The heterogeneity in reported effects was reduced in higher quality studies , when physical activity was self-directed with some professional guidance and when there was on-going professional support .
Our review suggests that physical activity interventions have a moderate effect on self reported physical activity and cardio-respiratory fitness , but not on achieving a predetermined level of physical activity .
Due to the clinical and statistical heterogeneity of the studies , only limited conclusions can be drawn about the effectiveness of individual components of the interventions .
BACKGROUND Little is known about the effectiveness of strategies to enable people to achieve an increase in their physical activity .
OBJECTIVES To assess the effects of interventions for promoting physical activity in adults aged 16 years and older , not living in an institution .
Strategies for increasing early adherence to and long-term maintenance of home-based exercise training in healthy middle-aged men and women.
Two studies were undertaken to compare strategies for the adoption and maintenance of moderate-intensity , home-based exercise training . In the study of adoption , 52 men and women who had served for 6 months as controls for a study of moderate-intensity , home-based exercise training  received 30 minutes of baseline instruction . They were then r and omized to receive continuing instruction and support through 10 staff-initiated telephone contacts of 5 minutes each every 2 weeks , or to receive no telephone contacts . In subjects receiving telephone contacts , peak oxygen uptake increased significantly after 6 months , whereas no increase was observed in subjects receiving no staff support ( p less than 0.05 ) . In the maintenance study , 51 men and women who had significantly increased their peak oxygen uptake by 6 months of moderate-intensity , home-based exercise training  were r and omized to undergo daily self-monitoring and receive adherence instructions , or undergo weekly self-monitoring only , during a second 6-month period of training . Subjects performing daily self-monitoring reported completing significantly more exercise training sessions during the 6 months of training than subjects performing weekly self-monitoring ; functional capacity in both groups remained higher than before training ( p less than 0.05 ) . Taken together , these studies suggest that brief baseline instruction followed by continuing telephone contact with staff can be used to help people adopt a moderate-intensity ,  home-based exercise training program  that can be maintained by simple self-monitoring strategies
The heterogeneity in reported effects was reduced in higher quality studies , when physical activity was self-directed with some professional guidance and when there was on-going professional support .
Our review suggests that physical activity interventions have a moderate effect on self reported physical activity and cardio-respiratory fitness , but not on achieving a predetermined level of physical activity .
Due to the clinical and statistical heterogeneity of the studies , only limited conclusions can be drawn about the effectiveness of individual components of the interventions .
BACKGROUND Little is known about the effectiveness of strategies to enable people to achieve an increase in their physical activity .
OBJECTIVES To assess the effects of interventions for promoting physical activity in adults aged 16 years and older , not living in an institution .