Preferred exercise mode and affective responses in physically active adults

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Abstract

Objectives. In most studies that have considered the exercise and affect relationship, researchers have tended to prescribe cycle ergometry. Researchers have yet to question if this relationship is maintained when participants are given a choice of exercise modes. Design: Within-participants repeated measures.

Methods. Physically active adult participants (n = 26; mean age = 33.2 years) engaged in 3 counterbalanced conditions for 30 minutes: (1) cycle ergometry, (2) choice of exercise mode and, (3) television control condition. The Positive and Negative Affect Scale (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988) was administered to participants pre-, mid- and post-condition.

Results. A 3 × 3 (Condition × Time) within-participants repeated measures analysis of variance revealed a significant interaction for Negative Affect scores. During and after exercise, the no-choice cycle ergometry condition reported significantly higher Negative Affect scores than the exercise choice and control conditions. A group main effect was recorded for Positive Affect with the control group reporting significantly higher scores compared to the cycle ergometry condition.

Conclusions. These results indicate that practitioners should consider exercise preference more closely when promoting the psychological benefits of exercise.

Section snippets

Participants

Participants (N = 26) consisted of 14 men and 12 women who were either students or employees (academic and support staff) from a university sport, leisure and exercise department in a large city in northern England. Participants were recruited to this study via an advertisement. Ages ranged from 29 to 49 years (M = 33.2, SD = 6.0 years). Participants took part in exercise on average at least three times per week. Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the University’s Research Ethics

Participant characteristics

Independent t-tests revealed no significant mean gender differences for age (Males, M = 35.3, SD = 7.55; Females, M = 31.1, SD = 4.5), body mass (kg) (Males, M = 75.4, SD = 12.1; Females, M = 69.7, SD = 8.5) resting heart rate, (Males, M = 62.1, SD = 9.1; Females, M = 58.2, SD = 6.6), estimated maximum oxygen uptake (Females, M = 48.3, SD = 10.3; Males, M = 53.2, SD = 7.9) and number of physical activity sessions per week (Males, M = 4.1, SD = 0.8; Females, M = 7.3, SD = 3.0). Therefore,

Discussion

The findings from this investigation appear to partially support the stated hypotheses and indicate that, when individuals are given a choice of exercise modes, they report lower Negative Affect scores from pre- to post-exercise compared to when they are given no choice. These results suggest that exercise preference is an important factor for practitioners to consider when prescribing exercise for the promotion of psychological states. The findings from the present study also indicated that

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