Table 3 Enablers: Themes and illustrative quotes mapped to COM-B

Opportunity – physical

Convenience, killing two birds with one stone, can get things done quickly, completing unpleasant things faster, time utilization

Convenience

for me it’s just convenience. Uhm the shops are just five minutes away. Easier to walk than to go down to the garage and take out the car and drive (female, age 38, good health, slightly overweight, FG4)

Young (FG4, FG5, FG18)

Middle (FG1)

Old (FG8, FG14, FG17)

Avoiding the gym, means to an end, what counts as physical activity, being mindful of opportunities, purposeful activity

Reframing physical activity

I guess, um, like I, I do carry the shopping around the shops and it hadn’t occurred to me that that was actually a short daily intense movement. But, you know, by the time you’ve got a few liters of milk and then a bag of flour and something like that, it’s quite heavy, (laughs), to carry these bags of shopping around (female, age 62, very good health status, about the right weight, FG17)

Young (FG5, FG10, FG18)

Middle (FG1, FG6, FG7, FG15)

Old (FG2, FG8, FG12, FG13, FG14)

Remind oneself to pick up the pace, reminders are useful, being mindful of opportunities

Use of prompts and reminders

I think those incremental reminders through your watch or your Fitbit or whatever, for me, are really handy. The little reminders of go for a three minute or two-minute walk and you’re reaching your goal for the day, you’re on a good track to reach your goal for the day, those little reminders to go "Okay, only two minutes. Right. Okay. I will go and do this now." It doesn’t have to be going, if it’s 20-minute walk, it might be a different thing. Just those little reminders throughout the day that vibrate on your wrist are a great motivator for me (Female, age 53, very good health, very overweight, FG11)

Young (FG10, FG18)

Middle (FG1, FG11)

Old (FG2, FG12, FG13)

Opportunity – social

Doesn’t want to be the odd one out, norms

Normalization of taking the active option

When you’re on your own, your decision-making, uh, may be different, or you may be less inclined to move more, but if you’re in a group situation and ... You know, for example, everyone is taking the stairs, of course, you don’t want to be the odd, odd one out. And, um, that social aspect remains where you can chat to each other as you climb the stairs. And it’s integrated into sort of your life. So, if you’re out on a day with your girlfriends at the shopping center. So, it has more incentive in a group situation to follow the herd, I think. (Female, age 41, very good health, slightly overweight, FG5)

Young (FG3, FG4, FG5)

Middle (FG1, FG6, FG7, FG11, FG16)

Old (FG2, FG8, FG13, FG14, FG17)

Gamification

when you’re counting steps after uhm, I would ah take steps instead of lift because those also count towards your steps. Uhm, so yeah I would definitely do that if you were like counting steps for say a competition with your friends or with your family. I would do that. (Female, age 35, good health, slightly overweight, FG4)

Young (FG4, FG5)

Middle (FG1, FG6, FG11)

Motivation – reflective

Feeling good, intensity as an indicator of achievement

Sense of achievement

I've started doing some more around that, around that, n-, here, I think, I haven’t long been, well, I, I wasn’t born in the area so I’m just exp-, experimenting the area now. And I’ve actually found some hills and I’m actually gonna walk up and down them, because the flat ground, it doesn’t give me enough. I do walk it every day, sort of, but I find the flat, well it isn’t, doesn’t give me enough, it doesn’t make me puffed out so a, a hill actually makes me puffed out. Then I feel as though I’ve done some work. (laughs) (Female, age 71, excellent health, slightly overweight, FG17)

Young (FG18)

Middle (FG1, FG5, FG6, FG9,

FG11,

FG15, FG16)

Old (FG2, FG8, FG12,

FG13

FG14, FG17)

Benefits of VILPA, health benefits

Health improvements

I used to set small challenges for myself, you know. I used to time myself because it’s quite a big hill, but I don’t do that anymore. So, I... I think initially I used to do it, but... but I... I believe it’s good for me, so I keep on doing it, and... and I enjoy it. So if I don’t believe there’s any benefit, I'll stop it, but I do believe there’s... it’s beneficial for me, for my health (Male, age 59, good health, slightly overweight, FG9).

Young (FG18)

Middle (FG1, FG5, FG9, FG11, FG16)

Old (FG2, FG12, FG13, FG14)

Rewards, intrinsic rewards

Personally salient rewards

Can you make it five minutes? That’d probably be better for me. (laughs) I actually find that if, if I’m doing something like if I need to do house work, um, I actually break it up into, um, separate activities that I’ll do maybe try and do 20 minutes or maybe half an hour of intense something and then take a 10 or 15 minute break. And then do the same thing repeatedly. So, so I find, I find that actually makes me move a bit quicker, uh, or makes me more inclined to get things done because it’s, it’s like, “Ah, I've only got, I've only got half an hour of this to and then pause.” And then you go again with, “Oh, I've only got half an hour of this to do and then pause again.” (Male, age 45, poor health, very overweight, FG15)

Young (FG18)

Middle (FG15)

Old (FG8, FG12, FG14,

FG17)

Motivation - automatic

Better aligned with lifestyle, VILPA is more natural, prefers VILPA over other activities, focus away from the activity

Identity fit

I don’t like exercise. I've never been to a gym and, and I don’t want to go either. Uhm, so for me uhm again, being able to do this gym style huffing and puffing and increasing the heart rate through natural means, to me is more beneficial (Male, age 54, very good health, slightly overweight, FG1)

Young (FG19)

Middle (FG1, FG6)

Old (FG12, FG17)

Creating a habit, restructuring daily routine, not thinking about it

Changing from effortful deliberation to habitual action

I think the pennies just dropped for me is that it may not necessarily be about incorporating more of this into your daily routine. It may also be about... It, it’s about changing your daily routine to incorporate more of this activity (female, age 49, fair health, slightly overweight, FG15)

Young (FG5, FG10, FG18, FG19)

Middle (FG11, FG15, FG16)

Old (FG2, FG8, FG17)