We conducted an experiment to compare the effect of exercise in an outdoor natural environment with that of exercise in an indoor simulated natural environment on measures of exertion and emotions. Our objectives were to examine how the exercise environment changed emotion and the relationship between emotion and exertion. We tested the possibility that differences in physiological exertion across environments may explain the beneficial effect of green exercise on emotion. Seventy-four college students were randomly assigned to walk at a comfortable pace for 15 min on an outdoor path with views of natural and built elements or an indoor treadmill while watching a video of the sights seen along the outdoor path. We administered prewalk and postwalk measures of positive and negative emotions. We also measured heart rate and rate of perceived exertion during the walk. Participants who walked outdoors attained a higher average heart rate but did not perceive they were exerting themselves more than participants who walked indoors. Participants who walked outdoors also experienced a greater increase in energy than participants who walked indoors, though participants who walked indoors experienced a decrease in tension. There was no evidence that heart rate explained the difference between the indoor and outdoor groups with respect to energy or tension. Future studies could examine the association between environment, emotion, and exertion using other measures of exercise-induced emotions and physiological exertion.
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