Suggestions on motivating couch potatoes

PROVIDENCE, R.I., June 19 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say great strides have been made in understanding the benefits of exercise, but the challenge now is to motivate couch potatoes.

Lead author David Williams of The Miriam Hospital in Providence, R.I., and colleagues searched medical research and based on effectiveness, identified 14 randomized controlled trials designed to test interventions specifically targeting walking behavior.

"Walking is the most prevalent and preferred method of physical activity for both work and leisure purposes, making it a prime target for exercise interventions," Williams says in a statement.

The researchers find successful intervention strategies include:

-- Telephone prompts reminding program participants to continue walking.

-- Encouraging high frequency walking -- five to seven days per week -- is more effective in increasing walking than prescribing less frequent -- three to five days per week -- walking.

-- Encouraging walking at a moderate pace is more effective than prescribing high intensity walking.

-- Encouraging participants to walk in single bouts or multiple sessions -- 30 minutes at once, or three, 10-minute walks -- were equally effective.

The findings are published in the July issue of Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise.