Vtrim Community Blog » PDA http://www.vtrimblog.org An online approach to weight loss from the University of Vermont Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:07:06 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.3 en hourly 1 Use your cell phone or PDA to keep you moving! http://www.vtrimblog.org/weight-management-blog/use-your-cell-phone-or-pda-to-keep-you-moving/ http://www.vtrimblog.org/weight-management-blog/use-your-cell-phone-or-pda-to-keep-you-moving/#comments Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:39:25 +0000 Heather Leonard http://www.vtrimblog.org/?p=37 Do you carry a cell phone with a calendar feature or a PDA (personal digital assistant)? If so, you are holding a great tool to keep you on track with your exercise schedule! A recent study at Stanford University found that people who used PDAs programmed to remind them to exercise throughout the day were twice as active as a control group of participants who did not carry a PDA.

In the study, participants were assigned to one of two groups: 1) the PDA group or 2) the control group. The PDA group received PDAs that were programmed to beep a few times throughout the day with reminders to exercise. If the reminder was ignored, the PDA beeped again after 30 minutes. An evening reminder also prompted participants to think about their exercise goals for the next day. In contrast, the control group participants received some exercise handouts to read.

The control group averaged only 2 hours of exercise per week, while the PDA group averaged 5 hours of exercise per week, more than double the control group. So if you need a reminder to fit in more movement throughout the day, try setting your cell phone calendar or your PDA to remind you to get your workout in. The more you keep exercise in the forefront of your thoughts, the more likely you are to get it done!

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