Sports carry the dream of national prosperity and national rejuvenation. If sports are strong, China will be strong, and if national sports are prosperous, sports will be prosperous. It is necessary to put the development of sports work on an important agenda, plan carefully, pay close attention to implementation, constantly create new prospects for the development of sports in our country, and accelerate the construction of our country into a strong sports country. In September 2022, the Ministry of Education held a press conference on the results of the eighth national student physical fitness and health survey. The meeting pointed out that the problem of declining physical fitness of college students has still not been effectively curbed. College students carry the dream of national prosperity and national rejuvenation, and their physical health is closely related to national development.
College students often tend to neglect their physical health amid academic pressure and busy lives. However, running is a simple and effective aerobic exercise that has many benefits for improving the physical health of college students. It can improve cardiopulmonary function, enhance muscle strength, promote metabolism, and help maintain a healthy weight and body composition. Regular running can help reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. In order to improve the physical health status of college students, enhance the physical health level of college students, and actively respond to the call for building a sports power, we have launched morning running activities according to local conditions, using the national student physical health test results and the national student physical health standards as the basis for measurement, and actively exploring ways and methods to improve the physical health level of university students.
Taking a university in Guangxi as an example, after a semester of morning running activities, the national student physical fitness test instrument collected data on students' height, weight, vital capacity, 50-meter run, standing long jump, pull-ups (male), sit-ups (female), 1000-meter run (male), 800-meter run (female) and total scores. We observed the average, maximum and minimum values of each test. The data showed that morning running has a better effect on improving students' physical fitness.
1. The number of obese and overweight college students has decreased, while the number of lean body mass among girls has increased.
The body shape of boys and girls is an important indicator of physical health. This section selects weight data for comparison.
1. Boys’ weight changes
After the running intervention, the weight distribution of boys in 2022 is significantly better than that in 2021. Specifically, the proportions of underweight, overweight and obese people dropped from 8.2%, 17.3% and 9.7% to 7.7%, 16.3% and 9.2% respectively, and the proportion of normal weight increased from 64.8% to 66.8%. The effect of running intervention is obvious. However, both the maximum and minimum values decreased, which may be due to the reduction in fat content by running. The increase in average weight may be due to the decrease in the number of underweight people and the increase in the number of normal weight people.
2. Girls’ weight changes
After the running intervention, the weight data of girls in 2022 is significantly different from that of boys. Specifically, the proportions of underweight and normal weight dropped from 7.6% and 82.5% to 9.5% and 81.5% respectively. The possible reason for this phenomenon is that girls lack scientific pursuit of weight and blindly pursue "thinness". During teaching, it is found that some students with normal weight or even underweight also want to be "thinner". This concept needs to change. In addition, the proportion of overweight and obese people dropped from 7.3 and 2.7 to 6.4 and 2.6, indicating that running intervention also has obvious effects on girls. The change in average weight may be due to the increase in the number of underweight and the decrease in the number of overweight and obesity. The increase in the maximum value may be due to the fact that overweight girls do not pay enough attention to physical exercise and need more guidance.
In summary, the intervention effect of running on college boys and girls is relatively obvious, and the proportion of obese and overweight people shows a downward trend. The difference is that the indicators of low weight and normal weight for girls have also decreased after the intervention. This may be related to girls' blind pursuit of "thinness" and needs scientific guidance. In addition, more attention should be paid to the exercise of overweight girls.
2. The vital capacity index of college students has improved significantly
Vital capacity is an important indicator that reflects the physical function of college students. This study also conducted a comparative analysis before and after the intervention.
1. Changes in vital capacity of boys
After running intervention, compared with the data of male students in 2021, the vital capacity data of college boys in 2022 have improved significantly. The specific manifestations are that the failure rate dropped from 11.2% to 10.2%, and the good rate and excellent rate increased from 12.8% and 4.1% to 17.9% and 7.7% respectively. At the same time, the average score increased from 3743ml to 3857ml. The effect of running intervention is obvious.
2. Changes in lung capacity of girls
After running intervention, the vital capacity data of college girls in 2022 is also better than that of girls in 2021. The specific performance is that the failure rate dropped from 6.3% to 2.7%, and the good rate and excellent rate increased from 74.8% and 5.3% to 77.8% and 8.7% respectively. At the same time, the average, maximum, and minimum vital capacity scores of college girls in 2022 will increase from 3743ml, 3964ml, and 611ml to 3857ml, 4147ml, and 679ml respectively. The effect of running intervention is obvious.
