Flexible nonlinear periodization (FNLP) is a form of exercise programming that encourages individuals to acutely match exercise demand to their physical and mental resource availability. It is unclear how exercise is chosen and experienced by individuals following this invitation. This mixed-method study aimed to understand the viability of FNLP-based exercise. Twenty-four participants initiated pre-and postexercise surveys when asked to engage in FNLP for 14 days. Each participant was interviewed to review visualized survey data and elaborate on reasonings for and consequences of their decisions. Integrated quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis to generate patterns of meaning. Resource-concordant decisions were perceived to support recovery, training overload, and novel activities. Resource-discordant decisions were made to distract from stressors, for social engagement, or in response to self-imposed expectations. Experiences were neither universally pleasant nor unpleasant. Findings begin to disentangle the complexity of exercise behavior and inform FNLP refinement.

Background Despite the well-established benefits of regular physical activity, long-term engagement with exercise remains suboptimal, highlighting limitations of traditional, standardized approaches to exercise prescription. Psychologically-informed Flexible Nonlinear Periodization (FNLP) has been proposed as a person-adaptive model that integrates principles from exercise science and behavioral psychology to support flexible, context-responsive engagement in physical activity. Prior work has demonstrated the viability of FNLP-based exercise programming, showing individuals willingness to adapt the demand level of exercise events in response to fluctuating physical, cognitive, and emotional resources; however, less is known about how individuals experience engaging with this approach overall. Aim Explore participants’ perceptions of the goals, procedures, and effects of FNLP-based exercise programming. Methods Using an interpretive qualitative approach, 24 adults completed a two-week FNLP-based exercise trial and subsequently participated in semi-structured interviews. Findings Using reflexive thematic analysis, we generated three themes: (1) positive perceptions of FNLP’s adaptability and simplicity; (2) areas for procedural refinement; and (3) FNLP disrupted rigid, all-or-nothing thinking about exercise. Conclusion Participant reactions and perceptions offer key insights for refining FNLP procedures for use in longer duration research and highlight the value of integrating holistic user feedback into the development of behavior change interventions.

Personalized exercise programming requires more than physiologically sound prescriptions; it depends on understanding individual’ histories, meanings, and lived experiences with physical activity. Biographical mapping (bioMAP) is a participatory narrative and visual method, which offers an approach for understanding personally meaningful experiences related to physical activity across the lifespan. This study explored adults’ perceptions of the goals, procedures, and effects of bioMAP when contextualized as an intake activity preceding personalized exercise programming. Twenty-four individuals (67% women, aged 34 ± 10 years) completed a one-on-one bioMAP session wherein they identified significant life events and drew developmental curves for well-being, enjoyment, exercise volume, and exercise intensity across a timeline. The bioMAP session served to provide relevant guiding information for co-creating a personalized exercise program, which was then trialed for two weeks. Afterwards, participants participated in semi-structured interviews to understand the social validity of the bioMAP process, and data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Four themes captured participant experiences: (1) struggles with recounting exercise histories; (2) navigating vulnerability as it enabled deeper insights; (3) interviewer practices that created psychological safety and validation; and (4) connecting the dots, where participants identified meaningful patterns that informed exercise choices and future perspectives. Findings provide preliminary evidence for the feasibility and social validity of bioMAP in the context of exercise programming, while also highlighting areas for refinement, such as streamlining procedures and strengthening facilitation. By eliciting rich, personally relevant insights into exercise-related experiences, continued research is warranted to understand bioMAP as a foundation to guide personalized exercise programming.

Youth sport literature has advocated for more ecologically informed studies to understand the psychosocial development of young athletes [Dorsch, T. E., Smith, A. L., Blazo, J. A., Coakley, J., C & ocirc;t & eacute;, J., Wagstaff, C. R. D., Warner, S., & King, M. Q. (2022). Toward an integrated understanding of the youth sport system. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport]. Organizational sport psychologists have highlighted the importance of better understanding sport success by examining traits beyond the individual, such as support systems [Arthur, C. A., Wagstaff, C. R. D., & Hardy, L. (2017). Leadership in sport organization. In C. R. D. Wagstaff (Ed.), The organizational psychology of sport: Key issues and practical implications (pp. 153-175). Routledge]. Thus, the current study sought to understand organizational context and goals of high school sport in the United States by examining state-level high school sport organizations' mission statements. Using directed content analysis, findings revealed five themes: mission statements included language around (a) the services they provide (e.g. tournament management, coach training), (b) protecting participants (e.g. preventing exploitation of minors), (c) sports' relationship with education (e.g. supporting the academic mission or a separate additional educational opportunity), (d) a focus on fun, and (e) sport is a privilege. Findings are discussed in relation to the psychosocial development of youth through high school sport.

