Objective: The present study assessed changes in the daily steps of university students according to sex and lifestyles during the novel coronavirus disease （COVID-19） pandemic.

Methods: The subjects were 85 male and 109 female university students in their third and fourth year of study. The number of daily steps was assessed by the use of a smartphone software application. The number of daily steps was collected for 10 diff erent periods from December 2019, before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan, to October 2020, during the hybrid learning period. A two-way analysis of variance adjusted for location and the frequency that individuals carried their smartphones was conducted to examine changes in the number of steps across sex and lifestyles (exercise habits and part-time job status, and main learning route during the hybrid learning period). When a main eff ect of time was found, a one-way analysis of variance was conducted for each group.

Results: In this study, the pattern of change in the daily steps during the COVID-19 pandemic did not diff er according to sex and lifestyle. There was a diff erence in the number of daily steps by sex and exercise habit. The number of daily steps was the lowest compared to before the COVID-19 outbreak when the declaration of the state of emergency, with a decrease of 48.3% in males and 54.9% in females. Although the number of daily steps tended to increase from the remote learning period, the number of daily steps did not recover to the value observed before the pandemic onset, even during the hybrid learning period.

Conclusion: During the novel infectious disease epidemic, various measures are therefore needed to promote an improvement in the decreased level of physical activity regardless of sex and lifestyle among university students.

Objective: To quantify the associations between muscle-strengthening activities and risk of noncommunicable diseases and mortality in adults independent of aerobic activities.

Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies.

Data sources: MEDLINE and Embase were searched from inception to June 2021, and the reference lists of all related articles were reviewed.

Eligibility criteria for selecting studies: Prospective cohort studies that examined the association between muscle-strengthening activities and health outcomes in adults aged ≥ 18 years without severe health conditions.

Results: Sixteen studies met the eligibility criteria. Muscle-strengthening activities were associated with a 10−17% lower risk of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, total cancer, diabetes, and lung cancer. No association was found between muscle-strengthening activities and the risk of some site-specific cancers (colon, kidney, bladder, and pancreatic cancers). J-shaped associations with the maximum risk reduction (approximately 10−20%) at approximately 30−60 min/week of muscle-strengthening activities were found for all-cause mortality, CVD, and total cancer, whereas an L-shaped association showing a large risk reduction at up to 60 min/week of muscle-strengthening activities was observed for diabetes. Combined muscle-strengthening and aerobic activities (vs. none) were associated with a lower risk of all-cause, CVD, and total cancer mortality.

Conclusion: Muscle-strengthening activities were inversely associated with the risk of all-cause mortality and major non-communicable diseases including CVD, total cancer, diabetes, and lung cancer; however, the influence of a higher volume of muscle-strengthening activities on all-cause mortality, CVD, and total cancer is unclear when considering the observed J-shaped associations.

Systematic review registration: PROSPERO CRD42020219808