3. College students’ 50-meter running scores have improved overall
The 50-meter run is an important indicator of physical fitness in the physical fitness test, and this study also included it in the comparative analysis.
1. Changes in boys’ 50-meter run
After running intervention, the 50-meter running data of college boys in 2022 is better than that of boys in 2021. The specific performance is that the failure rate dropped from 1.5% to 1%, and the good rate and excellent rate increased from 8.7% and 5.1% to 10.2% and 8.2% respectively. At the same time, the average score of college boys in 2022 has also improved significantly, from 7.71s to 7.57s. The running intervention effect is obvious.
2. Changes in girls’ 50-meter run
After the running intervention, the 50-meter running data of college girls in 2022 was better than that of girls in 2021. The specific performance was that the failure rate dropped from 6.3% to 2.6%, and the effect was very significant. The good rate and excellent rate increased from 2.2% and 1% to 2.5% and 2% respectively. At the same time, the average score of college girls in 2022 has also improved significantly, from 9.52s to 9.37s. The running intervention effect is obvious.
4. The standing long jump performance of college boys has been improved, while the performance of girls has not changed significantly.
Standing long jump, as an important indicator of physical fitness in the national student physical fitness test, especially the explosive power of the lower limbs, is also the object of analysis in this study.
1. Changes in boys’ standing long jump results
After running intervention, the standing long jump data of college boys in 2022 is better than that of boys in 2021. The specific performance is that the failure rate dropped from 20.4% to 16.3%, which is a significant effect. The pass rate, good rate and excellent rate increased from 66.8%, 10.2% and 2.6% to 67.3%, 12.8% and 3.6% respectively. At the same time, the average scores, maximum and minimum scores of college boys in 2022 have also improved significantly, from 223.74cm, 277cm and 122cm to 224.95cm, 283cm and 131cm respectively. The running intervention effect is obvious.
2. Changes in girls’ standing long jump results
After the running intervention, the standing long jump data of college girls in 2022 is slightly better than the data in 2021. The specific performance is that the failure rate dropped from 7.8% to 7.7%, and the passing rate increased from 62.5% to 64.2%. However, the good rate and excellent rate dropped slightly, from 20.9% and 8.8% to 20.1% and 8% respectively. The effect of running intervention is weak. The reason may be that girls have a weak foundation of explosive power in their lower limbs, so jogging intervention has poor results in a short period of time.
5. Changes in male pull-ups and female sit-ups among college students
1. Boys have an overall advantage in pull-ups
After the running intervention, the pull-up data for college boys in 2022 was significantly better than the data for boys in 2021. The specific performance was that the failure rate dropped from 43.4% to 19.2%, and the effect was significant. The good rate and excellent rate increased from 6.1% and 15.3% to 9.2% and 29.1% respectively. At the same time, the average score and maximum score of college boys have increased significantly in 2022, from 10.02 and 25 to 12.73 and 28 respectively. The running intervention effect is obvious. The reason may be that running reduces body weight while improving waist and abdominal strength, which improves pull-up performance.
2. Girls’ sit-up scores improved significantly
After the running intervention, the distribution of sit-up data for college girls in 2022 was significantly better than the data in 2021. The specific performance was that the failure rate dropped from 30.7% to 23.1%, which was a significant effect. The pass rate and good rate increased from 68.2% and 0.8% to 74.6% and 2.2% respectively. However, the excellent rate dropped slightly, from 0.3% to 0.1%. At the same time, the average scores of college girls have improved in 2022, from 28.06 to 29.62 respectively. The running intervention effect is obvious. The reason may be that running reduces body weight while improving waist and abdominal strength, which improves sit-up performance.
