Mindfulness and Affective Responses to Treadmill Walking in Individuals with Low Intrinsic Motivation to Exercise
Anne Elizabeth Cox, Madeline A Roberts, Hailey L Cates, Amanda K. McMahon
International journal of exercise science 2018 DOI: 10.70252/aevj8865 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Within-subjects experimental study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 23 |
| Population | Young adults (mean age 19.26 years) engaging in no more than moderate physical activity and reporting low intrinsic motivation |
| Intervention | Treadmill walking |
| Duration | 10-minute walking sessions; three testing sessions including a habituation session |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Citations | 41 |
| Key findings | Mindfulness during treadmill walking was associated with significantly more positive affective valence, greater enjoyment and mindfulness of the body, more associative attentional focus, and minimally lower perceived exertion compared with a control walk. Higher mindfulness of the body was moderately associated with greater enjoyment in the mindfulness condition only. The authors suggest mindfulness during exercise is associated with more positive affective responses. |
Abstract
International Journal of Exercise Science 11(5): 609-624, 2018. An aversion to the sensations of physical exertion can deter engagement in physical activity. This is due in part to an associative focus in which individuals are attending to uncomfortable interoceptive cues. The purpose of this study was to test the effect of mindfulness on affective valence, ratings of perceived exertion (RPE), and enjoyment during treadmill walking. Participants (N=23; Mage=19.26, SD = 1.14) were only included in the study if they engaged in no more than moderate levels of physical activity and reported low levels of intrinsic motivation. They completed three testing sessions including a habituation session to determine the grade needed to achieve 65% of heart rate reserve (HRR); a control condition in which they walked at 65% of HRR for 10 minutes and an experimental condition during which they listened to a mindfulness track that directed them to attend to the physical sensations of their body in a nonjudgmental manner during the 10-minute walk. ANOVA results showed that in the mindfulness condition, affective valence was significantly more positive (p = .02, np2 = .22), enjoyment and mindfulness of the body were higher (p < .001, np2 = .36 and .40, respectively), attentional focus was more associative (p < .001, np2 =.67) and RPE was minimally lower (p = .06, np2 =.15). Higher mindfulness of the body was moderately associated with higher enjoyment (p < .05, r =.44) in the mindfulness but not the control condition. Results suggest that mindfulness during exercise is associated with more positive affective responses.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Cancer patients (clinical intervention study) | 2003 | Mixed methods: scale development, correlational, quasi-experimental, laboratory, experience-sampling, and clinical intervention study | |
| Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness. | 2008 | Controlled laboratory experiment | |
| Mindfulness and mind-wandering: Finding convergence through opposing constructs. | 2012 | Two studies: correlational study and experimental study | |
| Mental Training Enhances Attentional Stability: Neural and Behavioral Evidence | 2009 | Experimental study | |
| Mindfulness meditation and substance use in an incarcerated population. Incarcerated population | 2006 | Quasi-experimental with treatment-as-usual control condition |
Citations in the library
Cited by 10
- The importance of formal versus informal mindfulness practice for enhancing psychological wellbeing and study engagement in a medical student cohort with a 5-week mindfulness-based lifestyle program. PLoS One 2021
- The Effect of a Brief-Mindfulness Intervention on Psychophysiological Exertion and Flow-State Among Sedentary Adults. Perceptual and Motor Skills June 1, 2021
- Intervention to Improve Well-Being, Nutrition, and Physical Activity in Adults: Experimental Study. JMIR Formative Research October 15, 2024
- Validation of the German version of the state mindfulness scale for physical activity in a clinical sample Journal of Patient-Reported Outcomes December 2, 2024
- Altering Affective Responses and Emotional Reactivity Through Acute Bouts of Aerobic Exercise With and Without Mindfulness. Psychophysiology September 2026
and 5 more in the library