The recently updated World Health Organization 2020 Guidelines on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour recommends that adults should partake in 150–300 min of moderate-intensity or 75–150 min of vigorous-intensity physical activity (or some combination of both) whilst reducing sedentary behaviour. The lockdown has a clear rationale behind reducing exposure to and transmission of COVID-19, however, this may have also substantially disrupted individuals' daily routines, including physical activity and sedentary behaviour levels, which are known to impact long-term health. In the United Kingdom (UK) on March 23rd 2020, the government enforced a national lockdown during which people could leave their household for essential reasons only, such as the collection of food, medicine, and outdoor exercise once per day.

Global government strategies to control the spread of COVID-19 included limiting social interaction using enforced national lockdowns. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) as a Global Health Emergency. Now that the UK is transitioning to a state of normal living, strategies that can help individuals gradually return to physical activities, in accordance with the 2020 WHO guidelines, are of paramount importance to reducing risks to health associated with physical inactivity and sedentary behaviour. The median level of total weekly physical activity significantly reduced (− 15%, p £25,000). Differences in day-to-day and recreational physical activity (at moderate and vigorous intensities), travel via foot/cycle, and sedentary behaviour were compared before and during the initial COVID-19 lockdown. MethodsĪn online survey was completed by n = 266 adults living within the UK. Physical activity and sedentary behaviour levels are likely to have changed during this period. The United Kingdom (UK) government imposed its first national lockdown in response to COVID-19 on the 23rd of March 2020.

Compendium of physical activities 2021