The use of Virtual Reality (VR) to assess the impact of geographical environments on walking and cycling: a systematic literature review.

BACKGROUND: Geographical environments influence people's active mobility behaviors, contributing to their physical and mental health. The use of Virtual Reality (VR) in experimental research can unveil new insights into the relationship between exposure to geographic environments and active mobility behaviors. This systematic review aims to (1) identify environmental attributes investigated in relation with walking and cycling, using VR, (2) assess their impacts on active mobility behaviors and attitudes, and (3) identify research gaps, strengths and limitations in VR-based experimental research. METHODS: Articles published between January 2010 and February 2022 within five databases (PubMed, Scopus, EBSCO, IEEE Xplore, and Cochrane Library) were explored using three keywords and their synonyms: Virtual Reality, Active mobility behavior, and Geographical environments. Studies focusing on indoor environments, driving simulation, disease-specific groups, non-relevant disciplines (e.g. military, emergency evacuation), VR methodology/software optimization, and those with static participants' involvement were excluded. The full protocol is available from PROSPERO (ID = CRD42022308366). RESULTS: Out of 3255 articles, 18 peer-reviewed papers met the selection criteria, mostly focusing on walking (83%). Most studies used head-mounted displays (94%) and relied on convenience sampling (72% below 100 participants). Both static (33%) and dynamic (45%) environmental attributes have been investigated, with only 22% of them simultaneously in the same virtual environment. Greenness and crowd density were the most frequent attributes, rather consistently associated with emotional states and movement behaviors. Few studies have taken into account participant's previous VR experience (33%) and cybersickness (39%) while both are likely to affect an individual's perception and behavior. CONCLUSIONS: Future research should explore a broader range of environmental attributes, including static and dynamic ones, as well as a more complex integration of these attributes within a single experiment to mimic the effect of realistic environments on people's active mobility behaviors and attitudes. Larger and more diverse population samples are deemed required to improve result generalizability. Despite methodological challenges, VR emerges as a promising tool to disentangle the effect of complex environments on active mobility behaviors.

Evaluation of an exercise program incorporating an international cycling competition: a multimodal intervention model for physical, psychological, and social wellbeing in residential aged care.

BACKGROUND: The transition into residential aged care is frequently associated with a reduction in physical activity, social engagement, and emotional wellbeing. Our aim was to evaluate the impact of a 26-day international cycling competition (Road Worlds Competition for Seniors), incorporating elements of exercise, audiovisual cycling footage, social engagement, and gamification, on the physical, psychological, and social well-being of aged care residents. We aimed to use findings to inform the development of a multi-modal intervention model to maximise wellbeing for older adults. METHODS: Residents (N = 32) participated in a mixed-methods single-group intervention pilot study that compared pre-and post-competition measures for the following wellbeing domains; physical, psychological, and social. In addition, interviews were conducted with residents (n = 27) and staff (n = 6) to explore their experiences. RESULTS: Measures identified significant improvements across multiple wellbeing domains, including functional fitness, depression, self-efficacy, and social network sizes. Findings from the interview data indicated that the multimodal components involved in the program delivery were valued by staff and residents who enjoyed the gamification, audiovisual cycling footage, social engagement, opportunities for reminiscence, and camaraderie between peers, staff, and volunteers. CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight a constellation of benefits across physical, psychological, and social domains of wellbeing and inform a model for innovative multidimensional programs in residential aged care. The benefits for residents with varying physical and cognitive abilities support the use of creative strategies that maximise inclusion and engagement for residents.

Climate protection, health and other motives for active transport - results of a cross-sectional survey in Germany.

