No abstract

The understanding of placebo and nocebo effects in psychological responses to exercise may be improved by measuring expectations. Despite availability of several validated expectation measures, we argue for using scales that take both positive and negative expectations for exercise-induced changes into account. A cross-sectional survey was used to collect information on positive and negative expectations pertaining to how exercise would affect 14 different outcomes related to psychological health (n = 966). Outcomes for which a majority of the sample (>50%) reported positive expectations for exercise-induced changes included: psychological well-being (75.3%), depression (74.3%), relaxation (74.2%), sleep quality (73.3%), stress (72.2%), anxiety (69.8%), energy (67.1%), and attention (60.2%). Outcomes for which a majority of the sample (>50%) reported a negative expectation for exercise-induced changes were muscle pain (66.3%), fatigue (57.3%), and joint pain (50.7%). Across all 14 outcomes, the percentage of participants with negative expectations for exercise-induced changes ranged from 5.9 to 66.3%. Elucidating the potential presence of placebo and nocebo effects through measurement of expectations may improve the understanding of variability in the direction and magnitude of exercise-related effects on psychological health. Although there were only 3 outcomes for which the majority of participants reported negative expectations, we found that negative expectations were present to some degree for all 14 outcomes. Thus, for researchers who wish to characterize expectations in studies of psychological responses to exercise, we recommend using measures that give equal consideration to positive and negative expectations.

PurposeEven low intensity exercise bouts of at least 15 min can improve feelings of energy (FOE) and reduce systolic blood pressure. However, little is known about the psychological outcomes of briefer exercise bouts, particularly for modes of exercise that are more intense than level walking, and readily available to many working adults. This study assessed the effects of a 4-min bout of stair walking on FOE and feelings of fatigue (FOF).MethodsThirty-six young adult participants were randomized to either stair walking or seated control groups. All participants walked on level-ground from a laboratory to a nearby stairwell (~90 s) and were seated for 4 min before beginning their experimental condition. Stair-walking participants walked up and down one flight of 16 stairs at their own pace for 4 min, while control participants remained seated during that time. Participants walked back to the laboratory for post-condition assessments. Measures of blood pressure, heart rate, rated perceived exertion (RPE), and the intensity of feelings of mental energy, mental fatigue, physical energy, and physical fatigue were assessed pre-and post-condition. Separate one-way ANOVAs were conducted on change scores for all variables.ResultsThe stair climbing group experienced significant increases in heart rate [F(1,34) = 13.167, p < 0.001] and RPE [F(1,34) = 93.844, p < 0.001] that were not observed in the seated control group. Four minutes of self-paced stair climbing resulted in small changes and non-significant differences within and between groups in blood pressure as well as FOE and FOF.ConclusionAlthough a 4-min self-paced exercise bout can convey short-term physiological health benefits, a 4-min bout of self-paced indoor stair walking in a stairwell was insufficient to lower blood pressure or change subjective FOE and fatigue in a sample that exhibited better than typical FOE and FOF at the pre-test.

No abstract

No abstract