Table 1 Intervention arms employed in the study protocol

SUR

Overfeeding (50%) and restricted physical activity (≤4000 steps day⁻¹)

SUR + ARM

Overfeeding (50% + energy expended during exercise) and restricted physical activity (≤4000 steps day⁻¹) with a daily bout of vigorous-intensity arm crank ergometry (45 -min at 70% V̇O_2peak)

SUR + MOD

Overfeeding (50% + energy expended during exercise) and restricted physical activity (≤4000 steps day⁻¹) with a daily bout of moderate-intensity treadmill walking (45 -min at 50% V̇O_2max)

SUR + BREAKS

Overfeeding (50% + energy expended during walking bouts) with addition of intermittent short bouts of walking during waking hours equivalent to the energy that would be expended by each participant during exercise if they had been allocated to the SUR + MOD group with an additional allowance of 4000 steps day⁻¹to account for permissible residual physical activity in the other groups