BACKGROUND: Active transport- for example walking and bicycling to travel from place to place- may improve physical fitness and health and mitigate climate change if it replaces motorised transport. The aim of this study is to analyse the active transport behaviour of adults living in Germany, to investigate differences among population groups and to determine whether climate protection is a frequent motive for this behaviour. METHODS: This study uses self-reported data of 4,971 adults who participated in a national health survey (German Health Update 2021), which was conducted as a telephone survey from July to December 2021. Associations between active transport behaviour and corresponding motives with sociodemographic and health-related variables were analysed using logistic regression models. RESULTS: Of the adult population, 83% use active transport at least once a week. The frequency and duration of walking per week are significantly higher than those for bicycling (walking 214 min/week; bicycling 57 min/week). Those with a lower education level are less likely to practise active transport than those with a higher education level. Furthermore, women are less likely to use a bicycle for transport than men. Among those practising active transport, the most frequently mentioned motive is "is good for health" (84%) followed by "to be physically active" (74%) and "is good for the climate/environment" (68%). Women and frequent bicyclists (at least 4 days/week) mention climate protection as a motive more often than men and those bicycling occasionally. CONCLUSIONS: The improvement of active transport, especially among people with lower education and women (for bicycling), may benefit from better insights into motives and barriers. Climate protection is an important motivator for practising active transport within the adult population living in Germany and should therefore have greater emphasis in behavioural change programmes.

Can period-related symptoms predict menstrual manipulation among Australian female cyclists?

This study explored the extent of menstrual manipulation and its associated impact on period-related symptoms and training disruptions in Australian Female Cyclists. 205 female cyclists, from recreational to elite level, participated in an online "Female Cyclist Questionnaire (FCQ)". The FCQ utilised a series of validated questionnaires to obtain demographic information and menstrual function of the respondents, and to investigate their menstrual manipulation habits and perceptions on how their period-related symptoms affected their well-being, mood, energy and training tolerance. More than 80% of the cyclists reported that their period-related symptoms impacted upon training and 41% made training adjustments based on these symptoms. Two-thirds of respondents thought their training should be phase-controlled yet only half discussed their hormonal cycles with their coaches. Menstrual manipulation was predicted by reduced "workout tolerance" in these cyclists (odds ratio = 0.632). Half of the respondents reported compromised ability to tolerate high-intensity interval training with period-related symptoms. Period pain, increased irritability, lower energy levels and more sugar cravings were commonly reported but did not predict menstrual manipulation. The data indicated that period-related symptoms are present in Australian female cyclists across all levels of participation. However, the perceived impact to training and subsequent behavioural changes varied among individuals.

Grand Theft Auto-Based Cycling Simulator for Cognitive Enhancement Technologies in Dangerous Traffic Situations.

While developing traffic-based cognitive enhancement technology (CET), such as bike accident prevention systems, it can be challenging to test and evaluate them properly. After all, the real-world scenario could endanger the subjects' health and safety. Therefore, a simulator is needed, preferably one that is realistic yet low cost. This paper introduces a way to use the video game Grand Theft Auto V (GTA V) and its sophisticated traffic system as a base to create such a simulator, allowing for the safe and realistic testing of dangerous traffic situations involving cyclists, cars, and trucks. The open world of GTA V, which can be explored on foot and via various vehicles, serves as an immersive stand-in for the real world. Custom modification scripts of the game give the researchers control over the experiment scenario and the output data to be evaluated. An off-the-shelf bicycle equipped with three sensors serves as a realistic input device for the subject's movement direction and speed. The simulator was used to test two early-stage CET concepts enabling cyclists to sense dangerous traffic situations, such as trucks approaching from behind the cyclist. Thus, this paper also presents the user evaluation of the cycling simulator and the CET used by the subjects to sense dangerous traffic situations. With the knowledge of the first iteration of the user-centered design (UCD) process, this paper concludes by naming improvements for the cycling simulator and discussing further research directions for CET that enable users to sense dangerous situations better.

Health and well-being benefits of e-bike commuting for inactive, overweight people living in regional Australia.

