Innovative Exercise and Physical Activity Interventions for Clinical and Special Populations: Optimizing Health, Wellbeing, and Performance through Policy, Practice, and Educational Delivery.

Physical activity and exercise are fundamental for promoting health, wellbeing, and recovery across diverse populations. While established exercise guidelines provide a general framework, individuals with chronic conditions, vulnerable groups, and those undergoing rehabilitation often require tailored, evidence-based protocols to achieve optimal outcomes.

Emerging research demonstrates that innovative and targeted exercise strategies—including short-bout programs, high-intensity interval training, and multimodal approaches—can effectively optimize physiological, psychological, and behavioral outcomes in these populations. However, the application of these interventions into clinical practice and special populations remains inconsistent, highlighting the need for continued innovation and research. Bridging this gap requires attention to educational and community settings, informed by pedagogical best practices, social inclusion, equity, and accessibility.

This Research Topic welcomes investigations into exercise protocol development, adaptation, and implementation for clinical and special populations, with particular emphasis on educational delivery, teacher/educator training, policy applications, and practice-based strategies that promote equitable participation. We invite submissions addressing exercise prescription, intervention effectiveness, mechanisms of action, pedagogical approaches to behavior change, and strategies for enhancing long-term engagement and health outcomes in diverse groups.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Registered Report
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Exercise interventions, Special populations, Physical activity, Wellbeing, Recovery, Advanced protocols, Behavioral health, Chronic conditions, High-intensity interval training, Clinical practice, Exercise prescription, Inclusion, Vulnerable Groups

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.