Strategies to Enhance the Experience of Exercise

This study aims to test the effect of three cognitive strategies to affect individuals' subjective experience of cardiovascular exercise. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of three strategies to use while exercising, both during an in-person session and self-directed two week exercise period.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Physical Activity
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Mindfulness; Behavioral: Distraction; Behavioral: Self-monitoring

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 78
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Colorado
    • Boulder, Colorado, United States, 80301
      • Center for Innovation and Creativity (CINC)

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 40 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Between the ages of 18 and 40.
2. Insufficiently physically active for the past 6-months (i.e., does not meet American College of Sports Medicine [ACSM] guideline for cardiorespiratory exercise). The ACSM guidelines state that all healthy adults should engage in a minimum of 150 minutes per week of moderate intensity cardiorespiratory exercise, or 75 minutes per week of vigorous intensity exercise, or an equivalent combination of the two). On the eligibility screen assessment, we will define moderate and vigorous intensity exercise. Then we will ask individuals to report how many minutes of moderate and vigorous intensity exercise they engage in per week. We will use the ACSM's rule of thumb that 1 minute of moderate intensity exercise is equivalent to 2 minutes of vigorous intensity exercise. This will help to ensure that prospective participants who exercise for less than 150 minutes per week are not actually meeting the ACSM guidelines for cardiorespiratory fitness by engaging in vigorous intensity exercise. Thus, if total minutes of moderate intensity exercise and total minutes of vigorous intensity exercise (multiplied by 2) per week is equal to or greater than 150, callers will not be eligible for study inclusion.
3. Physically capable of safely engaging in moderate-intensity physical activity (PA)
4. Able and willing to access the Internet daily for two weeks
5. Willing to accept random assignment.
6. Have a smartphone or other mobile device (e.g., iPod Touch) that can play media (important if participants are assigned to the distraction condition)
7. Willing to engage in an exercise intervention specifically involving walking, jogging, running, or hiking (not other types of exercise)

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Are diabetic or receiving treatment for a metabolic disorder
2. Are currently pregnant
3. Are currently on antipsychotic medications
4. Have a history of cardiac or respiratory disease
5. Are receiving treatment for a heart condition or high blood pressure
6. Experience chest pains during and/or not during physical activity
7. Have a muscle, bone, or joint problem or injury that limit movement, make exercise painful, or could be made worse by exercising
8. Have a close family history of an adverse cardiac event before the age of 50.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Triple

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Mindfulness; Participants will use the strategy of mindfulness, i.e., present moment awareness with nonjudgment and acceptance, while exercising.	Behavioral: Mindfulness; Participants will use mindfulness techniques while exercising
Experimental: Distraction; Participants will use the strategy of distraction, i.e., directing their attention to something other than exercise (specifically a podcast) while exercising.	Behavioral: Distraction; Participants will distract themselves while exercising
Active Comparator: Self-Monitoring; Participants will monitor their internal experience while exercising, without distraction and without being taught mindfulness skills of nonjudgment and acceptance.	Behavioral: Self-monitoring; Participants will use associative attentional focus while exercising

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Affective valence	Affective valence during a 30-minute exercise bout	30 minutes
Felt arousal	Felt arousal during a 30-minute exercise bout	30 minutes
Perceived Exertion (RPE)	Rating of Perceived Exertion during a 30-minute exercise bout	30 minutes
Minutes of exercise	Minutes exercised during 2-week at-home intervention	2-weeks following initial visit
Affect and perceived exertion: longitudinal	Rated affect and perceived exertion during 2-week at-home intervention	2-weeks following initial visit

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Theory of Planned Behavior: attitudes	attitudes about exercise behavior	Baseline to 2-week follow-up
Theory of Planned Behavior: norms	subjective norms regarding exercise behavior	Baseline to 2-week follow-up
Theory of Planned Behavior: self-efficacy	self-efficacy for exercise	Baseline to 2-week follow-up
Theory of Planned Behavior Constructs	intentions to engage in future exercise behavior	Baseline to 2-week follow-up
Distress tolerance	Rated ability to tolerate distress	Baseline to 2-week follow-up
Defusion skills	rated ability to "defuse"	Baseline to 2-week follow-up

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Colorado, Boulder

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): December 15, 2017
• Primary Completion (Actual): August 31, 2018
• Study Completion (Actual): August 31, 2018

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 6, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 26, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): March 5, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 12, 2018
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 10, 2018
• Last Verified: October 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 17-0474

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: Undecided

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No