A hard/heavy intensity is too much: The physiological, affective, and motivational effects (immediately and 6 months post-training) of unsupervised perceptually regulated training

Abstract

The motivational processes associated with RPE 13 regulated exercise (greater competence and autonomy and more positive affect) potentially explain the maintained fitness in this group.

Cardiorespiratory fitness moderates the effect of an affect-guided physical activity prescription: a pilot randomized controlled trial

“…This finding is consistent with previous research documenting the effects of self-selected vs. imposed intensity on PA (Ekkekakis et al, 2008(Ekkekakis et al, , 2011Hamlyn-Williams et al, 2014;Rose & Parfitt, 2012;VazouEkkekakis & Ekkekakis, 2009) and work suggesting that this "at risk" group may benefit specifically from an affect-based exercise prescription (Ekkekakis & Lind, 2006;Ekkekakis et al, 2010). Moreover, the findings add to the growing body of evidence (Parfitt et al, , 2015Williams et al, 2015) supporting the use of affective factors as a primary method of exercise prescription (Garber et al, 2011). However, the novel finding we report here extends previous research in demonstrating that the positive effect of an affect-guided prescription on PA is specific to those individuals for whom PA is more likely to be experienced as affectively unpleasant (i.e.…”

“…The promising findings from this pilot trial are consistent with similar studies that have shown the benefits of regulating exercise intensity using affect or perceived exertion (Parfitt et al, , 2015Williams et al, 2015) and add to the evidence base supporting the use of affect as a primary mode of exercise prescription. Overall, the study indicated the importance of the way in which PA is prescribed to inactive adults, with particular attention to matching the prescription to the level of CRF of the individual.…”

“…Similarly, a six-month print-based exercise promotion program for overweight and obese adults was found to have better PA Downloaded by [University of Lethbridge] at 03:35 18 June 2016 outcomes for self-paced PA intensity levels than a similar program emphasizing moderate levels of PA, although the self-paced group did not focus specifically on maintaining a positive affective response (Williams et al, 2015). A third related study demonstrated that an exercise program focused on regulating perceived exertion (a different, but related construct to affective response) led to improved fitness and maintained exercise adherence for those assigned to regulate exertion at moderate levels (Parfitt, Olds, & Eston, 2015). However, there is need for additional evidence for affective regulation as the primary method of exercise prescription.…”

Affect and Exercise

“…However, the difficulty and complexity of conducting medium-to longterm studies have not facilitated much investigation into adherence to exercise programs. Parfitt [28] verified the 6-month effect on physical fitness and affective responses of sedentary people after an 8-week intervention program. Three groups participated in the training: a control group, a group that exercised in PSE 13 (Borg 06-20), and group in PSE 15.…”

“…Performing 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise, i.e., 64-76% of maximum heart rate (HR max ) (at least 5 days a week), or 20 minutes of vigorous intensity, i.e., 77-95% of HR max (3 days a week), is the minimum recommendations proposed by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) for health-related physiological benefits (ACSM, 2011). Studies published in recent decades have shown that exercise intensity is also one of the main influencers of affective exercise response [5,[26][27][28].…”