The Effects of Exercise Intensity on Mood and Wellbeing

The study will adopt a between-within group design where participants will exercise at 1 of 4 intensities for 30 minutes at SportsPark Reading. Mood, mental health (e.g., state anxiety and immediate depressive feelings) and physiological parameters (heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature) will be assessed before and after exercise intervention to compare the acute change across time for each intensity condition (no exercise (control), low, moderate, high).

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Healthy; Exercise; Mood
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Spin Bike Exercise; Other: Control

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 66
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United Kingdom
  • Berkshire
    • Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom
      • University of Reading

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 30 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• 18-30 years old

Exclusion Criteria:

• If participants' General Practitioner (GP) has advised them against exercising at low, moderate or high intensities
• Recent injuries within the last 12 weeks
• Physical health conditions that may be affected by exercising (e.g., asthma)
• Taking blood pressure medications

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

4

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: High intensity	Other: Spin Bike Exercise; 30 minute spin bike class led by a qualified instructor.
Experimental: Moderate intensity	Other: Spin Bike Exercise; 30 minute spin bike class led by a qualified instructor.
Experimental: Low intensity	Other: Spin Bike Exercise; 30 minute spin bike class led by a qualified instructor.
Placebo Comparator: No exercise (control)	Other: Control; 30 minute completing seated activities (e.g., wordsearches)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change from baseline state anxiety	State subscale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S). The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) measures both state and trait anxiety in adults; it can be used to distinguish whether individuals are experiencing anxiety. Trait anxiety refers to the participant's disposition to anxiety, whereas state anxiety measures the current anxiousness of participants and is more labile. STAI is a questionnaire consisting of forty self-report items. Subjects are asked to rate the intensities of anxious feelings on a four-point scale: not at all, somewhat, moderately so or very much so. Scores range from twenty to eighty, where higher scores correlate with higher state or trait anxiety.	In the immediate 10 minutes after the end of the intervention
Change from baseline current mood	Positive and Negative Mood Schedule (PANAS). This questionnaire contains 20 items consisting of 10 positive and 10 negative emotions. The participants indicate to what extent they feel each emotion right now on a 5-point Likert Scale of 'very slightly =1 or not at all' to 'Extremely= 5'. Adding up the total positive and negative scores will produce overall positive and negative mood scores.	In the immediate 10 minutes after the end of the intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change from baseline depressive aspects of mood	Immediate Mood Scaler (IMS). This questionnaire contains 22 items developed to assess dynamic components of mood. Participants are asked to rate their current mood state on a continuum using 7-point Likert scales (e.g., happy-sad, distracted-focused, sleepy-alert). For each item, an integer score between 1 and 7 is derived. The total score for this scale is the sum of the scores on all 22 items, where a higher score is indicative of better mood.	In the immediate 10 minutes after the end of the intervention

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change from baseline blood pressure		In the immediate 10 minutes after the end of the intervention
Change from baseline temperature		In the immediate 10 minutes after the end of the intervention
Change from baseline heart rate	Measured by a chest strap heart rate monitor	approx. 1 hour in total
Change from baseline stress appraisal of intervention	The stress appraisal questionnaire captures 1) perceived situational and personal demands, and 2) personal resources. To the extent that perceived demands outweigh resources then individuals are anticipated to be in a "threat" state, whereas when resources outweigh demands individuals are expected to be in a "challenge" state. A questionnaire is given pre-task that captures stress appraisals after knowledge of the task is obtained but before the task itself. There is a post-task questionnaire that assesses individuals' perceptions of the demands and resources after the task.	In the immediate 10 minutes after the end of the intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Reading

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): November 3, 2022
• Primary Completion (Actual): June 1, 2023
• Study Completion (Actual): June 1, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 12, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 31, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): February 10, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): December 5, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 4, 2023
• Last Verified: December 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 2022-133-KB

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No