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Recommending Self-Paced Exercise among Overweight and Obese Adults: a Randomized Pilot Study

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Annals of Behavioral Medicine

Abstract

Background

National guidelines call for exercise of at least moderate intensity; however, recommending self-paced exercise may lead to better adherence, particularly among overweight and obese adults.

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to test proof-of-concept for recommending self-paced exercise among overweight adults.

Methods

Fifty-nine healthy, low-active (exercise <60 min/week), overweight (body mass index 25.0–39.9) adults (18–65) received a 6-month print-based exercise promotion program with the goal of walking 30–60 min/day. Participants were surreptitiously randomly assigned to receive a recommendation for either self-paced (n = 30) or moderate (64–76 % maximum heart rate; n = 29) intensity exercise. All participants used electronic diaries and heart rate monitors to track exercise frequency, duration, and intensity.

Results

The self-paced condition reported more minutes/week of walking (f 2 = 0.17, p = 0.045) and a trend toward greater exercise-related energy expenditure/week (f 2 = 0.12, p = 0.243), corresponding to approximately 26 additional minutes/week and 83 additional kilocalories/week over 6 months.

Conclusions

Explicit recommendation for self-paced exercise may improve adherence to exercise programs among overweight and obese adults.

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Acknowledgments

This project was funded by the National Cancer Institute (R21CA137211; Williams, PI). We would like to thank Bess Marcus and Beth Bock for use of their print-based exercise promotion intervention. Special thanks to Jason Frezza for EMA programming, David Upegui and Laura Dionne for data management, and Fred Holloway for research assistance.

Authors’ Statement of Conflict of Interest and Adherence to Ethical Standards

David M. Williams, Shira Dunsiger, Robert Miranda Jr., Chad J. Gwaltney, Jessica A. Emerson, Peter M. Monti, and Alfred F. Parisi declare that they have no conflict of interest. All procedures, including the informed consent process, were conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, RI, USA

    David M. Williams Ph.D., Shira Dunsiger Ph.D., Jessica A. Emerson Sc.M. & Peter M. Monti Ph.D.

  2. The Miriam Hospital, Providence, RI, USA

    Shira Dunsiger Ph.D. & Alfred F. Parisi M.D.

  3. Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

    Robert Miranda Jr. Ph.D. & Chad J. Gwaltney Ph.D.

  4. ERT, Inc., Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Chad J. Gwaltney Ph.D.

Authors
  1. David M. Williams Ph.D.
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  2. Shira Dunsiger Ph.D.
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  3. Robert Miranda Jr. Ph.D.
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  4. Chad J. Gwaltney Ph.D.
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  5. Jessica A. Emerson Sc.M.
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  6. Peter M. Monti Ph.D.
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  7. Alfred F. Parisi M.D.
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Correspondence to David M. Williams Ph.D..

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Williams, D.M., Dunsiger, S., Miranda, R. et al. Recommending Self-Paced Exercise among Overweight and Obese Adults: a Randomized Pilot Study. ann. behav. med. 49, 280–285 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-014-9642-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-014-9642-7

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