Pennington Biomedical contributes to global study on physical activity and well-being
Study offers new insight into how physical activity and emotional well-being are connected in everyday life
Research from LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center is part of a major international study published in Nature Human Behaviour that offers new insight into how physical activity and emotional well-being are connected in everyday life.
Researchers from Ruhr University Bochum, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the Central Institute of Mental Health Mannheim analyzed data sets from more than 8,000 people to investigate how physical activity is related to good mood and positive emotions. For most people, the result was that mood improves with everyday movement. At the same time, people are more physically active when they are feeling better.
Dr. Amanda Staiano of Pennington Biomedical served as a co-author on the study, which brought together data from 67 research groups worldwide – including contributions from her research team in Baton Rouge – to better understand how movement impacts mood outside of controlled laboratory settings.
The large-scale analysis examined data from more than 8,000 participants and over 300,000 real-time mood reports collected through smartphones and wearable devices. These tools allowed researchers to capture how people feel and move throughout their daily routines – from walking and climbing stairs to household activities.
Key findings include:
- For most individuals, mood improves following everyday physical activity.
- People are also more likely to be active when they are already feeling positive.
- Energy levels showed the strongest relationship, with more than 95% of participants reporting increased energy around periods of activity.
- Individuals with lower baseline well-being experienced the greatest benefits from physical activity.
“This study reflects the growing importance of understanding health behaviors in real-world settings,” said Dr. Staiano, who directs the Pediatric Obesity and Health Behavior Laboratory. “By incorporating data from diverse populations from around the world – including participants studied here at Pennington Biomedical – we’re gaining a clearer picture of how even small amounts of daily movement can meaningfully impact how people feel.”
This study analyzed behavior in natural environments, helping researchers distinguish between how activity affects individuals over time and how people compare to one another.
While the findings confirm a strong link between physical activity and well-being, researchers note that more work is needed to determine causality and to understand why some individuals respond differently to exercise. Future studies will aim to identify the personal and environmental factors that shape these responses.
"That physical activity has a positive effect on well-being has been known for a long time – but previously only from laboratory and cross-sectional studies," said Dr. Markus Reichert of Ruhr University Bochum, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg and the Central Institute of Mental Health Mannheim, who coordinated the project.
Now, the connection has been investigated in studies that examine physical activity and well-being under natural, everyday conditions. This is made possible with the help of smartphones and similar systems. This allows everyday activities such as walking, climbing stairs and housework to be studied.
This work represents the most comprehensive analysis to date of the relationship between physical activity and mood in everyday life and underscores the role of institutions like Pennington Biomedical in advancing global health research.
About the Pennington Biomedical Research Center
The Pennington Biomedical Research Center is at the forefront of medical discovery as it relates to understanding the triggers of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and dementia. Pennington Biomedical has the vision to lead the world in promoting nutrition and metabolic health and eliminating metabolic disease through scientific discoveries that create solutions from cells to society. The center conducts basic, clinical and population research, and is a campus in the LSU System.
The research enterprise at Pennington Biomedical includes over 600 employees within a network of 44 clinics and research laboratories, and 16 highly specialized core service facilities. Its scientists and physician/scientists are supported by research trainees, lab technicians, nurses, dietitians and other support personnel. Pennington Biomedical is a globally recognized, state-of-the-art research institution in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
For more information, see www.pbrc.edu.
Journal
Nature Human Behaviour
Article Title
An individual participant data meta-analysis of how physical activity relates to affective well-being in daily life
Article Publication Date
6-May-2026
A simple 30-second sit-to-stand test that can predict how well you age
A simple sit-to-stand test that estimates muscle power and identifies individuals at higher risk of hospitalization and mortality
image:
The 30-second sit-to-stand (STS) test reveals that low relative muscle power is a key predictor of adverse health outcomes in aging populations.
view moreCredit: Dr. Francisco J. Garcia-Garcia and Dr. Luis M. Alegre from Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain Image Source Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jshs.2025.101080
The aging of the global population is one of the major demographic challenges of the 21st century. Advances in medicine and public health over recent decades have increased life expectancy. However, the real challenge lies in ensuring that these additional years are lived with independence and a good quality of life. In this context, muscle function plays a central role, often determining whether older adults remain independent or develop functional limitations and geriatric syndromes.
