{"id":7773,"date":"2015-07-27T09:38:38","date_gmt":"2015-07-27T09:38:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/?p=7773"},"modified":"2018-05-08T20:08:53","modified_gmt":"2018-05-08T20:08:53","slug":"whats-sex-got-to-do-with-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/2015\/07\/27\/whats-sex-got-to-do-with-it\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s sex got to do with it? FIU Ph.D. candidate examines the relationship between sexual functioning and fitness"},"content":{"rendered":"

Photos and Interview by Julie Natter ’04, MA ’09, 10<\/em><\/p>\n

Lia Jiannine, FIU PhD candidate and Assistant Director of FIU Fitness Program, has examined sexual functioning and fitness in order to improve individual health and wellness.\u00a0 Many who have taken her exercise classes know first-hand how passionate she is about fitness.\u00a0 As Assistant Director of FIU fitness programs, she works with personal trainers, fitness instructors and plans events for the FIU community.\u00a0 With the Recreation Center\u2019s 10th<\/sup> year anniversary coming up soon, celebration plans are underway. Below, I speak with Lia about her time at FIU, her doctorate dissertation and more.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JN: You came from Melbourne, FL and attended college in Gainesville.\u00a0 What brought you to South Florida? \u00a0Also, what are your future plans with FIU?<\/strong><\/p>\n

LJ: I was working for a Fortunate 500 company in Tampa but I really missed health, fitness, and university life so I came down for the job supervising fitness and wellness programs.\u00a0 One of the many advantages of being an employee is that the university provides a tuition waiver for\u00a0those who want to seek a\u00a0degree.\u00a0 I\u2019m very happy in my current job at the FIU Wellness & Recreation Center and would like to teach higher-level courses and produce more research.\u00a0 At some point, I\u2019d like to look into a faculty position.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\"lia-jiannine-3\"JN: Tell us about the degree you are currently pursuing and why you wanted to focus your\u00a0dissertation on sexual functioning and fitness.<\/strong><\/p>\n

LJ: I am currently getting my degree in curriculum and instruction, my dissertation is very different than all of my peers, but I wanted to study something that interests me.\u00a0 Working for wellness and recreation gave me access to subjects and testing equipment so I knew I wanted to pursue research in exercise science (which is also the focus\u00a0of my Master\u2019s degree).\u00a0 I like topics that are unconventional so naturally sexual behavior was a perfect fit.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0JN:\u00a0<\/strong>You just completed your dissertation examining the relationship between physical activity, self-concept and sexual behavior. \u00a0What were the participants asked to do?<\/strong><\/p>\n

LJ: We started with a metabolic test where participants were asked to lie down for ten minutes and breathe through a tube to assess how many calories they burned at rest.\u00a0 Then, they filled out questionnaires followed by measuring body fat, muscular fitness, muscular endurance, V02 max and finally flexibility testing.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JN: Your dissertation is about the relationship between sexual function and positive health.\u00a0 How will your findings impact our students?<\/strong><\/p>\n

LJ: Despite the plethora of research on the relationship between sexual function and positive health, the benefits of sex are rarely discussed.\u00a0 Knowledge of sexually transmitted diseases is accurately dispersed, but students rarely personalize this information.\u00a0 Students need healthy guidelines for sexual behavior and educators need to provide an environment for self-fulfillment and healthy sexual expression.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JN: What were you looking for when you started your dissertation?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

LJ: I wanted to determine if there is a relationship between physical fitness, self-concept and sexual functioning among adults aged 18-50.\u00a0 If this significant relationship exists, it may further justify a sex-positive approach to health curricula.\u00a0 If we continue to ignore the complexity of human sexual relations, we will alienate young adults, placing their health at a great risk; however, if the benefits of sex and sexual pleasure are incorporated into the curricula, it may penetrate the long-standing barrier between adolescents and adults in discussions of sexuality.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JN: You found sexual functioning was significantly related to various aspects of physical fitness. What was the biggest difference between males and females?<\/strong><\/p>\n

LJ: I expected to find that male sexual behavior and sexual functioning, as well as number of sexual partners, would be related to muscular power and\/or muscular endurance, particularly because of testosterone levels.\u00a0 I incorrectly predicted that male arousal would be related to cardiovascular endurance because of the physiological requirements of male sexual functioning.\u00a0 None of these aspects were related to male sexual behavior and experience; however, body fat and flexibility were significantly related to sexual behavior and experience. \u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Although males had an average three more sexual partners than females, no aspect of physical fitness was related to the number of sexual partners in males; however, muscular power was significantly related to the number of sexual partners of females.\u00a0 Additionally, women who define themselves as powerful according to the six factor self-concept scale were highly likely to have more sexual partners.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"lia-jiannine\"JN: Now I’d like to ask a few questions about your time as an FIU student. What was your favorite FIU class and why? \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

LJ: Advanced Topics in the Social Foundations of Education (EDF 7937) with Dr. Farrell.\u00a0 We discussed social, political, economic and environmental issues.\u00a0 Every class felt like an episode of Politically Incorrect and no topic was off-limits.\u00a0 I wish he taught more classes at FIU since he is a very animated person and his passion kept all of us engaged.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JN: Thinking back on your time at FIU, what is your advice to students?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

LJ: Study something you love and your career will never feel like work.\u00a0 If you graduate and still do not know what you want to do, go to graduate school.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

JN: There\u2019s been some talk about the 10th<\/sup> year Wellness & Recreation Center anniversary coming up; can you tell us a little about the event plans?<\/strong><\/p>\n

LJ: In early fall we are having a five day event for students and alumni; there will be healthy and delicious free food and fun giveaways.\u00a0 Guests will be able to try out energy pumping exercise classes, and join FIU\u2019s finest dieticians and nutritional enthusiasts in a food-fest provided by Simply Organic. On the last day, we will host a \u201cSweat Till You\u2019re Wet\u201d event and participants that complete all five sessions will receive a fun \u201cSweat Till You\u2019re Wet\u201d t-shirt.<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019m so excited that \u201cThe Biggest Loser\u201d star trainer Bob Harper will be visiting FIU to give a presentation and teach a fitness class. \u00a0He\u2019ll conclude his visit with a meet and greet session.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

JN: Any special surprises for our Alumni Association members who attend?<\/strong><\/p>\n

LJ: Yes! Alumni members who attend any of the five days will be entered in a raffle drawing for one of the five complimentary Gold Gym one year memberships valued up to $365. Just make sure to let the instructor know you’re a member. Information about the gym membership can be found here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photos and Interview by Julie Natter ’04, MA ’09, 10 Lia Jiannine, FIU PhD candidate and Assistant Director of FIU Fitness Program, has examined sexual functioning and fitness in order to improve individual health and wellness.\u00a0 Many who have taken her exercise classes know first-hand how passionate she is about fitness.\u00a0 As Assistant Director of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7775,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[375,172],"class_list":["post-7773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-guest-post","tag-research"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7773"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7773"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7773\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15018,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7773\/revisions\/15018"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}