We investigated the effects of exercise setting (indoor treadmill vs. outdoor trail), age (17 middle school, 18 high school, and 13 college participants), and level of exertion (Borg Ratings of Perceived Exertion of 10, 12, and 16 on a 22-point scale) on young male endurance runners’ heart rate (HR), running speed, attentive focus, and affect. Three-way analyses of variance revealed that on the outdoor trail (vs. indoor treadmill), HR and speed were higher (p < .001) and attentive focus was more dissociative (p = .047). There were significant Age × Setting interactions for HR (p = .047), speed (p = .023), and attentive focus (p = .002), with older participants exhibiting a greater increase in speed and HR and a greater shift toward dissociative focus on the outdoor trail. Three-way analyses of variance also yielded significant Age × Time interactions on components of the Physical Activity Affect Scale in that younger participants exhibited larger declines in positive affect (p = .003) and tranquility (p < .001) and larger increases in fatigue (p < .001) as a result of the running session. Our data suggest that either runners develop more positive responses to exercise as they mature or those young runners who experience running more negatively tend to drop out of running so that the remaining older participants continuing to run are those who experience exercise positively.
AitchisonC.TurnerL.A.AnsleyL.ThompsonK. G.MicklewrightD.St. Clair GibsonA. (2013).
Inner dialogue and its relationship to perceived exertion during different running intensities. Perceptual and Motor Skills: Exercise and Sport,
117(1), 11–30.
2.
Antonini-PhilippeR.ReynesE.BruantG. (2003).
Cognitive strategy and ability in endurance activities.Perceptual and Motor Skills,
96, 510–516.
3.
BackhouseA.EkkekakisP.BiddleS. J. H.FoskettA.WilliamsC. (2007).
Exercise makes people feel better but people are inactive: Paradox or artifact?Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology,
29, 498–517.
4.
BlanchardC. M.RodgersW. M.GauvinL. (2004).
The influence of exercise duration and cognitions during running on feeling states in an indoor running track environment. Psychology of Sport and Exercise,
5, 119–133.
5.
BorgG. (1970).
Perceived exertion as an indicator of somatic stress.Scandinavian Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine,
2, 92–98.
6.
BorgG. (1998). Borg’s Perceived Exertion and Pain Scales.
Champaign, IL:
Human Kinetics.
7.
CallenK. E. (1983).
Mental and emotional aspects of long-distance running. Psychosomatics,
24(2), 133–151.
8.
Caramenti, M., Lafortuna, C. L., Mugellini, E., Abou Khaled, O., Bresciani, J.-P., & Dubois, A. (2018). Matching optical flow to motor speed in virtual reality while running on a treadmill. PloS one, 13(4), e0195781.
9.
CarpenterL. C.TompkinsS. A.SchmiegeS. J.NilssonR.BryanA. (2010).
Affective response to physical activity: Testing for measurement invariance of the Physical Activity Affect Scale across active and non-active individuals. Measurement in Physical Education and Exercise Science,
14(1), 1–14.
10.
CeciR.HassménP. (1991).
Self-monitored exercise at three different RPE intensities in treadmill vs field running. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise,
23(6), 732–738.
CobbG. W. (1998). Introduction to design and analysis of experiments.
New York, NY:
Springer.
13.
EkkekakisP. (2003).
Pleasure and displeasure from the body: Perspectives from exercise.Cognition and Emotion,
17, 213–239.
14.
EkkekakisP. (2005). The study of affective responses to acute exercise: The dual-mode model. In StelterR.RoesslerK. K. (Eds.), New approaches to sport and exercise psychology (pp. 119–146).
Oxford, England:
Meyer and Meyer Sport.
15.
EkkekakisP. (2013). The measurement of affect, mood, and emotion: A guide for health-behavioral research.
New York, NY:
Cambridge University Press.
16.
EkkekakisP.LindE. (2006).
Exercise does not feel the same when you are overweight: The impact of self-selected and imposed intensity on affect and exertion.International Journal of Obesity,
30(4), 652–660.
17.
EkkekakisP.PetruzzelloS. J. (1999).
Acute aerobic exercise and affect: Current status, problems and prospects regarding dose-response.Sports Medicine,
28, 337–374.
18.
EstonR. G.WilliamsJ. G. (1986).
Exercise intensity and perceived exertion in adolescent boys.British Journal of Sports Medicine,
20(1), 27–30.
19.
