Activity levels during lifestyle physical activity and exercise physical activity: An observational study

Area of Science:

• Exercise Physiology
• Public Health
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Lifestyle physical activity offers health benefits, but its intensity compared to exercise is understudied.
• Objective quantification of physical activity is crucial for accurate health assessments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare objective activity levels (vector magnitude - VM3) between instrumental activities of daily living and walking exercise.
• To investigate differences in VM3 among healthy young adults aged 18-39.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional, observational study with repeated measures.
• Participants (24 females, 24 males) performed bed-making, vacuuming, dishwashing, and walking.
• Activity was objectively measured using ActiGraph GT9X Links worn on wrists and hips.

Main Results:

• Bed-making yielded the highest VM3 counts when measured at the wrists.
• Walking yielded the highest VM3 counts when measured at the hips.
• VM3 counts for bed-making were significantly higher than other wrist-measured activities (p ≤ 0.001) and significantly different from all other activities at both sites (p < 0.001).

Conclusions:

• Objective activity levels during certain lifestyle activities can be similar to or exceed those of exercise in young adults.
• Clinicians should consider the intensity of various lifestyle activities when recommending physical activity.
• Individual factors beyond the compendium of physical activities are important for personalized recommendations.