Twelve Weeks of Web-Based Low to Moderate Physical Activity Breaks with Coordinative Exercises at the Workplace Increase Motor Skills but Not Motor Abilities in Office Workers-A Randomised Controlled Pilot Study

Abstract

Integrating physical activity interventions at the workplace can have positive effects on the employees' health. This study aimed to evaluate a physical activity break with coordinative exercises (PAB) including juggling and balance tasks and to assess its effects on motor abilities. Thirty-two university employees were randomly allocated to an intervention (IG:20) or a control (CG:12) group. The IG participated two times per week for 12 weeks in a PAB with a duration of 15 to 20 min. We measured the unimanual, bimanual finger, and hand dexterity with the Purdue Pegboard Test, the reaction time with the Fall Stick Test, and the dynamic balance with the Y Balance Test. Juggling performance was assessed by measuring the time(s) of performing a three-ball-cascade. Furthermore, an evaluation of the PAB was executed. Participants in the IG improved their juggling performance after six and twelve weeks. These increases were significantly different compared to the CG. However, no other parameters changed significantly. The evaluation showed that the PAB was enjoyable and led to subjective improvements in the participants health and working routine. To conclude, PAB can lead to improvements in juggling performance, subjective health, and the working routine.

Keywords: adult; balance training; juggling; motor fitness; physical activity break; work health promotion.

Figure 2

Exercises (a) “Line”, (b) “Wiper plus”, and (c) “Statue of Liberty”.

Figure 1

Flow diagram of participants.

Figure 3

Means and standard deviations of the 3-ball-cascade absolute time before (week 0), during (week 6), and after (week 12) for the intervention group. * significant difference to week 0 for the IG, # significant difference to week 6 for the IG; ° significant difference between IG and CG; KG: n = 10.

Figure 4

Spearman’s correlation of the changes over 12 weeks of the 3-ball-cascade absolute time and the changes in reaction time over 12 weeks of the absolute distance of the dominant hand at the Fall Stick Test. The negative relationship between Δ the reaction time and Δ the juggling performance represent a positive result: the greater the reduction of the reaction time, the greater the increase in juggling performance.