Individualized pleasure-oriented exercise sessions, exercise frequency, and affective outcomes: a pragmatic randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Affective responses are increasingly recognized as potentially effective intervention targets that may facilitate exercise and physical activity behavior change. While emerging correlational evidence suggests that more pleasant affective responses are associated with higher participation and adherence, experimental evidence remains scarce. In light of this, we conducted a preregistered, pragmatic, single-blinded, superiority randomized controlled trial with two parallel groups, with the goal of determining the impact of an individualized exercise-intensity prescription targeting pleasure on exercise frequency. METHODS: Forty-seven non-regular exercisers were randomized into two groups. For both groups, the intervention consisted of three exercise sessions based on the Frequency-Intensity-Time-Type (FITT) principle. However, the experimental group also received an individualized intensity prescription based on prior assessment of preference for and tolerance of exercise intensity, as well as instructions emphasizing the promotion of pleasure as a basis for self-regulating exercise intensity. The primary outcome was gymnasium attendance over an eight-week follow-up period. Secondary outcomes were affective valence and arousal, post-exercise enjoyment, core affective exercise experiences, and anticipated and remembered affect. RESULTS: Forty-six participants were retained for analysis (Mage = 32.00; SD = 8.62 years; 56.5% female). Compared to the control group, the experimental group exhibited 77% higher session attendance (14.35 vs. 8.13 sessions) over the eight-week follow-up period (group main effect p = .018, η2p = .120; Cohen's d ranged from 0.28 to 0.91 during follow-up). Also, the experimental group reported higher levels of pleasure during the intervention sessions (for all group main effects, p < .001, η2p from .33 to .37) and higher levels of remembered pleasure (group main effect p = .021, η2p = .116) and anticipated pleasure (group main effect p = .022, η2p = .114). No harm was detected. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate the practicality and effectiveness of an intervention aimed at enhancing affective responses to exercise in improving short-term session attendance. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrial.gov NCT05416593.

Exploring the impact of individualized pleasure-oriented exercise sessions in a health club setting: Protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Research on the relationship between exercise-induced affect and exercise or physical activity behavior has gained momentum in recent years, yielding several observational and longitudinal studies. However, experimental tests demonstrating a causal role of affective responses on exercise adherence are lacking. Given the need to devise exercise prescriptions that can facilitate adherence and promote regular physical activity, a Randomized Controlled Trial targeting individual pleasurable responses in a health-club setting will be conducted. The experimental protocol will compare two individualized evaluation, prescription, and supervision methods, adjusted for intensity, with the aim to explore their impact on behavioral, affective, and motivational outcomes. The planned study will be a pragmatic randomized, single-blinded, controlled superiority trial with two parallel groups and an allocation ratio of 1:1. Apparently healthy volunteer participants (N = 46) between 18 and 45 years old, who are not regularly active, will be randomly allocated to a control or experimental group. The control group will follow a general American College of Sports Medicine exercise prescription; the experimental group will follow the same prescription but with enhancements aimed at promoting pleasure: (1) individualization based on individual differences in preference for and tolerance of exercise intensity; (2) self-regulation of intensity; and (3) repeated assessments of core affect. The primary outcome will be post-intervention exercise-session attendance. Affective and motivational variables will be examined as secondary outcomes. The results are expected to advance exercise prescriptions by promoting affective regulation, thus helping to improve exercise adherence and related outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov; ID: NCT05416593.