The musculoskeletal system is one of the most affected systems by aging. From the third decade of life, it begins to gradually decline, and this process accelerates significantly after the age of 60. Several biological changes contribute to this deterioration. Fast-twitch muscle fibers, which are responsible for generating rapid and powerful movements, progressively decrease in number and size. At the same time, the nervous system becomes less efficient at activating muscle fibers, and fat and connective tissue infiltration within the muscle increases. Altogether, these changes reduce the ability to generate force and move efficiently. Importantly, different studies have shown that muscle power declines earlier and faster than other components of the musculoskeletal system, with losses of around 2–3% per year, compared to 1.0–1.5% per year for muscle strength and about 0.5–1.0% per year for muscle mass.
Among the different components of muscle function, muscle power has emerged as a particularly important indicator of healthy aging. Muscle power refers to the ability to produce force quickly, combining both strength and velocity, and it is essential for daily movements such as walking and climbing stairs.
How can we measure muscle power in a simple way?
Traditionally, evaluating muscle power required expensive and sophisticated equipment, limiting its use in clinical practice. However, Alcazar et al. (1) developed a validated equation based on a simple functional test: the sit-to-stand (STS) test. In this test, a person is asked to stand up and sit down from a chair as many times as possible within 30 seconds, with arms crossed over the chest. Then, using the validated equation (or the POWERFRAIL app), which accounts for body mass, height, and the number of STS repetitions performed during the test, we can estimate the person’s muscle power. These values can then be normalized to body mass to obtain relative STS power.
Why should we use muscle power as a biomarker?
To better understand the role of muscle power in healthy aging, we analyzed data from 1,876 older adults aged 65 years and older from the Toledo Study for Healthy Aging, a large population-based cohort study conducted in Toledo, Spain. The study was made available online in the Journal of Sport and Health Science on August 13, 2025, and published in Volume 15 on December 01, 2026.
Using the 30-second STS test and Alcazar’s equation, we estimated each participant’s relative STS power. Based on previous research (2), we identified individuals with low relative STS power as those with values below 2.53 W/kg in men and 2.01 W/kg in women.
Falls and fractures
When we examined participants’ recent health history, clear differences emerged between individuals with normal and low relative STS power.
In men, low relative STS power was associated with a higher likelihood of previous all types of fractures and falls. In women, the pattern was slightly different. Those with low relative STS power showed a higher likelihood of previous hip fractures, and a trend was also observed for previous falls and all types of fractures.
Hospitalizations and mortality
During a follow-up period of 6 years, women with low relative STS power had a 29% higher risk of hospitalization, and they also tended to spend more days in the hospital compared with women with normal relative STS power. However, the most striking results were observed for mortality. Men with low relative STS power had a 57% higher risk of all-cause mortality compared with those with normal relative STS power. In women, the association was even stronger. Those with low relative STS power had more than double the risk of death (104% higher) during the follow-up period (9 years).
Conclusion
In just 30 seconds, a simple movement like standing up from a chair can reveal a person’s risk of falls, hospitalization, and even death. Muscle power is not only essential for maintaining independence, but also a powerful biomarker of how well we age. Measuring it is simple; its implications are profound.
Reference
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jshs.2025.101080
Media Contact
Name: Francisco J Garcia-Garcia
Email: franjogarcia@telefonica.net
Tel: + 034 925 26 93 00 ext 2607
Journal
Journal of Sport and Health Science
Method of Research
Observational study
Subject of Research
People
Article Title
Low relative sit-to-stand power is associated with history of falls and fractures, prospective hospitalization, and all-cause mortality in older adults from the Toledo study for healthy aging
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