A Work-Based, Fully Remote, and Peer-Supported Exercise Snack Behavior Change Intervention (MOV'D): Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial.

BACKGROUND

Prolonged sitting and lack of moderate to vigorous physical activity represent 2 independent risk factors for myriad poor health outcomes. The negative effects of prolonged sitting can be ameliorated with as little as 2 minutes of large muscle movement. Further, cardiovascular benefits from moderate to vigorous activity can be accumulated throughout the day in short bouts rather than require continuous long bouts. Taken together, "exercise snacks" provide a way to both interrupt prolonged sitting and accumulate moderate to vigorous physical activity during a sedentary workday.

OBJECTIVE

This protocol describes the feasibility and acceptability pilot of MOV'D (Move Often Every Day)-a fully remote, peer-supported behavioral intervention to interrupt prolonged bouts of sitting at work with exercise snack breaks.

METHODS

The MOV'D pilot study aims to recruit approximately 60-80 participants who work full-time in a sedentary occupation. Participants were randomly assigned either to the Fitbit Control or the MOV'D experimental group in a randomized 2-group design. The pilot study had a 4-week active intervention and a 4-week follow-up with assessments at baseline, 4 weeks, and 8 weeks. The Fitbit control group received a Fitbit to self-monitor their physical activity prior to receiving the intervention material at the end of the study. In addition to Fitbit, the MOV'D intervention features included a private social support group chat seeded with daily experimenter prompts, weekly 5-minute behavior change technique videos, daily self-monitoring, and daily exercise snack suggestion videos.

RESULTS

Study enrollment began in March 2022 and concluded in June 2022. Data collection concluded in October 2022. We enrolled 70 participants, and 68 participants completed all the study assessments.

CONCLUSIONS

This protocol integrates findings from education, behavioral sciences, sedentary behavior, and exercise physiology to promote building an exercise snack habit at work: taking short intense exercise breaks to break up prolonged sitting. The results from this pilot study will show the feasibility and acceptability of the MOV'D intervention.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov CT05360485; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05360485.