IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v15y2018i11p2454-d180417.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Step Rate Thresholds Associated with Moderate and Vigorous Physical Activity in Adults

Author

Listed:
  • Myles W. O’Brien

    (Centre of Lifestyle Studies, School of Kinesiology, Acadia University, 15 University Ave., Wolfville, NS B4P 2R6, Canada
    Division of Kinesiology, School of Health and Human Performance, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada)

  • Matthew J. Kivell

    (Centre of Lifestyle Studies, School of Kinesiology, Acadia University, 15 University Ave., Wolfville, NS B4P 2R6, Canada)

  • William R. Wojcik

    (Centre of Lifestyle Studies, School of Kinesiology, Acadia University, 15 University Ave., Wolfville, NS B4P 2R6, Canada)

  • Ghislain D’Entremont

    (Division of Kinesiology, School of Health and Human Performance, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada)

  • Derek S. Kimmerly

    (Division of Kinesiology, School of Health and Human Performance, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada)

  • Jonathon R. Fowles

    (Centre of Lifestyle Studies, School of Kinesiology, Acadia University, 15 University Ave., Wolfville, NS B4P 2R6, Canada)

Abstract

Adults are recommended to engage in 150 min of moderate (MPA) to vigorous (VPA) aerobic physical activity per week, with the public health message of obtaining 3000 steps in 30 min. There is a paucity of research on step rate thresholds that correspond to absolute MVPA (moderate = 3 METs, vigorous = 6 METs) with no research evaluating adult relative MVPA (moderate = 40% VO 2max, vigorous = 60% VO 2max ). Anthropometric differences also influence intensity-related step rate thresholds. The purpose of this study was to identify step rates across a range of walking intensities so that mathematical models incorporating anthropometric factors could be used to identify individualized MVPA step rate thresholds. Forty-three adults (25♀; age = 39.4 ± 15.2 years) completed a staged treadmill walking protocol with pedometers and indirect calorimetry: six-minutes at 2.4, 3.2, 4.0, 5.6, 6.4, 7.2 km/h. Mathematical modelling revealed absolute and relative MPA step rate thresholds of ~100 steps/minute (spm) and ~125 spm, respectively. VPA corresponded to step rates of ~133 spm and ~139 spm for absolute and relative thresholds respectively. The current public message of 3000 steps in 30 min is valid for absolute MPA. However, VPA is achieved at higher thresholds than previously reported, more than 130 spm for healthy adults.

Suggested Citation

  • Myles W. O’Brien & Matthew J. Kivell & William R. Wojcik & Ghislain D’Entremont & Derek S. Kimmerly & Jonathon R. Fowles, 2018. "Step Rate Thresholds Associated with Moderate and Vigorous Physical Activity in Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-11, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2018:i:11:p:2454-:d:180417
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/11/2454/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/11/2454/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Myles W. O’Brien & Madeline E. Shivgulam & William R. Wojcik & Brittany A. Barron & Roxanne E. Seaman & Jonathon R. Fowles, 2022. "30 Year Trends of Reduced Physical Fitness in Undergraduate Students Studying Human Movement," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-9, October.
    2. Maria Faulkner & Andrea McNeilly & Gareth Davison & David Rowe & Allan Hewitt & Alan Nevill & Ellie Duly & Tom Trinick & Marie Murphy, 2021. "Music Tempo: A Tool for Regulating Walking Cadence and Physical Activity Intensity in Overweight Adults?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-16, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2018:i:11:p:2454-:d:180417. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.