150 minutes per week or 30 minutes on 5 days? The effect of brief advice about physical activity recommendations on moderate-to-vigorous activity of inactive adults (Pre-published version)

Abstract

UK physical activity guidelines are now expressed as a weekly total of 150-minutes rather than the previously used guideline of 30-minutes on most days. This study compares the amount, intensity and pattern of physical activity undertaken by inactive adults following brief advice based upon either the weekly or daily guideline. 62 inactive individuals wore an accelerometer for 7 days prior to and following an advice session. While moderate-to-vigorous physical activity increased significantly for the entire group (n=62, P<0.05) there were no statistical between group differences. Both weekly and daily guidelines are equally effective in eliciting short-term increases in physical activity.