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Global Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Physical Activity Habits of Competitive Runners: An Analysis of Wearable Device Data

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  • Julia Lee Romero

    (Department of Computer Science, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA)

  • Qin Lv

    (Department of Computer Science, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in government restrictions that altered the lifestyle of people worldwide. Studying the impact of these restrictions on exercise behaviors will improve our understanding of the environmental factors that influence individuals’ physical activity (PA). We conducted a retrospective analysis using an stringency index of government pandemic policies developed by Oxford University and digitally-logged PA data from more than 7000 runners collected using a wearable exercise-tracking device to compare the relationship between strictness of lockdowns and exercise habits on a global scale. Additionally, the time-of-day of PA globally, and activity-levels of PA in 14 countries, are compared between the pre-pandemic year of 2019 and the first pandemic year of 2020. We found that during the pandemic year there was a major shift in the time-of-day that runners exercised, with significantly more activity counts logged during standard working hours on workdays ( p < 0.001) and fewer activities during the same time frame on weekends ( p < 0.001). Of the countries examined, Italy and Spain had among the most strict lockdowns and suffered the largest decreases in activity counts, whereas France experienced a minimal decrease in activity counts despite enacting a strict lockdown with certain allowances. This study suggests that there are several factors affecting PA of dedicated runners, including government policy, workplace policy, and cultural norms.

Suggested Citation

  • Julia Lee Romero & Qin Lv, 2022. "Global Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Physical Activity Habits of Competitive Runners: An Analysis of Wearable Device Data," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-12, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:19:p:12933-:d:937571
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Thomas Hale & Noam Angrist & Rafael Goldszmidt & Beatriz Kira & Anna Petherick & Toby Phillips & Samuel Webster & Emily Cameron-Blake & Laura Hallas & Saptarshi Majumdar & Helen Tatlow, 2021. "A global panel database of pandemic policies (Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker)," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 5(4), pages 529-538, April.
    2. Kele Ding & Jingzhen Yang & Ming-Kai Chin & Lindsay Sullivan & J. Larry Durstine & Verónica Violant-Holz & Giyasettin Demirhan & Nara R.C. Oliveira & Biljana Popeska & Garry Kuan & Waheeda Khan & Jian, 2021. "Physical Activity among Adults Residing in 11 Countries during the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-16, July.
    3. Venter, Zander & Barton, David & gundersen, vegard & Figari, Helene & Nowell, Megan, 2020. "Urban nature in a time of crisis: recreational use of green space increases during the COVID-19 outbreak in Oslo, Norway," SocArXiv kbdum, Center for Open Science.
    4. Diederik R. de Boer & Femke Hoekstra & Kimberley I. M. Huetink & Trynke Hoekstra & Leonie A. Krops & Florentina J. Hettinga, 2021. "Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior and Well-Being of Adults with Physical Disabilities and/or Chronic Diseases during the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Rapid Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(12), pages 1-21, June.
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