Using raw acceleration data to assess the intensity of physical activity enables direct comparisons between studies using different accelerometer brands. Mean amplitude deviation (MAD in mg) calculated from resultant tri-axial raw acceleration signal was recently shown to perform best in classifying the intensity of physical activity in adults irrespective of the accelerometer brand. This study compared MAD values and cut-points between two different accelerometers in adolescents. Twenty voluntary participants (10 girls and 10 boys) of average age of 14 wore two accelerometers (Actigraph GTX3, Pensacola FL, USA and Hookie AM13, Espoo, Finland) and heart rate monitors (M61, Polar Electro Oy, Kempele, Finland) while completing ten 2-min patterns of typical activities ranging from sedentary behaviour to light, moderate and vigorous-intensity locomotion. Bland-Altman method examined the agreement of MAD values between the accelerometers. Correlation coefficient between individual heart rates and MAD values indicated the validity of pattern-based intensity classification. Generalized ordinal logistic regression determined the intensity-specific MAD cut-points for both accelerometers. MAD values varied from 3 mg (lying supine) to 1609 mg (running). Hookie gave higher values than Actigraph in accelerations exceeding 700 mg. The correlation coefficient between MAD values and heart rates was 0.96 for Hookie and 0.97 for Actigraph. Respectively, the MAD cut-points were 29 and 27 (light), 338 and 330 (moderate), and 604 and 558 (vigorous). MAD values and cut-points of Hookie and Actigraph showed excellent agreement. Analysing raw accelerometer data with MAD values may enable the comparison of accelerometer results between different studies also in adolescents.

Regular physical activity (PA) confers many positive effects on health and well-being. Sedentary behavior (SB), in turn, is a risk factor for health, regardless of the level of moderate to vigorous PA. The present study describes the levels of objectively measured SB, breaks in SB, standing still and PA among Finnish adults. This cross-sectional analysis is based on the sub-sample of the population-based Health 2011 Study of Finnish adults. The study population consisted of 18-to-85-year old men and women who wore a waist-worn triaxial accelerometer (Hookie AM 20) for at least 4 days, for at least 10 h per day (n = 1587) during a week. PA and SB were objectively assessed from the raw accelerometric data using novel processing and analysis algorithms with mean amplitude deviation as the processing method. The data was statistically analyzed using cross-tabulations, analysis of variance and analysis of covariance. The participants were on average 52 years old, 57 % being women. Participants were sedentary 59 % of their waking wear time, mainly sitting. They spent 17 % of the time standing still, 15 % in light intensity PA, 9 % in moderate PA and less than 1 % in vigorous PA. Participants aged 30–39 years had the highest number of breaks in SB per day. Younger participants (<30 years of age) had more moderate and vigorous PA than older ones (≥60 years of age), and 30–60-year-olds had the greatest amount of light PA. Participants spent nearly 60 % of their waking time sedentary, and the majority of their daily PA was light. From a public health perspective it is important to find effective ways to decrease SB as well as to increase the level of PA. Our analysis method of raw accelerometer data may allow more precise assessment of dose-response relationships between objectively measured PA and SB and various indicators of health and well-being.

Background: Several reviews have examined the health benefits of participation in specific sports, such as baseball, cricket, cross-country skiing, cycling, downhill skiing, football, golf, judo, rugby, running and swimming. However, new primary studies on the topic have recently been published, and the respective meta-analytic evidence needs to be updated. Objectives: To systematically review, summarise and appraise evidence on physical health benefits of participation in different recreational sports. Methods: Searches for journal articles were conducted in PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, SpoLit, SPORTDiscus, Sports Medicine & Education Index and Web of Science. We included longitudinal and intervention studies investigating physical health outcomes associated with participation in a given sport among generally healthy adults without disability. Results: A total of 136 papers from 76 studies conducted among 2.6 million participants were included in the review. Our meta-analyses of available evidence found that: (1) cycling reduces the risk of coronary heart disease by 16% (pooled hazard ratio [HR] = 0.84; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.80, 0.89), all-cause mortality by 21% (HR = 0.79; 95% CI: 0.73, 0.84), cancer mortality by 10% (HR = 0.90; 95% CI: 0.85, 0.96) and cardiovascular mortality by 20% (HR = 0.80; 95% CI: 0.74, 0.86); (2) football has favourable effects on body composition, blood lipids, fasting blood glucose, blood pressure, cardiovascular function at rest, cardiorespiratory fitness and bone strength (p < 0.050); (3) handball has favourable effects on body composition and cardiorespiratory fitness (p < 0.050); (4) running reduces the risk of all-cause mortality by 23% (HR = 0.77; 95% CI: 0.70, 0.85), cancer mortality by 20% (HR = 0.80; 95% CI: 0.72, 0.89) and cardiovascular mortality by 27% (HR = 0.73; 95% CI: 0.57, 0.94) and improves body composition, cardiovascular function at rest and cardiorespiratory fitness (p < 0.010); and (5) swimming reduces the risk of all-cause mortality by 24% (HR = 0.76; 95% CI: 0.63, 0.92) and improves body composition and blood lipids (p < 0.010). Conclusions: A range of physical health benefits are associated with participation in recreational cycling, football, handball, running and swimming. More studies are needed to enable meta-analyses of health benefits of participation in other sports. PROSPERO registration number CRD42021234839.

Currently, there is insufficient evidence available regarding the relationship between level of physical fitness and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in younger adults. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of measured cardiovascular and musculoskeletal physical fitness level on HRQoL in Finnish young men.

Background: The isokinetic dynamometry is considered a gold standard in muscle strength testing. The reliability of lower limb isokinetic strength measurements has not been thoroughly evaluated. Objective: To examine the test−retest reliability of isokinetic ankle plantar and dorsiflexion, ankle inversion and eversion, knee extension and flexion and hip abduction and adduction strength in physically active adults using Biodex System 4 Pro. Methods: Peak torques (PTs) and average peak torques (APTs) of the dominant and nondominant lower limbs were tested twice in 19 physically active adults 7 to 14 days apart. Results: The intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) values varied from excellent to moderate and coefficient of variation of typical error (CV_TE) values were 6.6–19.5%. Change in the mean expressed as a percent varied from −3.1% to 9.6%. There was no difference in the reliability between PT and APT values. Dominant lower limb was more reliable in every case if there was difference between limbs. Conclusion: Test−retest reliability of isokinetic ankle, knee and hip strength in physically active adults using Biodex System 4 is mostly good or excellent. However, the observed range of the random variation has to be noted when using it in scientific follow-up studies or evaluation of patient progress in clinical settings.

The purpose of the study was to evaluate a 6-month intervention to promote office-employees’ walking with pedometers and e-mail messages.