title: Prevalence of muscle-strengthening activities in women: the WIN study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities are related to morbidities and mortality. Resistance exercise/strength training items are included in national surveys, but the manner in which muscle-strengthening activity is queried varies among these surveys.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to use different self-report measures to examine the prevalence of meeting the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans regarding muscle-strengthening activities among women.
  
  
  METHODS
  We surveyed 606 community-dwelling women at 4 points in time across a 1.5- to 3-year time period to determine whether the respondents met the national physical activity guidelines for performing muscle-strengthening activities ≥ 2 days per week.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results were consistent across time but depended on the manner in which the question was asked. If asked to reflect over the past month or a general question about the typical number of days engaged, approximately 40% of women reported engaging in ≥ 2 days per week of resistance exercise/strength training. However, when reports were obtained weekly for 13 weeks, only approximately 18% of respondents met the guidelines.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results indicate that the timing and nature of questioning can substantially influence the self-reported prevalence of muscle-strengthening physical activities for community-dwelling women.
authors.affiliation: Dept of Kinesiology, Health Promotion, and Recreation, University of North Texas, Denton, TX.
authors.forename: Jakob L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Vingren
authors.forename: James R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Morrow
authors.forename: Elaine
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Trudelle-Jackson
authors.forename: Merly T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Mathew
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005081:Exercise Therapy; D005260:Female; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity; D053580:Muscle Strength / Q000502:physiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D055070:Resistance Training / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D057566:Self Report; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology