Peer pressuring fitness

Start a conversation comparing Princeton with other universities, particularly state schools, and quickly someone will mention general attractiveness and athleticism. It’s true: with exception to varsity athletes, we’re generally pretty unfit. For my freshman, sophomore and junior years, I would sporadically go to the gym, while steadily eating unhealthily and putting on the pounds. I thought I’d be healthier if only I was forced, if only Princeton had a physical education requirement like MIT. This summer, when I started regularly going to the gym with a friend, I realized that being surrounded by positive examples was more effective than any University regulation could be.

Other schools, such as MIT, attempt to ensure fitness by requiring undergraduates to fulfill physical education as part of general distribution requirements for graduation. We ought, instead, to create a culture of enjoying the process of becoming fitter, and the only way to do that is participate in and talk about sports and fitness in that manner. Fitness is not about the goal, it is all about the process.

The question we face is whether adjusting culture or imposing regulation is more effective in modifying student behaviors in a healthier direction. College classes ought to be focused on teaching us what we do not already know, and it’s difficult to argue that students are unaware of the possibilities for improving their fitness, unlike other general graduation requirements. Princeton students generally start college with some experience with sports, and therefore are somewhat aware of the importance of engaging in physical activity. There’s no such thing as a college-level PE class, and so a PE class in college would be a mere repetition of high school PE.

Besides, physical education by itself is a rather weak way of ensuring good health. Moderately exercising for an hour a week does not compensate for a week of a bad diet. Only a large amount of frequent, heavy exercise can do that. It takes half an hour of running to burn the calories of one extra donut. The kind of individual who would benefit most from a physical education requirement is probably also the kind of individual who would be least likely to modify the rest of their lifestyle to promote good health.

Instead, universities should focus on the art of challenging oneself as a means of making people interested in being healthy. In the 1977 film “Pumping Iron,” a young Arnold Schwarzenegger describes the feeling of “the pump,” the feeling when one has pushed oneself so hard that one’s muscles feel like they will explode. Arnie compares that feeling of pushing oneself to one’s absolute limits to sex. It’s a clip well worth watching on YouTube, if only for Arnie’s hilariously inappropriate enthusiasm. Arnie pushed himself, day after day.

We need to be surrounded by people who are constantly doing the same in order to stay motivated, if we are to challenge ourselves like Arnie. In high school, I ran cross country. When I came to college, running instantly stopped. Why? Because in college I thought a “runner’s high” without a team would be enough to keep me motivated. It wasn’t. Cross country meant having people to run with, whose examples I could see and follow. Runners often run races in packs, because it’s much easier to follow the crowd than to go it alone. Being healthy is the result of caring, of constantly trying and of working hard. It, like many other things, is dependent not on regulation, but on culture. From personal experience, getting into a habit of going to the gym with a friend is a whole lot more effective than being told to go. Whether it’s fitness, academia or alcohol, the subtle influence of student opinion is far more influential than University regulation. A physical fitness requirement would not help college students be healthier.

In essence, Princetonians need to abuse the bandwagon effect to promote fitness. Take Zumba, the dance fitness program, as an example: because it’s fun, people are talking about Zumba-ing, encouraging others to try it out. When people joke about “the pump”, they highlight gym-going as being more than a chore. Advertisers always coo about “positive buzz” and “word of mouth” advertising. When friends talk about the Wallyball IM sports game the night before, or how good it felt to run just a little bit farther this morning or the box scores in this paper’s sports section, that makes people more inclined to exercise themselves. Physical education classes cannot create a culture - only friends can.

Christopher Troein is an economics major from Windsor, England. He can be reached at ctroein@princeton.edu.