically benefit stressed students.

1. The Effect of Exercise On Students’ Stress Levels:
Health Outreach, Promotion and Education
Vanessa Otto
Mark Cruz, Supervisor
Purpose
Significance
Methodology
Outcomes Evaluation
Acknowledgements
Limitations
 To investigate the variables and factors
affecting stress levels among college
students
 To implement an exercise routine that
is concurrent with the Americar Heart
Association (AHA) or the American
College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)
guidelines
 85% of college students report
experiencing stress daily.
 Academic concerns are largely the
main contributors of stress.
 Only 40% of college students
participate in any exercise on a weekly
basis.
 The benefits from exercise can help
with academic-related stressors, such
as:
 Mood enhancement
 Improvement in focus,
concentration, and memory
Two surveys were distributed to Rutgers
students on the Cook/ Douglass,
Livingston, College Ave, Busch, and
Downtown New Brunswick campuses. A
qualitative approach was used to analyze
the data
First survey
18 questions
Multiple-choice and select-all questions
95 respondents
Second survey
3 questions
Multiple-choice questions
91 respondents
Do you
exercise?
Would you say the reason you exercise
is to expend stress?
Yes 79% 26%
No 21% 74%
Would you have
time to exercise:
…60 minutes a
day?
… 30 minutes a
day? …15 minutes a day?
Yes 43 77 88
No 35 6 1
I don't know 13 8 2
Total Responses 91 91 91
Yes
78%
No
22%
Do you find yourself feeling anxious, tense, or
worrisome at any point during the day?
48%
7%
8%6%
1%
16%
13%
1%
School of Arts and Sciences
Rutgers Business School
School of Environmental and
Biological Sciences
Edward J. Bloustein School of
Planning and Public Policy
School of Nursing
Mason Gross School of the Arts
School of Engineering
Other
Highlights from first survey
64% of respondents(the ones that do not go to
the gym or exercise) do not participate because
they do not have enough time
77% of respondents experience academic
pressure daily.
83% of respondents participate in an activity
that helps them cope with stress.
81% of respondents find that behavior
beneficial to reducing their stress.
It is possible for these students to meet a
healthier criteria, by doing High Intensity
Interval Training (HIIT)
From these results:
a variation of exercise routines will be
created according to exercise level
(beginner, intermediate, or advanced)
 three short videos will be filmed in the
future to demonstrate these routines by
active Rutgers students.
The link to the HIIT video idea can be found
here:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/11hfNd4PPXrKOVBhN2wNLZQuU_v9uUxGJj1O2JsVzDHs/edit?usp=sharing
Due to time constraints, the video was not able to
be made or implemented.
Further experimentation(including follow-ups of
the students doing HIIT) needs to be done in
order to understand the specific ways stressed
students can benefit from HIIT.
The participants of the survey did not fully
represent the Rutgers population due to
limitations in the research method.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IHzJ5h4TvZlQJRBW4-r1YbcTxF9ULF2mv6c48wJ1dcY/edit?usp=sharing
I would like to share a most heart-felt thank
you Mark Cruz, Anne Marie Hill, Tamara
Swedberg, and Brenda Malchuk, for all of their
support, motivation, patience, and
encouragement.