Mental Fatigue Prior to Aerobic Exercise Reduces Exercise Pleasure and Negatively Affects Implicit Attitudes Toward Future Exercise

Abstract

We investigated the effects of mental fatigue (MF) on affective responses during an aerobic exercise session at moderate intensity. We submitted 12 insufficiently active adults (50% women; M age = 24.9 years, SD = 3.0; M BMI = 24.3 kg/m2; SD = 2.6) to two 30-minute pre-exercise conditions: an MF condition (Stroop Color-Word task) and a control condition (watching a documentary) prior to their performance of 20 minutes of aerobic treadmill exercise at 40–59% of heart rate reserve. The minimum washout interval between conditions was two days. Perceived MF and motivation to perform physical exercise were assessed before and after conditions with a visual analog scale of 100 mm. We assessed participants’ affective and exertion responses with the Feeling Scale, Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) and heart rate during every two minutes of physical exercise. Implicit attitudes toward physical exercise were assessed by the Implicit Association Test before the MF and control conditions and after the physical exercise session. The participants in the MF condition reported lower pleasure ( M difference = −1.57, 95% CI = −2.64 to −0.50, d = 0.93, p = .008) and higher exertion (RPE) ( M difference = 1.16, 95% CI = 0.04 to 2.27, d = 0.66, p = .043) compared to those in the control condition. Participants who experienced MF also reported a more negative implicit attitude toward physical exercise than in the control condition ( β = −0.47, 95% CI= −0.73 to −0.21, d = 1.41, p < .001). While these findings should be cross-validated in subsequent research with a larger and more diverse participant sample, there appears to be value in minimizing pre-exercise mental fatigue to avoid negative MF effects on the exercisers’ affective experience.

Efectos de tres tipos de ejercicio físico sobre los niveles de actividad física y el perfil de estados de ánimo en personal administrativo de una institución de educación superior (Effects of three types of physical exercise on the levels of physical activity and the profile of mood states in administrative personnel of a higher education institution)

“…Es importante precisar que, se ha reportado una atenuación del efecto del ejercicio sobre el vigor cuando se experimentan niveles elevados de estrés laboral (Cortes et al, 2022), siendo esta una de las posibles explicaciones por las cuales no se evidenció mejorías en el grupo de intervención concurrente, teniendo en cuenta que este grupo reportó los valores más altos de tensión, cólera y fatiga dimensiones relacionados con los niveles de estrés (Gavelin et al, 2020;Kocalevent et al, 201;Cortés-Rocco et al, 2023) La reducción observada en la dimensión de la fatiga posterior al ejercicio aeróbico está en consonancia con lo reportado en la literatura, la cual describe a esta modalidad como potencialmente beneficiosa para mejorar los estados de energía, vitalidad y principalmente la sensación de fatiga (Puetz et al, 2006;Puetz et al, 2008;Wender et al, 2022). Lo anterior puede ser justificado teniendo en cuenta que este tipo de entrenamiento aumenta la densidad mitocondrial y capilar, lo que puede llevar a mejorar los procesos de obtención y utilización de energía, promoviendo así una mayor funcionalidad física y mental (Ament et al, 2009;Pessoa et al, 2022;Cortés-Rocco et al, 2023). Otras de las posibles razones que ayudan a justificar estos cambios son: el aumento en la liberación de endorfinas como ya fue reportado, así como la mejoría en la calidad del sueño (Puetz et al, 2006;Budde et al 2008;Reid et al, 2010).…”

The relevance of body composition assessment for the rating of perceived exertion in trained and untrained women and men

“…The results of this study might help to explain why untrained individuals might perceive a given bout of exercise as more strenuous ( Hassmen, 1990 ), or why females would overestimate perceived exertion ( Skatrud-Mickelson et al, 2011 ). This might not solely be based on mental states ( Pessoa et al, 2022 ), where negative attitudes were associated with higher RPE ( Basset et al, 2022 ), or based on the varying perception of external stimuli ( Nethery, 2002 ). It also might not just be an association with quicker onset of lactate accumulation among the untrained ( Demello et al, 1987 ), and the unfamiliarity towards a certain form of exercise ( Hassmen, 1990 ).…”

Little but Intense: Using a HIIT-Based Strategy to Improve Mood and Cognitive Functioning in College Students

“…However, the results of the present study were somewhat uncertain, since, first, relationships under statistical significance were only found 30 min after high-intensity exercise, at which time, their performances on the different DST tests decreased relative to the previous analysis point. In this line, in order to enable physical exercise to be consolidated for lifestyle habits, it is necessary to give special consideration to the previous mental state of the subject before the practice of physical exercise [ 50 ], since, as these authors point out, in sedentary participants, conditions of negative mental fatigue prior to exercise produce less positive affective responses during and after exercise, thus making it difficult for the subject to perceive physical exercise as a rewarding experience.…”