Sedentary Behavior among National Elite Rowers during Off-Training-A Pilot Study

• Published in: Frontiers in physiology Vol. 8; p. 655
• Main Authors: Sperlich, Billy, Becker, Martin, Hotho, Andreas, Wallmann-Sperlich, Birgit, Sareban, Mahdi, Winkert, Kay, Steinacker, Jürgen M, Treff, Gunnar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 20.09.2017
• Subjects: accelerometer; microsoft band 2; multi-sensor; Physiology; recovery; sedentary behavior; wearable; wearable; recovery; microsoft band 2; multi-sensor; sedentary behavior; accelerometer
• ISSN: 1664-042X; 1664-042X
• DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2017.00655

The aim of this pilot study was to analyze the off-training physical activity (PA) profile in national elite German U23 rowers during 31 days of their preparation period. The hours spent in each PA category (i.e., sedentary: <1.5 metabolic equivalents (MET); light physical activity: 1.5-3 MET; moderate physical activity: 3-6 MET and vigorous intense physical activity: >6 MET) were calculated for every valid day (i.e., >480 min of wear time). The off-training PA during 21 weekdays and 10 weekend days of the final 11-week preparation period was assessed by the wrist-worn multisensory device Microsoft Band II (MSBII). A total of 11 rowers provided valid data (i.e., >480 min/day) for 11.6 week days and 4.8 weekend days during the 31 days observation period. The average sedentary time was 11.63 ± 1.25 h per day during the week and 12.49 ± 1.10 h per day on the weekend, with a tendency to be higher on the weekend compared to weekdays ( = 0.06; = 0.73). The average time in light, moderate and vigorous PA during the weekdays was 1.27 ± 1.15, 0.76 ± 0.37, 0.51 ± 0.44 h per day, and 0.67 ± 0.43, 0.59 ± 0.37, 0.53 ± 0.32 h per weekend day. Light physical activity was higher during weekdays compared to the weekend ( = 0.04; = 0.69). Based on our pilot study of 11 national elite rowers we conclude that rowers display a considerable sedentary off-training behavior of more than 11.5 h/day.