Walking for health during pregnancy:A literature review and considerations for future research

Walking is the most commonly chosen type of physical activity(PA)during pregnancy and provides several health benefits to both mother and child.National initiatives have promoted the importance of walking in general,but little emphasis is directed toward pregnant women,the majority of whom are insufficiently active.Pregnant women face a variety of dynamic barriers to a physically active lifestyle,some of which are more commonly experienced during specific times throughout the pregnancy experience.Walking is unique in that it appears resistant to a number of these barriers that limit other types of PA participation,and it can be meaningfully integrated into some transportation and occupational activities when leisure-time options are unavailable.Preliminary intervention work suggests that walking programs can be effectively adopted into a typical pregnancy lifestyle.However,a great deal of work remains to administer successful pregnancy walking interventions,including developing and using validated methods of PA and walking assessment.This narrative review discusses the unique advantages of walking during pregnancy,provides recommendations for future intervention work,and outlines the need for pregnancy-focused community walking initiatives.Standard search procedures were followed to determine sources from the literature specific to walking during pregnancy for use in each section of this review.

Group dynamics motivation to increase exercise intensity with a virtual partner

Background: The effect of the K?hler group dynamics paradigm(i.e., working together with a more capable partner where one's performance is indispensable to the team outcome) has been shown to increase motivation to exercise longer at a strength task in partnered exercise video games (exergames) using a software-generated partner(SGP). However, the effect on exercise intensity with an SGP has not been investigated. The purpose of this study was to examine the motivation to maintain or increase exercise intensity among healthy, physically active middle-aged adults using an SGP in an aerobic exergame.Methods: Participants(n = 85, mean age = 44.9 years) exercised with an SGP in a 6-day cycle ergometer protocol, randomly assigned to either(a)no partner control,(b) superior SGP who was not a teammate, or(c) superior SGP as a teammate(team score was dependent on the inferior member). The protocol alternated between 30-min continuous and 4-min interval lhigh-intensity session days, during which participants could change cycle power output(watts) from target intensity to alter distance and speed.Results: Mean change in watts from a targeted intensity(75% and 90% maximum heart rate) was the primary dependent variable reflecting motivational effort. Increases in performance over baseline were demonstrated without significant differences between conditions. Self-efficacy and enjoyment were significantly related to effort in the more intense interval sessions.Conclusion: Under these conditions, no K?hler effect was observed. Exercise performance during the higher-intensity interval format is more closely related to enloyment and self-efficacy beliefs compared to the continuous sessions.