INTRODUCTION: Pedal-assisted electric-bikes (e-bikes) are bicycles fitted with electric motors. Motorised functions on e-bikes only operate when the user pedals, allowing riders a moderate amount of physical activity. This study aimed to explore the mental and physical health and well-being impacts related to ebike usage for inactive overweight or obese individuals living in regional Australia. METHODS: Twenty inactive, overweight/obese people who seldom cycled were provided with an ebike over a 12-week period. Individual semi-structured interviews conducted at the end of the trial generated data about participants' experiences of using ebikes. Inductive thematic analysis of interview data using Thomas (2006) data analysis framework and NVivo 12 software was undertaken. RESULTS: Data analysis revealed that e-cycling improved participants' mental and physical well-being and that they felt happier when riding an e-bike. CONCLUSIONS: Riding an e-bike can improve mental and physical health, happiness and overall sense of well-being. Greater uptake of e-bikes would have positive health implications for the wider community. Results from this study can be used to inform active transport policy. SO WHAT?: Our study demonstrated that encouraging active transport in the form of e-cycling can improve the overall health and well-being of overweight and obese Australians. More specifically, e-cycling demonstrated a positive impact on mental health well-being.

Images depicting human pain increase exercise-induced pain and impair endurance cycling performance.

The current study investigated whether viewing images of others in pain influences exercise-induced pain (EIP) and cycling performance. Twenty-one recreational cyclists attended five laboratory visits. The first two visits involved measuring participants' maximal aerobic capacity and familiarized participants to the fixed power (FP) and 16.1 km cycling time trial (TT) tasks. The FP task required participants to cycle at 70% of their maximal aerobic power for 10-minutes. In the subsequent three visits, participants performed the FP and TT tasks after viewing pleasant, painful or neutral images. Participants rated the subset of painful images as more painful than the pleasant and neutral images; with no difference in the pain ratings of the pleasant and neutral images. In the FP task, EIP ratings were higher following painful compared to pleasant images, while no differences in EIP were observed between any other condition . In the TT, performance did not differ between the pleasant and neutral conditions. However, TT performance was reduced after viewing painful images compared to neutral or pleasant images. HR, B[La], perceived exertion and EIP did not differ between the three conditions. These results suggest that viewing painful images decreases TT performance and increases pain during fixed intensity cycling. Abbreviations: EIP: Exercise Induced Pain; FP: Fixed Power; TT: Time Trial; HR:Heart Rate; B[La]: Blood Lactate; RPE: Rating of Perceived Exertion; IAPS: International Affective Picture System; PO: Power Output.

Determinants of Peak Fat Oxidation Rates During Cycling in Healthy Men and Women.

This study explored lifestyle and biological determinants of peak fat oxidation (PFO) during cycle ergometry, using duplicate measures to account for day-to-day variation. Seventy-three healthy adults (age range: 19-63 years; peak oxygen consumption [V˙O2peak]: 42.4 [10.1] ml·kg BM-1·min-1; n = 32 women]) completed trials 7-28 days apart that assessed resting metabolic rate, a resting venous blood sample, and PFO by indirect calorimetry during an incremental cycling test. Habitual physical activity (combined heart rate accelerometer) and dietary intake (weighed record) were assessed before the first trial. Body composition was assessed 2-7 days after the second identical trial by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scan. Multiple linear regressions were performed to identify determinants of PFO (mean of two cycle tests). A total variance of 79% in absolute PFO (g·min-1) was explained with positive coefficients for V˙O2peak (strongest predictor), FATmax (i.e the % of V˙O2peak that PFO occurred at), and resting fat oxidation rate (g·min-1), and negative coefficients for body fat mass (kg) and habitual physical activity level. When expressed relative to fat-free mass, 64% of variance in PFO was explained: positive coefficients for FATmax (strongest predictor), V˙O2peak, and resting fat oxidation rate, and negative coefficients for male sex and fat mass. This duplicate design revealed that biological and lifestyle factors explain a large proportion of variance in PFO during incremental cycling. After accounting for day-to-day variation in PFO, V˙O2peak and FATmax were strong and consistent predictors of PFO.

Training volume and amateur cyclists' health: a six-month follow-up from coinciding with a high-demand cycling event.

