Posted 7:31 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013
Exercise is linked to improving a student’s grades.
Editor’s note: This article was written by UW-L student Annalise Falck-Pedersen, a student in Thomas Priebek’s J-Term English class.
A study conducted at Saginaw Valley State University in Michigan shows that exercise is linked to improving a student’s grades. College students who work out vigorously on a regular basis tend to earn better grades.
The study found: on a 4.0 grading scale, students who vigorously exercised seven days a week had an average GPA .4 higher than students who didn’t exercise. Students with a GPA of 3.5 or higher tend to exercise more than students who have a GPA under 3.0.
Exercise helps improve brain function and raises energy levels. Exercising is also a natural stress-reliever. Students who tend to study a lot also tend to exercise a lot too. This trend follows true with UW-L students. UW-L’s student athletes have had a higher overall GPA than non-student athletes for the past 12 years, up until the 2011-12 school year. Since then, the non-student-athletes surpassed the student athletes — but not by much. With 3.186 GPA for the 2011-12 school year, UW-L's student-athletes have the highest combined GPA among all of the other WIAC schools. UW-L’s student athletes also had the highest number of athletes with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better.