FranklinB. A.DurstineJ. L.RobertsC. K.BarnardR. J. (2014).
Impact of diet and exercise on lipid management in the modern era.Best Practice and Research Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism,
28(3), 405–421.
20.
Fredrickson, B. L. (2000). Extracting meaning from past affective experiences: The importance of peaks, ends, and specific emotions. Cognition and Emotion, 14(4), 577–606.
21.
GoodeK. T.RothD. L. (1993).
Factor analysis of cognitions during running: Association with mood change. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology,
15(4), 375–389.
22.
GroslambertA.MahonA. D. (2006).
Perceived exertion: Influence of age and cognitive development.Sports Medicine,
36(11), 911–928.
23.
HallE. E.EkkekakisP.PetruzzelloS. J. (2005).
Is the relationship of RPE to psychological factors intensity-dependent?Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise,
37(8), 1365–1373.
24.
HanleyB.MohanA. K. (2014).
Changes in gait during constant pace treadmill running.Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research,
28(5), 1219–1225.
25.
HargreavesE. A.StychK. (2013).
Exploring the peak and end rule of past affective episodes within the exercise context. Psychology of Sport and Exercise,
14, 169–178.
26.
HillmanC. H.EricksonK. I.KramerA. F. (2008).
Be smart, exercise your heart: Exercise effects on brain and cognition.Nature Reviews Neuroscience,
9, 58–65.
27.
JonesA. M.DoustJ. H. (1996).
A 1% treadmill grade most accurately reflects the energetic cost of outdoor running.Journal of Sports Sciences,
14, 321–327.
28.
JoseA. D.CollisonD. (1970).
The normal range and determinants of the intrinsic heart rate in man.Cardiovascular Research,
4, 160–167.
29.
KarageorghisC. I.EkkekakisP.BirdJ. M.BigliassiM. (2017). Music in the exercise and sport domain: Conceptual approaches and underlying mechanisms. In LemanM.LesaffreM.MaesP.-J. (Eds.), Routledge companion to embodied music interaction (pp. 284–293).
New York, NY:
Routledge.
30.
KluitenbergB.BredewegS. W.ZijlstraS.ZilflstraW.BuistI. (2012). Comparison of vertical ground reaction forces during overground and treadmill running. A validation study. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders. Retrieved from http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2474//
31.
KongP. W.KohT. M. C.TanW. C. R.WangY. S. (2012).
Unmatched perception of speed when running overground and on a treadmill.Gait and Posture,
36, 46–48.
32.
LaCailleR. A.MastersK. S.HeathE.M. (2004).
Effects of cognitive strategy and exercise setting on running performance, perceived exertion, affect and satisfaction. Psychology of Sport and Exercise,
5, 461–476.
33.
LathamD. T.HillG. M.PetrayC. K. (2013).
A comparison of Hispanic middle school students’ performance, and perceived and actual physical exertion, on the traditional and treadmill one-mile runs.Perceptual and Motor Skills,
116(2), 505–511.
34.
Lind, E., Welch, A. S., & Ekkekakis, P. (2009). Do ‘mind over muscle’ strategies work? Examining the effects of attentional association and dissociation on exertional, affective and physiological responses to exercise. Sports Med., 39(9), 743–764.
35.
LindsayT. R.NoakesT. D.McGregorS. J. (2014).
Effect of treadmill versus overground running on the structure of variability of stride timing.Perceptual and Motor Skills,
118(2), 331–346.
36.
LoxC. L.JacksonS.TuholskiS. W.WasleyD.TreasureD. C. (2000).
Revisiting the measurement of exercise-induced feeling states: The Physical Activity Affect Scale. Measurement in Physical Education and Exercise Science,
4(2), 79–95.
37.
MastersK. S.OglesB. M. (1998).
Associative and dissociative cognitive strategies in exercise and running: 20 years later, what do we know?The Sport Psychologist,
12, 253–270.
38.
McDonaldD.KirkbyR. J. (1995).
Use of dissociation strategies when running becomes difficult: Levels of ability and gender differences. European Journal for High Ability,
6, 73–81.
39.
MoosesM.TippiB.MoosesK.DurusselJ.MaestuJ. (2015).
Better economy in field running than on the treadmill: Evidence from high-level distance runners. Biology of Sport,
32(2), 155–159.
40.
MorganW. P.PollackM. L. (1977).
Psychologic characteristics of the elite distance runner. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences,
301, 382–402.