This study aimed to analyse the longitudinal association of amateur cycling training volume with health by comparing the proximity of participation in a high-demand cycling event. Variations in cycling training volume, behavioural cardiometabolic risk factors, and physical and psychosocial health were examined. Cyclists decreased their training volume by approximately 40% and their total physical activity volumes by approximately 20%, while controls maintained (~5%). A time*group interaction was found for men's physical conditioning, body mass index and anxiety and, independent of gender, for behavioural cardiometabolic risk factors. Variation in cycling training volume was positively correlated with variation in physical conditioning and total physical activity and negatively correlated with variation in body mass index. The high level of cycling training volume developed at the time coinciding with a high demand cycling event predisposes to better physical health and behavioural cardiometabolic risk factors, without negatively affect psychosocial health, compared with six month later.

Temporal aspects of affective states, physiological responses, and perceived exertion in competitive cycling time trials.

Athletes' affective states can vary dramatically before, during, and after competition. Further, intense affect is associated with physiological responses that may amplify biological reactions manifested from the execution of physical tasks underlying performance. Fluctuations in perceptual cues (eg, perceived exertion) and physiological responses (eg, blood lactate, heart rate) can influence performance and vary dramatically in relation to competition. However, the pattern of these fluctuations and potential associations between perceptual cues and biological responses may also diverge during task execution with differential implications for performance. Data collected from highly trained athletes (N = 25; Mage  = 25.4) during a competition (ie, maximum total distance) comprised of three 7-minute cycling time trials and were analyzed with longitudinal multilevel modeling. Results showed that affective states were negatively associated with perceived exertion at the within-person level and negatively associated with heart rate at the between-person level within each trial. Blood lactate and heart rate were positively associated at the between-person level, whereas heart rate was positively associated with perceived exertion at the within-person level. The anticipation of more pleasurable affective states predicted less decline in affective states, but not physiological responses, during each trial. Anticipated affective states prior to each trial were also associated with affective states upon its completion. These findings suggest associations among perceptual cues and physiological responses may differ depending on the level of analysis (between- vs. within-person level associations), and anticipated affective states prior to performance may influence affective states during and after task execution.

Association between trail use and self-rated wellness and health.

BACKGROUND: Incorporating trail use into daily activity routines could be an important venue to increase a population's physical activity. This study presents important health impacts of trail use. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 8 trails throughout the State of Indiana. A mix of urban, suburban, and rural trails were selected. Recruitment sessions were completed during four 1-week periods throughout the study in various locations and at various times of day on each trail between April and October 2017. Data were collected through online and paper surveys. For each type of physical activity, a generalized additive model for self-rated wellness and health was built adjusting for demographics, socioeconomic status, amounts of physical activity on trails, mood status, sleep pattern, diet and smoking habit. The plots of estimated smoothing spline function with 95% confidence band were pictured. All statistical analyses were conducted using R. RESULTS: The final sample size included 1299 trail users; 92% were White, 79% aged 18-65 years, 71% were married and 56% were male. Biking, walking and running were the main activities with 52, 29 and 19%, respectively. Female to male ratio was 3:2 in walkers vs. 2:3 in runners and bikers. Runners were significantly younger than the other two groups. Runners also had the highest percentage of college graduates and above, the highest rate of employment, the highest income, and the lowest percentage of being retired among the three groups. They more commonly used the trails alone than the walkers and bikers. Bikers had the highest rate of job satisfaction. They also showed a better mean score of mood than that the walkers and runners. There was a linear association between walking and self-rated wellness and health, and a curved association between running/biking and self-rated wellness and health. Running < 6.5 miles/week and biking > 14 miles/week were associated with steeper rise in self-rated wellness and health. CONCLUSIONS: Employed educated married middle-aged people had the highest prevalence of walking, running or biking. The higher the walking, the higher self-rated wellness and health. A similar association was observed for running up to 6.5 miles/week or biking > 14 miles/week.

The Effects of Performing Mental Exertion during Cycling Exercise on Fatigue Indices.

