Description
Intervention design: At least 30 minutes of strengthening exercises and 2 hours of aerobic exercise per week. Details about the exercise intervention, structured motivational interviewing, exercise intensity prescription, activity counseling and individual training monitoring in an online diary are provided in the online supplement. People involved: 117 participants, Intervention, n = 60 and Control Group, n = 57 Barriers identified: The barriers reported by participants were not wanting to be randomized to an intense physical activity (PA) program due to other priorities (e.g. school exams) and the 50% chance of being randomized to the control group, despite knowing about the importance of regular PA through the study information. Sustainability: A supervised exercise intervention in FQ (5) showed that 3 × 30 minutes of aerobic training or muscle strengthening training per week could significantly improve FEV1 in the 6 months following the intervention. An additional two hours of vigorous PA per week in our intervention group participants should therefore be sufficient to improve FEV1. Our results indicate that a sharp increase in vigorous PA (most likely) represents the wrong approach to improving lung health for the majority of people with CF who are relatively sedentary. Transferability: Given the multiple benefits of PA established in various populations, healthcare providers are advised to motivate people with CF to be physically active, without pressure but with appropriate supervision, including setting individual goals with the aim of building positive long-term activity behavior.