The Association Between Sedentary Behaviour and Cardiometabolic Health in Trained Athletes (HPAC)

Do Trained Athletes Also Suffer From the Sedentary Behaviour Paradigm?: the Association Between Sedentary Behaviour and Cardiometabolic Health

Physical inactivity is one of the major contributing factors for the development of chronic diseases and highly correlated with increased all-cause mortality. In the last decade an exponential growth in research concerned with the study of sedentary behaviour and the potential for detrimental effects on health have been published. In this field increasing evidence suggests that prolonged periods of sedentary time, independent of the amount of physical activity, also increases the risk for the development of several chronic conditions and all-cause mortality. Here, sedentary behaviour is defined as "any waking behaviour, characterized by a low energy expenditure (≤1.5 METs), while being in a sitting or reclining posture". Interestingly, the advised moderate-to-vigorous bouts of exercise recommended by the various guidelines cannot compensate the negative impact on health risks arising from prolonged periods of sitting. In other words, it seems that people compensate their total amount of physical activity after exercise training by decreasing their physical activity levels throughout the rest of the day. Here, it appears that frequent, even low-intensity interruptions of periods of sitting are required for good cardiometabolic health. Therefore, not only physical activity but also prolonged sitting should be targeted to optimize cardiometabolic health. Nevertheless, a recent harmonized meta-syntheses indicated that the association between self-reported sitting with all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality are only partially independent of physical activity, but were particularly evident in those who undertake insufficient physical activity (<150min/week). However, it is unclear whether high amounts of objectively measured physical activity attenuates or even eliminates the detrimental effects of prolonged sitting. In addition, it is still unclear whether high amounts of physical activity can preserve a healthy cardiometabolic risk profile, despite prolonged sitting. Therefore, in this study we want to investigate the association between sedentary behaviour, physical activity and cardiometabolic health in highly physically active adults.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Physical Activity; Sedentary Behavior; Athletes; Cardiometabolic Health
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Physical activity and sedentary behaviour

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 60

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Belgium
  • Limburg
    • Diepenbeek, Limburg, Belgium, 3590
      • Wouter Franssen

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 45 years (ADULT)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: N/A
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Probability Sample

Study Population

Active individuals with at least 4 training hours per week and between 18 and 45 years of age.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Active individuals with at least 4 training hours per week

Exclusion Criteria:

• pregnancy
• Any known contradiction for physical activity
• Systolic blood pressure >160mmHg, diastolic blood pressure >100mmHg
• More than 20 alcohol consumptions per week
• Participants diagnosed with any known chronic disease

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Trained athletes; Active individuals with at least 4 training hours per week.	Behavioral: Physical activity and sedentary behaviour; Athletes with a high physical activity and a low or high sedentary time

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Sedentary time (min/day)	Main outcome parameter of sedentary behaviour indication measured with ActivPAL3	day 1

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity time (min/day)	Physical activity parameter measured with ActivPAL3	day 1
Light physical activity time (min/day)	Physical activity parameter measured with ActivPAL3	day 1
Blood glucose concentration	Parameter of glucose homeostatis	day 1
Blood insulin concentration	Parameter of glucose homeostatis	day1
Blood total cholesterol concentration	Parameter of lipid metabolism	day 1
Blood triglyceride concentration	Parameter of lipid metabolism	day 1
Blood high density lipoprotein concentration	Parameter of lipid metabolism	day 1
Blood low density lipoprotein concentration	Parameter of lipid metabolism	day 1
Fat mass (kg)	Parameter of body composition measured with DEXA-scan	day 1
Lean mass (kg)	Parameter of body composition measured with DEXA-scan	day 1
Systolic blood pressure	Parameter of cardiovascular health	day 1
Diastolic blood pressure	Parameter of cardiovascular health	day 1
Maximal oxygen uptake	Parameter of oxygen capacity measured with cardiopulmonary exercise testing	day 1

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Hasselt University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (ACTUAL): January 10, 2021
• Primary Completion (ACTUAL): August 1, 2021
• Study Completion (ACTUAL): October 1, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 13, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 14, 2021
• First Posted (ACTUAL): January 15, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ACTUAL): March 15, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 14, 2022
• Last Verified: March 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: CME2020/012

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No