The COVID-19 Pandemic and Exercise Study

Global stay-at-home mandates implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic are having
substantial negative effects on mental health. Developing approaches to maintain the mental
health of all individuals during this unprecedented time of physical distancing is of
paramount importance. In the proposed low cost randomized controlled trial (RCT), the
investigators seek to answer whether the use of a mobile app that provides a variety of
physical activities appropriate for home workouts [i.e., high intensity interval training
(HIIT), yoga] can improve wellbeing and health in adults mandated to stay at home. Should the
results of this trial support the efficacy of the intervention (via app delivery), this has
the potential to be implemented and delivered rapidly and at scale.

Engaging in regular physical activity confers reduced risk for mental disorders (e.g.
depression, anxiety) in clinical and non-clinical populations. The investigators' recent
evidence also suggests that becoming physically active reduces depressive symptoms, as well
as negative affect and rumination on a daily basis, while improving daily positive affect and
a sense of control in highly stressed adults. With fitness centres currently closed by
mandate, becoming physically active during the COVID-19 pandemic could prove to be a
challenge for individuals who are typically inactive, those mandated to stay-at-home, or
those who do not have opportunities to access outdoor spaces that provide the recommended two
meters of distance between people. Thus, the investigators seek to support those living under
stay-at-home mandates with access to mobile apps that provide opportunities to be physically
active in the home environment.

The study will focus on physical activities requiring little physical space or equipment that
are easily completed at home. The study includes yoga, a movement-based activity that
promotes relaxation and mindfulness and only requires space for the full length and width of
one's body, and a mat as equipment. Yoga has been shown to be effective in improving physical
function and quality of life in RCTs. The study also includes whole body weight (WBW)-based
HIIT, which also only requires a mat, making it an excellent home-based form of aerobic
exercise. HIIT is characterized as bouts of high-intensity exercise combined with periods of
recovery or lower intensity activity. Its physical and psychological benefits compared to
continuous moderate intensity training are often evidenced to be equal or significantly
stronger.

Aims. The primary outcome will be a measure of depressive symptomology. It is hypothesized
that those who actively use the yoga and/or WBW-HIIT mobile apps will improve in their
depressive symptomatology compared to the waitlist control group over the course of the
6-week RCT. The study will also include measures of, as secondary outcomes, psychological
distress, quality of life, and self-reported physical health, and expect decreases in
distress and increases in the remaining outcomes. The researchers will also investigate
whether effects are stronger in those (a) who currently live alone vs. live with others, or
(b) with poorer levels of psychological health pre-randomization.