When Studying Affective Responses to Exercise, the Definition of "Intensity" Must Reference Homeostatic Perturbations: A Retort to Vollaard et al.

In articles on the methodology of studies investigating affective and enjoyment responses to high-intensity interval training, we noted that, occasionally, exercise conditions described as involving "high" intensity exhibited heart rates that were only as high as, or even lower than, heart rates recorded during comparator conditions described as being of "moderate" intensity. Drs. Vollaard, Metcalfe, Kinghorn, Jung, and Little suggest instead that exercise intensity in high-intensity interval-training studies can be defined in terms of percentages of peak workload.

Improving reflective evaluations of sport through repeated experiences of fun-rationale, design, feasibility, and acceptability of the PlayFit Youth Sport Program.

Introduction: Adolescents who drop out of sport often report that it had become less 'fun' and 'enjoyable' over time. Although preadolescent sport typically emphasizes experiences of fun, emphases on competition and elite performance often dominate during adolescence. We theorized that adherence to adolescent sport might be improved if the overarching goal were to maximize repeated experiences of fun during sport and, subsequently, increase reflective evaluations of sport enjoyment.

Fostering weight status understanding among exercise science and health students by simulating common physical activities with additional body mass.

Overweight and obesity rates continue to rise and appear unlikely to abate. While physical activity (PA) is an important contributor to health and successful weight maintenance, exercise science and health students (ESHS) often endorse negative weight status biases that could undermine PA promotion. This experiential learning activity was intended to help foster weight status understanding among ESHS.

A Methodological Checklist for Studies of Pleasure and Enjoyment Responses to High-Intensity Interval Training: Part II. Intensity, Timing of Assessments, Data Modeling, and Interpretation.

Recent studies have concluded that high-intensity interval training should be seen as a "viable alternative" to, and may be more enjoyable than, moderate-intensity continuous exercise. If true, these claims have the potential to revolutionize the science and practice of exercise, establishing high-intensity interval training as not only a physiologically effective exercise modality but also a potentially sustainable one. However, these claims stand in contrast to voluminous evidence according to which high levels of exercise intensity are typically experienced as less pleasant than moderate levels.

A Methodological Checklist for Studies of Pleasure and Enjoyment Responses to High-Intensity Interval Training: Part I. Participants and Measures.

For decades, the exercise psychology research literature echoed the conclusion that exercise makes most people feel better, with no clear evidence that this "feel-better effect" is moderated by intensity. An overhaul of the methodological approach subsequently showed that high-intensity exercise is experienced as unpleasant, and the "feel-better effect," although possible, is conditional and therefore not as robust or prevalent as initially thought. Recently, several studies investigating high-intensity interval training (HIIT) have concluded that HIIT is pleasant and enjoyable, despite the high intensity.

When American Adults Do Move, How Do They Do So? Trends in Physical Activity Intensity, Type, and Modality: 1988-2017.

Background: Few Americans accumulate enough physical activity (PA) to realize its benefits. Understanding how and why individuals use their discretionary time for different forms of PA could help identify and rectify issues that drive individuals away from certain physical activities, and leverage successful strategies to increase participation in others.

Methods: The authors analyzed approximately 30 years of changes in PA behavior by intensity, type, and mode, using data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.

Adult outdoor group sport play during a pandemic: Feasibility, acceptability, and program adherence results from a study of modifications to mitigate COVID-19 risk.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility, acceptability, and short-term adherence to an adult outdoor group sport play program designed to maximize enjoyment that was modified to incorporate COVID-19 risk mitigation strategies. We enrolled 17 healthy, but sedentary, central Pennsylvania adults (  = 31.6 ± 7.

Contactless differentiation of pleasant and unpleasant valence: Assessment of the acoustic startle eyeblink response with infrared reflectance oculography.

The ability to distinguish between discrete emotions by monitoring autonomic or facial features has been an elusive "holy grail" for fields such as psychophysiology, affective computing, and human-computer interface design. However, cross-validated models are lacking, and contemporary theory suggests that emotions may lack distinct physiological or facial "signatures." Therefore, in this study, we propose a reorientation toward distinguishing between pleasant and unpleasant affective valence.

Comparative effectiveness of an adult social physical play versus traditional group exercise program for adherence and fitness: Protocol for a randomized-controlled trial.

Despite the myriad benefits associated with regular physical activity (PA), few American adults accrue sufficient weekly PA. Although "lack of time" is often cited as a correlate of physical inactivity, a growing body of evidence suggests that, perhaps more importantly, people allocate their leisure-time to activities they find more enjoyable than PA. These findings underscore the need to devise physical activities that will be chosen over other enjoyable, but less healthy, behavioral alternatives.

Mass media representations of the evidence as a possible deterrent to recommending exercise for the treatment of depression: Lessons five years after the extraordinary case of TREAD-UK.

Exercise or physical activity are recommended options within stepped-care treatment models for depression. However, few physicians present these options to patients, in part because of the impression that the supporting evidence is weak or inconsistent. We speculate that the coocurrence of "counter-messaging" and deficient critical appraisal may lead to such impressions.