Spatial transitions, levels of activity, and motivations to exercise during COVID-19 : a literature review

The COVID-19 pandemic and its related measurements have challenged physical activity in various ways, ranging from closed fitness facilities to virtual curfews. Correspondingly, there is currently a rising scholarly interest in investigating how people have navigated their physical activity during the pandemic, and, especially, if physical activity has decreased or not. Accordingly, surveys and studies are rapidly accumulating. Therefore, the purpose of this literature review is to summarize, categorize, and map literature published before May 2021 on physical activity amid COVID-19.This study consists of a mixed methods explanatory sequential design, based on an outcome-oriented pragmatism of the middle. Firstly, a systematic literature review on Scopus was conducted, followed by a VOS-viewer bibliometric analysis. Subsequently, a focused literature review was written. The point of integration of methods was embedded. The systematic review resulted in 1,335 articles, which were used for two separate VOS-viewer visualizations. The illustrations reveal where research comes from, which journals have published most on physical activity during COVID-19, and how the research is globally cited. Furthermore, based on the review, three clear topical trends of research emerge; spatial transitions, frequencies of physical activity, and motivations to exercise during COVID-19. The bibliometric data demonstrates that research from only a few countries seem to be impactful, whereas the review portrays that conclusions in regard to whether physical activity has decreased or not lack agreement, possibly as a result of disclosing different definitions of physical activity.