Couch Potatoes Overestimate Exercise Intensity
Couch Potatoes Overestimate Exercise Intensity
Sept. 11, 2001 -- When they finally get up off the sofa and head toward the gym, many couch potatoes think they worked out harder than they actually did, a new study suggests.
The study, published in a recent issue of the journal Preventive Medicine, suggests that this misperception may lessen an inactive adult's efforts to stave off heart disease.
To arrive at their findings, researchers evaluated the frequency, intensity, and duration of activity among inactive adults and then compared the findings with the participants' logs of their physical activity.
While the participants accurately recalled the length of time they exercised, they greatly overestimated the intensity at which they did so, report the researchers, led by Glen E. Duncan, PhD, a postdoctoral associate at the University of Florida at Gainesville.
"We were surprised by how poorly our adult sample estimated their physical activity intensity," Duncan tells WebMD.
Exactly why adults may overestimate the intensity at which they exercise is not fully understood, but Duncan says "it is hard for most adults who have not exercised for some time to gauge the intensity of their activity," he says.
While any physical activity is better than none at all, higher levels of exercise intensity are better for the heart, so that's why getting a person to gradually build up to a higher intensity level may lead to the greatest health benefits, Duncan says.
Compliance, however, is the kicker, he says. "Compliance/adherence is definitely an issue because exercise adherence tends to be worse when the intensity is set at a higher level. The key issue, then, is to get people active at any intensity level [and] over time, as fitness improves, higher intensity exercise [then] is probably [even better for the heart]," he says.
But intensity can't be set too high, he tells WebMD. "The 'optimal' exercise intensity is still elusive," he says.
Lewis G. Maharam, MD, a sports medicine specialist in New York and the president of the New York chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine, is not at all surprised by the fact that most of the study participants could not accurately recall the intensity of their exercise.
Couch Potatoes Overestimate Exercise Intensity
The study, published in a recent issue of the journal Preventive Medicine, suggests that this misperception may lessen an inactive adult's efforts to stave off heart disease.
To arrive at their findings, researchers evaluated the frequency, intensity, and duration of activity among inactive adults and then compared the findings with the participants' logs of their physical activity.
While the participants accurately recalled the length of time they exercised, they greatly overestimated the intensity at which they did so, report the researchers, led by Glen E. Duncan, PhD, a postdoctoral associate at the University of Florida at Gainesville.
"We were surprised by how poorly our adult sample estimated their physical activity intensity," Duncan tells WebMD.
Exactly why adults may overestimate the intensity at which they exercise is not fully understood, but Duncan says "it is hard for most adults who have not exercised for some time to gauge the intensity of their activity," he says.
While any physical activity is better than none at all, higher levels of exercise intensity are better for the heart, so that's why getting a person to gradually build up to a higher intensity level may lead to the greatest health benefits, Duncan says.
Compliance, however, is the kicker, he says. "Compliance/adherence is definitely an issue because exercise adherence tends to be worse when the intensity is set at a higher level. The key issue, then, is to get people active at any intensity level [and] over time, as fitness improves, higher intensity exercise [then] is probably [even better for the heart]," he says.
But intensity can't be set too high, he tells WebMD. "The 'optimal' exercise intensity is still elusive," he says.
Lewis G. Maharam, MD, a sports medicine specialist in New York and the president of the New York chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine, is not at all surprised by the fact that most of the study participants could not accurately recall the intensity of their exercise.
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