Group activity beats working out on your own
by Geraldine Hinter
Undertaking daily physical activity in groups motivates people to achieve greater health and fitness benefits than when exercising alone, a University of South Australia study shows.
The study looked at the impact of daily physical exercise on the health-related risk factors of sedentary adults participating in either a group-based physical activity program or a pedometer-based program to increase daily steps. Researchers conducted tests at the beginning and end of the 40-day programs, with follow-up evaluations at six and 12 months.
The UniSA research project, funded by the Australian Research Council and SA Department of Health, is one of the largest long-term studies of its kind in the world, involving 550 physically inactive people ranging in age from 18 to 62 years, according to Professor of Exercise Science, Kevin Norton.
"Changes in health and fitness benefits for people in both programs were significant, but the level of change was much more dramatic for people in the group-based program than in the pedometer program," Prof Norton said.
"The amount of intense activity was seen as the main reason for the bigger improvement in group-based participants over the pedometer users, who exercised at much lower intensity.
"It was the change in vigorous activity, rather than the total activity, that had the strongest correlation with changes in fitness, cholesterol, blood glucose and blood pressure levels, as well as body weight, body mass index and skin fold measures. In short, the benefits of walking were much lower when compared with the extra benefits gained from vigorous activity."
A tool used in testing to give feedback to participants enabled them to see changes, in terms of their health and fitness ages, before and after completing the program. For example, a person aged 54 years might have a health age equivalent to a 45-year-old.
"At the end of the program, the average health age of group-based participants was improved by about five years, and pedometer users by about 2.5 years, or half. A similar ratio applied to changes in fitness levels, with group-based participants improving by about 14 years and pedometer users by about seven years," Prof Norton said.
"These results highlight how quickly fitness levels improve in response to daily activity, and while health improvements are not as rapid, they are still quite dramatic when we considerthe level of change achieved by people being active for 40 days, and starting from a low activity base.
"The group-based participants exercised more regularly and made greater progress on more days than the pedometer users. When dissected to find out why, we found that the social interaction and friendships established within group-based activities were much more motivating than first realised. Participants were influenced by other group members, they knew it would be fun and didn’t want to let the group down."
Prof Norton said the variety offered by the different group activities including swimming, dancing, kayaking, sports, circuits and boxing was another motivating factor.
The activities of the group-based participants were monitored by downloading information from their heart rate monitors, which included calories expended and feedback on their response to different activities. The pedometer users had their steps recorded and received weekly emails encouraging progressive step increases and advice on ways to increase daily steps. Both groups were compared with a control group of people whose health and fitness profiles conformed to a pattern of regular activity for 12 months or longer.
"Now we are looking at the residual benefits in health and fitness parameters of study participants in the months following the interventions," Prof Norton said.
"We want to see whether these improved health measures last in the long-term and whether people in the group-based intervention continue to be more or less active than the pedometer people."