6. College girls have made more obvious progress in 800 meters than boys in 1,000 meters.
1. The passing rate and good rate of boys in 1000 meters dropped, but the excellent rate improved significantly
After the running intervention, the distribution of 1000-meter data for college boys in 2022 has changed significantly from the data in 2021. The specific manifestation is that the failure rate has increased slightly, from 16.3% to 16.8%, and the pass rate and good rate have dropped from 71.9% and 9.2% to 67.3% and 9.7% respectively. However, the excellent rate has increased significantly, from 2.6% to 6.1%, an increase of 1.7 times. At the same time, the average score of college boys has improved in 2022, from 252.7s to 250.9s respectively. The intervention effect of running is very obvious for students in the excellent range, but the intervention effect is not good for students who are good and below. The reason may be that the 1000-meter run, as a relatively intensive event in the national student physical fitness test, mainly provides energy through glycolysis, and it is difficult for students with poor foundation to improve their jogging practice. For students with good basic skills, they can complete running tasks with high quality during practice, so the improvement effect is obvious.
2. The girls’ 800-meter time was better than last year in all aspects.
After running intervention, the distribution of college girls' 800-meter data in 2022 is better than that in 2021. The specific performance is that the failure rate has dropped significantly, from 8.3% to 5%, and the good rate and excellent rate have dropped from 14% and 5.4% to 20.7% and 6% respectively. The improvement effect is obvious. At the same time, the 800-meter performance of college girls has improved in 2022, from 242s to 238s respectively. The running intervention effect is significant.
After analyzing the data of the past two years on items such as weight, vital capacity, 50-meter run, standing long jump, sit-ups (female), pull-ups (male), 800 meters (female), and 1000 meters (male) included in the national student physical health standards one by one , we can see that running has a relatively obvious effect on the performance of college men and women. Except for the 1000-meter (men) event, the failure rate of each event has been reduced to varying degrees, and the good rate and excellent rate have also been improved to varying degrees. Running significantly improves the physical condition of male and female college students. The overall improvement effect of girls is better than that of boys. The most significant improvement in pass rate was in boys’ pull-ups, which dropped by 24.2%, followed by girls’ sit-ups, which dropped by 7.6%. This all shows the positive effect of running intervention. However, for the passing rate of boys' 1000-meter running event, the effect is not significant. The reason may be that boys with poor running foundation are difficult to maintain a certain intensity of exercise during extracurricular running, which results in insufficient special stimulation intensity for the 1000-meter running and cannot effectively develop the quality of the 1000-meter running. The 1.7-fold increase in the excellent rate also reflects this.
Research on the maximum and minimum values of each item shows that students with physical difficulties need to pay special attention. For example, in the weight test of girls, the maximum weight increased by 3.8kg. In addition, according to the weight data of college girls, while the proportion of overweight and obese people is declining, the number of underweight people is increasing, which is related to the concept of excessive "thinness" among girls and requires scientific guidance.
Therefore, in order to ensure the effectiveness of running for 1000-meter running exercise, we should improve the speed standards for boys' running; bad aesthetic concepts such as "thinness is beauty" and "excessive pursuit of thinness" among the student group should be corrected in time, and college students should be guided to establish scientific aesthetics and focus on improving the physical health of students with physical difficulties. Teachers can designate "pairing" students to help "run on behalf of others" and other cheating phenomena often occur. Supervision and punishment of the running process should be strengthened, and certain rewards should be set to strengthen motivation for exercise.
In addition to its positive effect on improving the physical health of college students, running also greatly helps in the following aspects: (1) Mental health. College students often face academic stress, social challenges, and mood swings. Running has been proven to be an effective psychological stress reliever. Exercise can promote the release of neurotransmitters such as endorphins and dopamine in the body, which can help improve mood, reduce anxiety and depression, and enhance self-esteem and self-confidence; (2) Attention and academic performance. Regular exercise can improve concentration, memory and learning abilities. Running increases blood circulation to the brain, providing more oxygen and nutrients, which helps improve cognitive function and perform better in class and academic tasks. (3) Social interaction. Running for college students also provides them with the opportunity to socialize with their peers. By joining a running club or participating in running activities inside and outside the school, you can meet like-minded friends, expand your social circle, and pursue a healthy lifestyle together. (4) Time management ability. College students often juggle academic, social, and other activities, so effective time management is crucial. Running can help college students develop regular exercise habits and develop time management and self-discipline abilities.
In short, running is not only a physical exercise for college students, but also an important activity that comprehensively promotes health, enhances psychological quality, improves academic performance and social opportunities. Whether in busy academic life or when dealing with stress, running can be a useful supplement to the overall development of college students. However, individual differences exist, so seek the advice of your doctor or professional trainer before starting a new exercise program.
