Staying Active under Restrictions: Changes in Type of Physical Exercise during the Initial COVID-19 Lockdown

Valentin Benzing, Sanaz Nosrat, Alireza Aghababa, Vassilis Barkoukis, Dmitriy Bondarev, Yu-Kai Chang, Boris Cheval, Muhammet Cihat Çiftçi, Hassan M. Elsangedy, Maria Luisa M. Guinto, Zhijian Huang, Martin Kopp, Hafrún Kristjánsdóttir, Garry Kuan, Luca Mallia, Dadi Rafnsson, Gledson Tavares Amorim Oliveira, Arto J. Pesola, Caterina Pesce, Noora J. Ronkainen, Sinika Timme and Ralf Brand
Additional contact information
Valentin Benzing: Institute of Sport Science, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
Sanaz Nosrat: Department of Health Sciences, Lehman College, The City University of New York, New York, NY 10468, USA
Alireza Aghababa: Department of Sport Psychology, Sport Sciences Research Institute (SSRI), Tehran 1587958711, Iran
Vassilis Barkoukis: Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Dmitriy Bondarev: Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyvaskyla, 40014 Jyvaskyla, Finland
Yu-Kai Chang: Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei 106209, Taiwan
Boris Cheval: Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland
Muhammet Cihat Çiftçi: Department of Sport Management, Faculty of Sport Science, Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University, Ankara 06010, Turkey
Hassan M. Elsangedy: Department of Physical Education, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal 59092-050, Brazil
Maria Luisa M. Guinto: Department of Sports Science, College of Human Kinetics, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City 1808, Philippines
Zhijian Huang: Department of Physical Education, Hubei University, Wuhan 430069, China
Martin Kopp: Department of Sport Science, University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
Hafrún Kristjánsdóttir: Physical Activity, Physical Education, Sport and Health Research Centre (PAPESH), Sports Science Department, School of Social Sciences, Reykjavik University, 102 Reykjavik, Iceland
Garry Kuan: Exercise and Sports Science Programme, School of Health Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian 16150, Kelantan, Malaysia
Luca Mallia: Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome “Foro Italico”, 00135 Rome, Italy
Dadi Rafnsson: Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, Reykjavik University, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
Gledson Tavares Amorim Oliveira: Department of Physical Education, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal 59092-050, Brazil
Arto J. Pesola: Active Life Lab, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences, 50100 Mikkeli, Finland
Caterina Pesce: Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome “Foro Italico”, 00135 Rome, Italy
Noora J. Ronkainen: Institute of Sport Science, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
Sinika Timme: Sport and Exercise Psychology, University of Potsdam, 14469 Potsdam, Germany
Ralf Brand: Sport and Exercise Psychology, University of Potsdam, 14469 Potsdam, Germany

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 22, 1-18

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic and the associated governmental restrictions suddenly changed everyday life and potentially affected exercise behavior. The aim of this study was to explore whether individuals changed their preference for certain types of physical exercise during the pandemic and to identify risk factors for inactivity. An international online survey with 13,881 adult participants from 18 countries/regions was conducted during the initial COVID-19 related lockdown (between April and May 2020). Data on types of exercise performed during and before the initial COVID-19 lockdown were collected, translated, and categorized (free-text input). Sankey charts were used to investigate these changes, and a mixed-effects logistic regression model was used to analyze risks for inactivity. Many participants managed to continue exercising but switched from playing games (e.g., football, tennis) to running, for example. In our sample, the most popular exercise types during the initial COVID-19 lockdown included endurance, muscular strength, and multimodal exercise. Regarding risk factors, higher education, living in rural areas, and physical activity before the COVID-19 lockdown reduced the risk for inactivity during the lockdown. In this relatively active multinational sample of adults, most participants were able to continue their preferred type of exercise despite restrictions, or changed to endurance type activities. Very few became physically inactive. It seems people can adapt quickly and that the constraints imposed by social distancing may even turn into an opportunity to start exercising for some. These findings may be helpful to identify individuals at risk and optimize interventions following a major context change that can disrupt the exercise routine.

Keywords: physical activity; inactivity; coronavirus; lockdown; stay-at-home; structured exercise; risk factors (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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