Positive developmental outcomes for youth are likely to occur when adults intentionally design environments to facilitate that development. However, in sport, studies typically examine only one adult relationship at a time, as opposed to the many that exist. The purpose of this study was to examine high school student-athletes' perceptions of how a variety of stakeholders in their sport-ecosystem contribute to their life skills development and well-being. Bronfenbrenner's Bio-Ecological Model and Prilleltensky's concept of psychopolitical validity served as a guiding framework for interviews conducted with student-athletes (N = 46) in three different states in the United States of America. Themes suggested that the student-athletes' relationships have a reciprocal interaction with their developmental experiences to create three different forms of development. Student-athletes had basic life skills recognition when learning without meaning was fostered by low-engagement relationships, development through adverse experiences when learning through necessity occurred through challenging relationships, and meaningful development when anchored learning experiences were supported by transformative relationships in their sport world. Lay summary: High school student-athletes were asked about their life skills development and how adults in their sport system influenced or hindered that development. Student-athletes favored highly engaged adults that supported opportunities by anchoring their learning in meaningful experiences. The relationship with the adult and the meaningful experience reciprocally influenced each other.

A phrase commonly used within high school sport is "education-based athletics"; however, there is no empirical investigation on the meaning of this phrase, nor how it is specific to the high school sport context. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine high school sport administrators' perceptions of the meaning of "education-based" high school sport. Utilizing a grounded theory approach, nine administrators participated in interviews and defined "education-based" athletics as an extracurricular sport-based context that supports the mission of the academic institution through offering youth experiential learning of life skills with the aim of developing constructive members of society. Supplementary categories detail administrators' aspirations for high school sport and challenges they face in actualizing those aspirations. By recognizing the purpose of sport embedded within an academic institution as a contextual obligation, practitioners and coaches will be encouraged to anchor future work toward long-term development aimed to increase civic engagement.

Self-determination theory (SDT) has empirical support in understanding and enhancing motivation in a variety of contexts, including education settings. Niemac and Ryan have highlighted that using SDT in course design can lead to stronger fulfilment of an internal locus of causality regarding course work. One course design method anchored in SDT is gameful learning—structuring tasks that support intrinsic motivation, primarily increasing autonomy over learning. A gamified classroom (GC) may offer more assignments and points than minimally necessary for students to earn a passing mark, allowing students choice in which projects to pursue. Further research is needed to examine the degree to which students’ motivations differ between a GC and a non-gamified classroom (NGC). The purpose of the current study was to determine if students in a GC were more intrinsically motivated than students in NGC. Students were enrolled in an undergraduate kinesiology course using a GC design ( n = 24) or NGC design ( n = 26) and completed an online survey – derived from the intrinsic motivation inventory and the test anxiety questionnaire—at the beginning and end of the semester. In the GC, students started with zero points, and were offered multiple assignments with scaffolded difficulty to reach their desired grade. The NGC used a traditional 100% grade range, with only required assignments and exams, and students lost points for inadequate or inaccurate responses. Following analyses, it was revealed that students in the GC had higher perceptions of autonomy and competence than students in the NGC. Where these differences exist over time, along with differences in other subscales, will be discussed further. Educators seeking to enhance student motivation and engagement may therefore look to gamification as an appropriate methodology.

Given the stance of education-based sport entities (i.e., NFHS) that sport participation leads to leadership development, this article aims to provide coaches and practitioners several strategies to teach leadership skills anchored in principles from skill acquisition literature. The principles explored include (1) identification of skill abilities, (2) demonstration, (3) verbal instruction, (4) specificity and (5) feedback. Following a continuum describing life skill acquisition (including structuring the sport context, facilitating a positive climate, discussing life skills, and practicing life skills), examples are provided of how to enhance leadership skill development. AcknowledgmentsThe authors thank Dr. Jared Porter for his helpful notes in the preparation of this article.Disclosure StatementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Additional informationNotes on contributorsRachel E. WilliamsRachel E. Williams (rwill175@vols.utk.edu) is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Kinesiology, Recreation & Sport Studies at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, Knoxville, TN.Jedediah E. BlantonJedediah E. Blanton is an assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology, Recreation & Sport Studies at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, Knoxville, TN.

To investigate if athletes’ attitudes toward athletic trainers and sport psychology consultants differ considering nature of athletic ability beliefs and previous experiences with these professionals; collegiate student-athletes (n = 114 male, n = 81 female, M age = 19.77, SD = 1.43) completed the Conceptions of the Nature of Athletic Ability Questionnaire-2 (Biddle, Wang, Chatzisarantis, & Spray, 2003), Attitudes Toward Athletic Trainers-Form (modified from the Attitudes toward Physiotherapist-Form; Arvinen-Barrow, Clement, & Bayes, 2012), and the Sport Psychology Attitudes Revised-Form (Martin, Kellman, Lavallee, & Page, 2002). Multiple analyses of variance revealed small statistically significant mean differences in attitudes considering ability beliefs, previous athletic training, and sport psychology experiences. Athletes with previous athletic training experience were less confident in their athletic trainer than those without such experience. In contrast, athletes with previous sport psychology experience were more confident in their consultant than those without such experiences. Results suggest athletes’ attitudes towards helping professionals may be partially influenced by subjective norms and expectations about the nature of such relationships.