The mission of University College’s Department of Health and Exercise Studies (HES) is to “foster an academic environment in which to educate and inspire students to build and sustain a healthy body and mind for lifelong productivity and well-being.”

Several faculty members recently delivered presentations about the department’s efforts to reach that mission. 

Renee Harrington, director of Undergraduate Programs and associate teaching professor and Peggy Domingue, associate teaching professor, delivered a joint presentation at the annual Southern College Health Association (SCHA) meeting, hosted at NC State March 16-18, about a course they created, HESF 115, Wellness and Resilience. 

Brenda Watson, assistant teaching professor, spoke at the Office of Faculty Excellence Conference on March 5 about her research on the benefits of strength training as a means to significantly delay sarcopenia in women. She will also present at a Centennial Campus Poster Slam on March 31. 

“I think it’s very important, because I don’t think many people know what we’re doing here in HES,” Watson said. “They think students are just going to gym class, but there’s more to it than that. For me, the physiological changes students make from the start of our classes to the end of the semester are impressive. The amount of confidence our students have at the end is amazing.”

Teaching Resilience

HESF 115 Wellness and Resilience, developed by Harrington in spring 2024, expands the traditional, one-credit-hour HES course into a two-credit-hour course that includes both in-person physical activity class meetings and asynchronous online lectures and activities focused on resilience building.

“ HESF 115 was created to intentionally teach skills that are critical to student well-being and success,” Harrington said. “It naturally extends our traditional HES physical activity requirement by pairing resilience skills and practical strategies with applied, movement-based experiences.” Aimed at incoming first-year students, the course helps the enrolled students build resilience skills early in their college years to set them up for success. 

“This course is unique in that it’s in essence a two-for-one deal for the students,” Harrington said. “They are fulfilling a GEP requirement, but also building skills that will help them throughout life.”

HESF 115 was designed so that the physical activity component of the course can vary based on the expertise of the instructor, allowing any HES faculty member to teach the course. It is currently taught by several HES faculty, including Domingue. 

“It’s really just a different focus from our other physical activity classes,” Domingue said. “Those classes cover general health and wellness while still emphasizing performance. In the resilience class, though, the emphasis is on resilience and wellness activities rather than meeting physical performance benchmarks. That shift allows students to focus more on themselves, and they learn a lot through activities like time management and digital reflections.”

Harrington and Domingue had the opportunity to not only share information on the framework and structure of the course, but also provide attendees the opportunity to learn more about some of the resilience activities completed in the course. As an example, Domingue discussed a time management activity during which students looked at screen time usage on their cell phones. “It was incredible to see students reflect on the impact of their screen time. Some students are spending over 40 hours, and some even over 80 hours, per week on their phones,” Domingue said.

Harrington also shared results from data collected last semester showing significant improvements in students’ resilience, self-efficacy, mindfulness and perceived stress. “This research and data reinforce the value of resilience education for undergraduate students. It’s very important to talk about the benefits of the course and share resources that others can take back to their universities, while also continuing to demonstrate that HES is at the forefront of health and wellness education and research,” Harrington said.  

Singing the Praises of Strength Training

Over the past several semesters, Watson conducted research into female students’ knowledge of sarcopenia, and the benefits of strength training on delaying its onset.  

Sarcopenia is the wasting away of muscle tissue and strength, which increases with aging. However, strength training is a way to protect against this process in the future. 

“It happens in all older people, it’s just a natural process of aging,” Watson said. “However, as students age, those who continue to engage in strength training will show a more gradual decline in muscle and strength rather than a rapid decline. When you’re strength training, you’re adding muscle, or keeping the muscle that you have. The reason why it’s so important to me is because it will help students to maintain their quality of life as they get older.”

Watson conducted a survey of over 200 female students to find out about their knowledge of sarcopenia and the benefits of strength training to guard against it. 

She explained that her research focuses on young women because of the stigma that largely still exists around strength training for women. 

“There’s a lot of stigma about women lifting weights,” Watson said. “They’re afraid it’s going to make them look bulkier. A lot of women fear they don’t know how to start a strength training program. They think, ‘If I do start, can I continue?’ If they learn now, while in their 20’s, their knowledge base will be fantastic for continuing to lift as they get older. It is much easier to continue strength training than to begin it at 50 or 60 years old.” 

Going forward, Watson hopes to conduct a much larger survey of over 700 students, visiting different schools and attending meetings of sororities and other student organizations to gauge their knowledge of sarcopenia and speak on the benefits of strength training. 

Watson practices what she preaches, lifting weights and strength training often herself. 

“I’m a strength and conditioning specialist certified by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), and I have been for several years,” Watson said. “I just love it. Feeling strong is empowering. It’s just a cool feeling, to be able to move something, lift it and throw it. As an athlete, strength training has always been a big part of my life.”

In presenting her research and findings at these conferences, Watson gets a chance to not just explain the benefits of strength training for guarding against sarcopenia to other professionals, but also help them understand how to educate their students on the subject. 

“If I could have a platform to speak about it all day long, I would,” Watson said. “That’s how passionate I am about strength training. I could talk about this all day, every day. There are so many women who don’t know how to start or continue, and it’s so important. I hope my presentations can help them get started on that path.”