According to THL’s research, every third conscript does not exercise regularly at all. According to Varusmiesliitto, the result is connected to the deteriorated Cooper test results.
About conscripts more than a third do not do regular exercise in their free time, according to a recent report from the Institute of Health and Welfare from the research. In addition, 13 percent say they exercise less than once a week.
According to THL’s research, regular exercise has a connection with how many friends a conscript has and how good a conscript’s self-esteem is.
Chairman of the Union of Servicemen Elina Riutta believes that the results of the study go hand in hand with the results of the Cooper tests given to conscripts. According to the Defense Forces, the endurance condition of conscripts was the second worst in history the other year. The average of the 12-minute running test was 2,376 meters at that time.
“The fitness of all young people has been declining throughout the 2000s, and it can also be seen in inti. Young people should be encouraged to improve their fitness before and after service,” Riutta tells STT.
However, Riutta does not believe that the poor condition of young people has a direct effect on national defense.
“There are many types of tasks in the national defense, and good health is not the number one priority in all of them.”
According to Riuta, the defense forces encourage people to move by giving time off to active movers. The Defense Forces also offers a fitness program in the MarsMars application for those starting conscript service.
The research material was collected from 160,000 conscripts who started their service between 2015 and 2021. Female conscripts were not included in the study.
In research the actual reasons for the good self-esteem of those who exercise regularly were not clarified. THL’s research manager Kaija Appelqvist-Schmidlechner however, he estimates that exercise can develop one’s own feeling of standing and also shape the body in a direction that suits oneself.
A connection was found with little exercise and the number of friends. However, only one percent of conscripts said they had no friends. One third of this group said they exercise less than once a week. Of those who had a wide circle of friends, only one in ten said that they moved only rarely.
The study showed that the more the conscript moved, the better the relationship with the parents.
“It may be that the parents have supported the young person since he was a child in physical activity and, for example, pushed him to his hobbies,” Appelqvist-Schmidlechner tells STT.
According to Appelqvist-Schmidlechner, exercise often remains at the threshold of adolescence because of its intensity. That’s why it would be good for young people to have more hobbyist groups, where they could still practice the sport a little more casually.
“It would be important to think about how we reach the lonely”, young people who don’t move much.
Finland Executive director of the Military Sports Association Jouni Leppäsajon according to the report, leisure time exercise also affects enjoyment in conscript service and improves team spirit. Leppäsaajo says that your own motivation is the most important factor, but the amount of exercise is also influenced by the exercise facilities and the type of organized exercise. According to Leppäsajo, the conscripts’ free time guided exercise lowers the threshold for movement.
“When your friends are going to exercise”, it motivates.
There may be a connection between the movement of conscripts and coping in the service. The Finnish Military Sports Association has received a lot of feedback from the garrisons that those who are active in their free time have managed better in the service until the end.
According to Leppäsajo, the coronavirus temporarily revolutionized conscripts’ exercise. Exercise opportunities had to be limited, and movement has started to be leisurely after the restrictions have been removed. Leppäsaajo says that poor running condition may have increased interest in going to the gym, where there are many other opportunities to exercise.
“The enthusiasm of young men and women to move has not disappeared anywhere.”
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