Affective and enjoyment responses in high intensity interval training and continuous training: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Previous studies investigating the effects of high intensity interval training (HIIT) and moderate intensity continuous training (MICT) showed controversial results. The aim of the present study was to systematically review the literature on the effects of HIIT and MICT on affective and enjoyment responses. The PRISMA Statement and the Cochrane recommendation were used to perform this systematic review and the database search was performed using PubMed, Scopus, ISI Web of Knowledge, PsycINFO, and SPORTDiscus. Eight studies investigating the acute affective and enjoyment responses on HIIT and MICT were included in the present systematic review. The standardized mean difference (SMD) was calculated for Feeling Scale (FS), Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PACES) and Exercise Enjoyment Scale (EES). The MICT was used as the reference condition. The overall results showed similar beneficial effects of HIIT on PACES and EES responses compared to MICT with SMDs classified as small (PACES–SMD = 0.49, I2 = 69.3%, p = 0.001; EES–SMD = 0.48, I2 = 24.1%, p = 0.245) while for FS, the overall result showed a trivial effect (FS–SMD = 0.19, I2 = 78.9%, p<0.001). Most of the comparisons performed presented positive effects for HIIT. For the FS, six of 12 comparisons showed beneficial effects for HIIT involving normal weight and overweight-to-obese populations. For PACES, six of 10 comparisons showed beneficial effects for HIIT involving normal weight and overweight-to-obese populations. For EES, six of seven comparisons showed beneficial effects for HIIT also involving normal weight and overweight-to-obese populations. Based on the results of the present study, it is possible to conclude that HIIT exercise may be a viable strategy for obtaining positive psychological responses. Although HIIT exercise may be recommended for obtaining positive psychological responses, chronic studies should clarify the applicability of HIIT for exercise adherence.

Affective and Enjoyment Responses to Short-Term High-Intensity Interval Training with Low-Carbohydrate Diet in Overweight Young Women

“…It is generally agreed that high intensity exercises above the ventilatory threshold could evoke displeasure feelings towards exercise, which is known as the "dual-mode" [14]. Negative relations between exercise intensity and affect were observed in several studies, indicating that affect valence was lower in HIIT than MICT [11,18,46]. However, in the present study, despite the fact that the HIIT group had significantly higher exercise intensity and perceived exertion, the FS scores indicated that the participants generally had positive feelings of pleasure (the scores were between "somewhat pleasurable" and "pleasurable") after both HIIT and MICT exercises, with no significant group difference between these two exercise regimens.…”

“…Moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) is a traditional recommendation for improving health in overweight and obese populations [9], yet it requires dedication to an extended amount of time and effort for exercise. Given that perceived lack of time is one of the major barriers for individuals to engage in exercise programs, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) has been advocated as an alternative to MICT, since it is much more time-efficient and has been shown to induce similar health-enhancing adaptations as MICT [10,11].…”

“…Although it has been well acknowledged that MICT is associated with positive affective changes [14], the psychological consequences of HIIT are still less clear due to diverse populations and various training protocols. However, despite inconsistent results in affective and enjoyment responses to HIIT compared to MICT [11,[15][16][17][18], a recent systematic review and meta-analysis study [11] showed that HIIT may be a viable strategy for obtaining positive psychological responses. In addition, as a particular form of HIIT, the repeated sprint training modality with extremely short exercise duration (≤10 s of work bout at near to maximal intensity) has received increasing attention because of its physiological benefits and time-efficient characteristics [19][20][21][22][23][24].…”

Effects of fitness level and exercise intensity on pain and mood responses

“…without significant differences between high and low), generally corroborating previous findings reporting similar mood scores after exercise regardless of intensity (Bixby, Spalding, & Hatfield, ), although not unambiguously (Saanijoki et al, ). While high‐intensity exercise bouts can be aversive, recent meta‐analyses have generally reported that also vigorous training intensities go along with positive affective responses (Oliveira, Santos, Kilpatrick, Pires, & Deslandes, ). It is important to consider that mood was tested after the termination of the exercise bout and cool‐down when potential aversive effects during highly strenuous exercise intensities may have already leveled off.…”

Exercício com intensidade autosselecionada para idosos: implicações do afeto em aulas comunitárias

“…Pesquisas demonstram que juntamente com o nível de aptidão física 5 , a genética 6 e a preferência pelo tipo de exercício 7 , a autosseleção de intensidade também pode aumentar a valência afetiva (i.e., afeto) em comparação aos exercícios físicos realizados com intensidades impostas semelhantes 8,9 ou quando a intensidade do exercício autosselecionado supera a intensidade do exercício com carga imposta 9 . Essa estratégia atrelada a teoria hedonista considera que as pessoas poderão ter maior aderência em programas de exercício físico em função do maior afeto 10 .…”