The purpose was to examine differences in affective responses to repeated sessions of endurance training with different intensities in healthy adults. Thirty young, healthy, and recreationally physically active adults (50% women, age 24.4 ± 6.0 years, VO2max 48.6 ± 7.4 ml-1·kg-1·min-1, BMI 23.5 ± 2.4 kg·m2) performed a VO2max test. They were randomized to four sessions of either high intensity sprint interval training (SPRINT, n=10, 5 · 30-sec at >95 of HRpeak, 4-min recovery between intervals), high intensity aerobic interval training (HAIT, n=10, 4 · 4-min at ~90% of HRpeak, 4-min recovery between intervals) or moderate intensity continuous training (MIT, n=10, 50-min at ~75% HRpeak). Assessment during and after each session included HR, La-, Borg ratings of perceived exertion (RPE), affective state (positive/negative), valence (pleasure/displeasure), arousal (calmness/excitement), tension, irritation, pain, exhaustion, satisfaction, and motivation. HR, La- and Borg RPE were higher in SPRINT and HAIT compared to MIT (p < 0.001), no differences between SPRINT and HAIT. Displeasure and arousal were greater in SPRINT compared to HAIT (p < 0.05) and MIT (p < 0.001). Within each session, between-group effects showed that SPRINT differed from HAIT and MIT on valence (p < 0.01) and arousal (p < 0.01), and MIT differed from HAIT and SPRINT on La- (p < 0.001) and HR (p < 0.001). In conclusion, repeated sessions of HAIT produced similar physiological responses as SPRINT, and similar affective responses as MIT.
Keywords: Endurance training; exercise adherence; exercise physiology; exercise psychology; mental health.