Unpacking differences in post-exercise affective experiences between physically underactive and active individuals

Background: Affective response to exercise (i.e., how individuals feel during- and post-exercise) as well as post-behavioral evaluations of affective experiences with exercise (i.e., reflecting on the experience after engaging in exercise) may be important determinants of regular exercise.

Purpose: We compared post-exercise affective response and post-behavioral evaluations of exercise between a physically active and underactive group. Physically active (n = 32) and underactive (n = 25) participants completed a 10-minute treadmill bout of vigorous exercise and reported affective valence, positive activated affect, negative activated affect, calmness, fatigue and relief at various points during and/or after the bout.

Results: As expected, both groups reported an improvement in affective valence immediately post-exercise (ps < 0.001). This improvement in affective valence was associated with a concurrent decrease in negative affect (ps < 0.05) for the physically underactive group and was only associated with a concurrent increase in positive affect (ps < 0.02) for the active group. There were significant differences between physically active and underactive groups in pre-post exercise changes in positive activated affect (ps < 0.005). The underactive group reported greater relief than the active group at all-post exercise time-points (ps < 0.05).

Conclusions: These findings have implications for understanding post-exercise affective response and post-behavioral evaluations of exercise and for interventions directed at influencing the post-exercise affective response and behavioral evaluations of exercise in physically underactive individuals.