Classifying the non-metabolic demands of different physical activity types: The Physical Activity Demand (PAD) typology

Different physical activity types vary in metabolic demand (intensity), but also in non-metabolic physical demand (balance, co-ordination, speed and flexibility), cognitive demand (attention, memory and decision making), and social demand (social interaction). Activity types with different combinations of demands may have different effects on health outcomes but this cannot be formally tested until such demands can be reliably quantified. The present Delphi expert consensus study aimed to objectively quantify the cognitive, physical and social demands of different core physical activity types and use these scores to create a formal Physical Activity Demand (PAD) typology. International experts (n = 40; experts in cognitive science, psychology, sports science and physiology; 7 different nationalities; 18 male/22 female; M = 13.75 years of disciplinary experience) systematically rated the intrinsic cognitive, physical and social demands of 61 common activity types over 2-rounds of a modified Delphi (expert consensus) study. Consensus (>70% agreement) was reached after 2 rounds on the demands of 59/61 activity types. Cognitive, physical and social demand scores were combined to create an overall non-metabolic demand rating for each activity type, and two-step cluster-analysis was used to identify groups of activities with comparable demand profiles. Three distinct clusters of activities were identified representing activity types with low (n = 12 activities; e.g. domestic cleaning), moderate (n = 23 activities; e.g. tai-chi) and high (n = 24 activities; e.g. football) total non-metabolic demands. These activity types were then organised into a formal typology. This typology can now be used to test hypotheses about if and why physical activity types with different combinations of cognitive, physical and social demands affect health outcomes in different ways.

Automated summary

Different physical activity types have varying levels of cognitive, physical, and social demands. This study quantified these demands for 61 common activity types and created a formal Physical Activity Demand (PAD) typology. Three clusters of activities with low, moderate, and high non-metabolic demands were identified. This typology can be used to investigate the effects of different combinations of demands on health outcomes.