Abstract
RationaleExergaming may be a viable alternative to more traditional exercise. As high-intensity exercise can provide substantial health benefits, the purpose of this study was to investigate the long-term effectiveness of providing inactive adults with access to a high-intensity exergaming platform.MethodsIn this study, 52 inactive adults (<150 min of exercise per week), aged 18 years or older, were randomized (1:1) into an exergaming (N = 27) or a control group (N = 25). Exergaming participants were given access to the Playpulse exergaming platform for 6 months, where they decided how frequently they wanted to use the platform. The primary outcome measure, analyzed with a mixed model, was peak oxygen uptake (V̇O2peak). Secondary outcomes included body composition, blood pressure, and blood markers of cardiometabolic health.ResultsMean V̇O2peak at 6 months was 42.3 (SD 7.0) mL⋅kg−1⋅min−1 and 41.9 (SD 7.4) mL⋅kg−1⋅min−1 for the exergaming and control group, respectively with no significant between-group differences (-0.7, 95% CI -2.7 to 1.3, P = 0.49). Apart from increased moderate-intensity physical activity in the exergaming group at 3 months (21.9 min⋅day−1, 95% CI: 2.2 to 41.5, P = 0.03) compared to the control group, there were no significant between-group differences for any outcome at either 3 or 6 months. On average, participants in the exergaming group performed 12 (SD 13) exergaming sessions with an average heart rate of 74.5 (SD 7.5)% of maximum heart rate, throughout the intervention.ConclusionDue to low exergaming frequency over the 6-month intervention, exergaming participants showed no significant health benefits compared to control. Our study indicates that although the Playpulse exergaming platform is found enjoyable, this is not enough to motivate inactive adults to regularly engage in exercise and thereby improve health.Clinical Trial Registrationwww.clinicaltrials.gov, identifier NCT03513380.
Highlights
MATERIALS AND METHODSPhysical inactivity and sedentary behavior are independently associated with all-cause mortality (Lee et al, 2012)
With the average Norwegian adult spending 60% of his/her awake time in sedentary behavior, and only one out of three adults fulfilling the current recommendations for physical activity (Hansen et al, 2015), there is a great need to increase physical activity levels, decrease sedentary time, and/or counteract the detrimental effects associated with these behaviors
With a between-group difference of 21.9 min·day−1, the exergaming group had a significant increase in moderate-intensity physical activity at 3 months compared to control (Figure 3B and Table 3)
Summary
Physical inactivity and sedentary behavior are independently associated with all-cause mortality (Lee et al, 2012). High cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with a lower risk of all cause-mortality and is suggested to be more important for survival than physical activity per se (Kodama et al, 2009; Lee et al, 2011; Davidson et al, 2018). An increase in cardiorespiratory fitness eliminates the deleterious effects of sedentary behavior, even among those who are insufficiently active (Nauman et al, 2016). Prior studies in adults have primarily focused on the acute effects of exergaming where most have reported light-to-moderate exercise intensities, higher exercise intensities have been reported (Graves et al, 2010; Peng et al, 2011; Moholdt et al, 2017; McBain et al, 2018; Viana et al, 2018; Naugle et al, 2019; Berg and Moholdt, 2020). Previous studies have been limited by assessing exergames that at most can elicit moderate exercise intensity (Street et al, 2017; Bock et al, 2019)
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