title: A randomized controlled trial of continuous activity, short bouts, and a 10,000 step guideline in inactive adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Although several studies have examined the effect of accumulated bouts on health outcomes, the impact of recommending short bouts on activity-related behavior in health promotion efforts has received minimal investigation.
  
  
  METHODS
  During this 5-week study in 2007-2008, 43 university employees (8 male, 35 female) in the Southeastern United States were randomly assigned to a group recommended to achieve (a) 10,000 steps (10K), (b) 30-minutes (30 min) of continuous physical activity, or (c) 30-minutes of activity in bouts of at least 10 minutes (bouts).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Repeated measures ANOVA revealed that the 10K group showed the largest increase in step counts whereas the bouts group showed the smallest change over the intervention period, p=0.01. Condition differences were most pronounced on days in which participants met their activity recommendation. Accelerometer results revealed that the 10K (d=1.1) and 30 min groups (d=0.89) showed large increases in minutes of moderate to vigorous activity (MVPA), whereas the bouts group showed minimal change (d=0.11). Although activity recommendations did not differentially affect self-efficacy, participants from all conditions showed decreased self-efficacy across the intervention (p=0.02), highlighting the need to develop strategies to increase self-efficacy in activity promotion efforts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Exercise and Sport Science, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858, USA.
authors.forename: Tiana Y
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Samuels
authors.forename: Thomas D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Raedeke
authors.forename: Matthew T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Mahar
authors.forename: Kristina H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Karvinen
authors.forename: Katrina D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: DuBose
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000886:Anthropometry; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D012016:Reference Values; D057185:Sedentary Behavior; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012737:Sex Factors; D015144:Southeastern United States; D013997:Time Factors; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*