We are looking for new ways to utilize technology and motivate kids to use exercise to improve their overall wellbeing!

What is MOTAFIT? 

We are a team of researchers looking to motivate adolescents to exercise and improve their fitness and wellbeing. This project will provide you with a specialised exercise program of activities you enjoy to help get you active, and get the maximal fitness and health benefits from the activities you do.

The project will use mobile technologies to guide you through the program and provide you feedback throughout to make sure you are reaching your goals.

MOTAFIT uses smartwatches within their studies

Why are we doing this project?

Being physically active and exercising is really important it helps keep the blood vessels healthy and improves our fitness.

Lots of kids find it hard to be physically active and stick with an exercise routine. We are doing this study to find new ways to motivate young people to exercise regularly. 

Do smart watches help improve activity in youth? 

We would like to know if wearing a smart watch and receiving help from an exercise expert makes it easier for youth to begin and maintain regular exercise. Everyone who joins the study will receive regular exercise help from our exercise expert, but half of all participants will also receive a fitness watch and mobile app with an individualized exercise program. 

What is it like to be a part of this study?

We want to motivate kids to exercise & improve their fitness and wellbeing
  • Co-design a 3-month plan with an exercise specialist.
  • Half of the participants will borrow a fitness watch and mobile app with an individual exercise program.
  • Attend three health assessments at the UBCO Laboratory throughout the study.
  • Participants will be paid for their time in the lab once the study is completed.
  • Each visit lasts approximately 2 hours and includes:
    • Indoor Bike Assessment: 8-12 minutes.
    • Ultrasound of Blood Vessels.

Are you interested in joining?

Free home-based exercise program for Kids 13-16.

Are you between the ages of 13-16 years old and live in the Okanagan? Are you interested in joining an exercise program? Then we want to hear from you! Send our team an email, or reach out for more information. 

Ali McManus

Professor

Prof Ali McManus developed her interest and excitement in pediatric exercise physiology while completing her doctorate at the Children’s Health and Exercise Research Centre, University of Exeter U.K. She held a faculty position at the University of Hong Kong for 18 years, before joining the School of Health and Exercise Sciences at UBC Okanagan. Prof  McManus and her team use various experimental conditions such as prolonged sitting and hypoxia to alter the cardiopulmonary and cerebrovascular responses to exercise and use this information to decipher the mechanisms that underlie child-adult differences. She has secured significant funding (NSERC, CIHR, Heart & Stroke Foundation, Stober Foundation) to support and encourage these research endeavors. As current Editor-in-Chief of Pediatric Exercise Science, she is dedicated to actively contributing to the field.

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