Investigating Affective Responses to Remotely Delivered "At Home" Low Volume High Intensity Interval Exercise: A Non-Randomized Parallel Group Feasibility Study

Imogen Howard; Ailsa Niven; Paul Kelly; Shaun M Phillips

doi:10.3389/fspor.2022.862019

Investigating Affective Responses to Remotely Delivered "At Home" Low Volume High Intensity Interval Exercise: A Non-Randomized Parallel Group Feasibility Study

Front Sports Act Living. 2022 Jul 6:4:862019. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2022.862019. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Imogen Howard¹, Ailsa Niven², Paul Kelly², Shaun M Phillips³

Affiliations

¹ Institute for Sport, Physical Education and Health Sciences, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
² Physical Activity for Health Research Centre, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
³ Human Performance Science Research Group, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.

Abstract

Background: Low volume-high intensity interval exercise (LV-HIIE) has gained interest, due to its efficiency in invoking health and fitness benefits. However, little research has studied "at home" feasibility or effects of LV-HIIE. This study aimed to demonstrate that remote "at-home" LV-HIIE research is possible and to investigate if affective responses to the LV-HIIE protocol, subsequent intentions, and self-efficacy to repeat were related to self-reported tolerance of the intensity of exercise.

Methods: Using self-reported tolerance of the intensity of exercise, 41 healthy, physically active participants (25 female and 16 male; age 21.3 ± 1.0 years, body mass index 23.0 ± 2.9 kg.m²) were divided into low tolerance (LT, n = 14), middle tolerance (MT, n = 15), and high tolerance (HT, n = 12) groups. Participants completed a 20-min LV-HIIE circuit training video [2 × (10 ×30 s work, 15 s rest)] at home. Participants reported ratings of perceived exertion, affective valence, and perceived activation at baseline, during the protocol, immediately post-protocol, and during the cool down. 20-min after completion, respondents answered questions on exercise task self-efficacy and intentions to repeat LV-HIIE.

Results: The study recruited n = 65 individuals, of whom n = 50 passed screening. Ultimately n = 41 (82%) completed the exercise protocol and data collection. Ratings of perceived exertion were not significantly different between groups (p = 0.56), indicating similar perceptions of task difficulty. There was no significant effect of tolerance on affective valence (p = 0.36) or felt arousal (p = 0.06). There was evidence of high individual variability in affective responses within and between participants. Subsequent intentions and self-efficacy to repeat the exercise protocol did not seem to be related to affective valence during or after the protocol.

Discussion: Recruitment and data collection indicated that research into "at home" LV-HIIE is possible. High individual differences in affective responses suggest that LV-HEII may be appropriate for some but not all as an exercise option. Assessing self-reported tolerance of intensity of exercise may not appropriately identify whether or not LV-HIIE will be suitable for an individual.

Keywords: LV-HIIE; adherence; affect; circuit training; tolerance.