Meta-analysis: Aerobic and muscle strengthening activities
In a recent meta-analysis(1) researchers looked at the number of people who met the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) guidelines for both aerobic and muscle strengthening activities (MSA).
The paper examined five databases of 3,390,001 individuals from 32 countries in populations over 5 years of age, and whenever possible, explored this prevalence according to sociodemographic and lifestyle factors. Worth noting that no studies reported data for children aged 5–11 years.
The standard recommendation for the WHO for exercise is:
· 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity aerobic exercise per week
· At least two sessions of muscle-strengthening activities per week targeting the major muscle groups. This is enough activity to give you most of the health and longevity related benefits of exercise.
Results
Adherence rates varied from country to country from a high of 53.4% in Iceland to a low of 0.5% in Romania.
Twenty-one studies comprising 3 390 001 individuals from 32 countries were included.
Overall adherence to the aerobic and MSA guidelines was 17.12% in adults over 18 years. Among adolescents aged 12–17 years, adherence to both guidelines was 19.74%.
Women, older age, low/medium education levels, underweight or obesity, and poor and moderate self-rated health were associated with lower adherence to the physical activity guidelines among adults, although the prevalence remained very low in all cases.
What does this mean?
Only one out of five adolescents and adults met the recommended combined aerobic and MSA guidelines.
But, people probably aren’t quite as sedentary as we thought. 1 in 4 people do very little exercise but most people do a bit of cardio or resistance training or both.
Resistance training is still less popular that aerobic training.
People meeting the aerobic training guidelines outnumber the people meeting the resistance training guidelines by more than 23 to 1.
Resistance training is on upswing but need more people lifting.
Large-scale public health interventions promoting both types of exercise are needed to reduce the associated burden of non-communicable diseases.
Link to study:
January 2023. British Journal of Sports Medicine