41.
NelsonR. C.DillmanC. J.LagasseP.BickettP. (1972).
Biomechanics of overground versus treadmill running.Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise,
4(4), 233–240.
42.
NeumannD.MoffittR. (2018).
Affective and attentional states when running in a virtual reality environment. Sports,
6, 71.
43.
OkwumabuaT. M. (1985).
Psychological and physical contributions to marathon performance: An exploratory investigation. Journal of Sport Behavior,
8(3), 163–171.
44.
OkwumabuaT. M.MeyersA. W.SantilleL. (1987).
A demographic and cognitive profile of master runners. Journal of Sport Behavior,
11(4), 212–220.
45.
PadgettV. R.HillA. K. (1989).
Maximizing athletic performance in endurance events: A comparison of cognitive strategies. Journal of Applied Social Psychology,
19, 331–340.
46.
Parfitt, G. & Gledhill, C. (2004). The effect of choice of exercise mode on psychological responses. Psychol. Sport Exerc., 5, 111–117.
47.
PennebakerJ. W.LightnerJ. M. (1980).
Competition of internal and external information in an exercise setting.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
39(1), 165–174.
48.
RileyP. O.PaoliniG.Della CroceU.PayloK. W.KerriganD. C. (2007).
A kinematic and kinetic comparison of overground and treadmill walking in healthy subjects.Gait and Posture,
26(2007), 17–24.
49.
RobergsR. A.LandwehrR. (2002).
The surprising history of the “HRmax=220-age” equation. Journal of Exercise Physiology Online,
5(2), 1–10.
50.
RoseE. A.ParfittG. (2010).
Pleasant for some and unpleasant for others: A protocol analysis of the cognitive factors that influence affective responses to exercise.International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity,
7, 15. Retrieved from http://www.ijbnpa.org/content/7/1/15
51.
SchomerH. H. (1986).
Mental strategies and the perception of effort of marathon runners. International Journal of Sports Psychology,
17, 41–59.
52.
SchomerH. H. (1987).
Mental training strategy programme for marathoners. International Journal of Sports Psychology,
18, 133–151.
53.
SchuckerL.AnheierW.HagemannN.StraussB.VolkerK. (2013).
On the optimal focus of attention for efficient running at high intensity.Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology,
2, 207. doi:10.1037/a00311959
54.
SinclairJ.RichardsJ.TaylorP. J.EdmundsonC. J.BrooksD.HobbsS. J. (2013).
Three-dimensional kinematic comparison of treadmill and overground running.Sports Biomechanics,
12(3), 272–282.
55.
SlootL. H.van der KrogtM. M.HarlaarJ. (2014).
Effects of adding a virtual reality environment to different modes of treadmill walking.Gait and Posture,
39(2014), 939–945.
56.
StanleyC. T.PargmanD.TenenbaumG. (2007).
The effect of attentional coping strategies on perceived exertion in a cycling task. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology,
19, 352–363.
57.
TenenbaumG.ConnollyC. T. (2008).
Attention allocation under varied workload and effort perception in rowers. Psychology of Sport and Exercise,
9, 704–717.
58.
TusonK. M.SinyorD.PelletierL. G. (1995).
Acute exercise and positive affect: An investigation of psychological processes leading to affective change. International Journal of Sports Psychology,
26, 138–159.
59.
UngerleiderS.GoldingJ. M.PorterK.FosterJ. (1989).
An exploratory examination of cognitive strategies used by masters track and field athletes. The Sport Psychologist,
3, 245–253.
60.
Van CaekenbergheI.SegersV.WillemsP.GosseyeT.AertsP.De ClercqD. (2013).
Mechanics of overground accelerated running vs. running on an accelerated treadmill. Gait and Posture,
28(2013), 125–131.
61.
WinchesterL. A.ThomasK.AnsleyL.ThompsonK.MicklewrightD.GibsonA. S. C. (2012).
Observer effects on the rating of perceived exertion and affect during exercise in recreationally active males.Perceptual and Motor Skills,
115(1), 213–227.
62.
WrisbergC. A.PeinR. L. (1990).
Past running experience as a mediator of the attentional focus of male and female recreational runners. Perceptual and Motor Skills,
70, 427–432.
63.
ZivG.RotsteinA.LidorR.MeckelY. (2013).
The effectiveness of attentional instructions on running economy at a submaximal velocity. Kinesiology,
45(2), 147–153.
