Physical activity during the stay-at-home restrictions

Dr Lindsay Bottoms, Dr Katie Newby and her team are looking at how our physical activity habits may be changing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The ‘stay-at-home’ instructions meant that opportunities for physical activity were more limited than ever before, but being able leave the house for physical activity may have encouraged some of us to get out for a regular walk, run or cycle, perhaps even for the first time. Some may have found new and creative ways to be active at home. Equally, some of us may have found that were less able to be physically active or that nothing changed. Their research will look at different outcomes and will aim to discover more about how physical activity habits form and change over time.

Watch this space for their findings in the next few weeks!

'Our study is exploring how physical activity habits have formed and changed during the UK lockdown. 300 participants are completing daily or weekly diaries of their physical activity habits and we will be exploring several factors including: whether prior physical activity habits will influence levels of activity during lockdown, the type of motivation that influences habit strength, and how physical activity is used to manage anxiety for those with and without existing habits.'

Dr Lindsay Bottoms