The World Health Organisation physical activity guidelines include recommendations for aerobic and muscle strengthening physical activity (MSPA). While there has been much focus within public health research on guideline adherence, and the health benefits of being physically activity, the recommendations on MSPA have been coined ‘the forgotten’ component of the physical activity guidelines.

Research has highlighted that MSPA can have protective effects on health, yet less is known about the correlates that relate to engagement in MSPA. Behaviour change theory (BCT) provides a basis for the advancement of public health behavioural science, providing a lens to identify key variables that influence behaviour, which can then be targeted, modified, and analysed in interventions. Decades of behaviour change research have advanced our understanding of aerobic physical activity, and how to promote this behaviour, however, there has been limited BCT focus on MSPA to date.

Understanding the factors that underpin MSPA behaviours is of key significance to practitioners, policy makers, and health providers. This project aims to identify the correlates and mechanisms that influence engagement in MPSA. The project will apply behaviour change theory to examine motivations influence how an individual engages and sustains a behaviour, in this instance, MSPA.

The project will involve three distinct yet complementary studies:

1. Conduct a scoping review of the literature on MSPA correlates through the lens of behaviour change models.

2. Develop a novel BCT-informed, longitudinal, international survey on correlates, mediating mechanisms, and outcomes of MSPA in the general population.

3. Implement a coproduction model to research barriers and facilitators of MSPA in a selected population (e.g., adolescents, people with health conditions) and explore preferences for development of a novel MSPA intervention.

4. Pilot a co-produced, BCT informed, intervention to assess potential mechanisms of MSPA behaviour change and health outcomes related to MSPA.