This study investigated the effect of performing prolonged mental exertion during submaximal cycling exercise on exercise tolerance and fatigue. Participants performed 5 experimental sessions. Session 1: determination of cycling peak power output. Sessions 2 and 3: cycling to exhaustion at 65% peak power output with mental exertion or watching a movie. Sessions 4 and 5: cycling for 45 min at 65% peak power output with mental exertion or while watching a movie. During sessions 2-5, rate of perceived exertion and heart rate were recorded while cycling and cortisol and prolactin concentrations, psychomotor vigilance task performance, and maximal voluntary contraction were measured pre-and post-sessions. During sessions 2 and 3, time to exhaustion was reduced (p<0.01) and rate of perceived exertion was increased (p<0.01) in session 2 compared to 3. Cortisol, prolactin and heart rate increased and psychomotor vigilance task and maximal voluntary contraction decreased from pre-to post-sessions with no difference between sessions. Cortisol, prolactin and rate of perceived exertion were higher (p<0.03) in session 4 than 5. Heart rate increased and maximal voluntary contraction decreased from pre-to post-sessions with no difference between sessions. Prolonged mental exertion during cycling exercise reduces exercise tolerance, which appears to be mediated psychologically rather than physiologically.

Head-to-head competition does not affect pacing or performance in 1 km cycling time trials.

Previous research has shown enhanced performance and altered pacing behaviour in the presence of a virtual opponent during middle-distance cycling time trials with a duration of 2 min and longer. The purpose of this study was to determine whether these effects are also present in cycling time trials of shorter duration. Twelve physically active men completed three 1-km time trials. After a familiarisation trial (FAM), participants performed two experimental conditions: one without opponent (NO) and one with a virtual opponent (OP). Repeated-measures ANOVAs were used to assess differences in pacing and performance using power output and duration (p<0.05). No differences in mean finishing times (FAM: 91.5 ± 7.7 s; NO: 91.6 ± 6.4 s; OP: 90.9 ± 4.9 s; p=0.907) or power output (FAM: 382 ± 111 W; NO: 363 ± 80 W; OP: 367 ± 67; p=0.564) were found between experimental conditions. Furthermore, no differences in pacing profiles between experimental conditions were found (p=0.199). Similarly, rate of perceived exertion did not differ between experimental conditions at any moment (p=0.831). In conclusion, unlike events of a more prolonged duration (>2 min), the presence of an opponent did not affect participants' pacing behaviour in short duration 1-km time trials.

Running economy and effort after cycling: Effect of methodological choices.

Prior exercise can negatively affect movement economy of a subsequent task. However, the impact of cycling exercise on the energy cost of subsequent running is difficult to ascertain, possibly because of the use of different methods of calculating economy. We examined the influence of a simulated cycling bout on running physiological cost (running economy, heart rate and ventilation rates) and perceptual responses (ratings of perceived exertion and effort) by comparing two running bouts, performed before and after cycling using different running economy calculation methods. Seventeen competitive male triathletes ran at race pace before and after a simulated Olympic-distance cycling bout. Running economy was calculated as V̇O2 (mL∙kg-1∙min-1), oxygen cost (EO2, mL∙kg-1∙m-1) and aerobic energy cost (Eaer, J∙kg-1∙m-1). All measures of running economy and perceptual responses indicated significant alterations imposed by prior cycling. Despite a good level of agreement with minimal bias between calculation methods, differences (p < 0.05) were observed between Eaer and both V̇O2 and EO2. The results confirmed that prior cycling increased physiological cost and perceptual responses in a subsequent running bout. It is recommended that Eaer be calculated as a more valid measure of running economy alongside perceptual responses to assist in the identification of individual responses in running economy following cycling.

Assessment of the Relationship between Selected Factors and Stress-Coping Strategies in Handcyclists-A Preliminary Study.

Background and Objectives: Playing competitive sports is associated with stress, especially during the starting season. Disabled athletes are additionally burdened with physical and/or emotional factors, resulting from the trauma they have experienced. The aim of the work was to assess the relationship between strategies of coping with stress and the level of education, category of disability and its duration of handcyclists before the competition. Materials and Methods: 44 handcyclists with a mean age of 41.8 ± 11.6, from European countries, were divided according to the severity of mobility impairments, education and duration of the disability. The participants were asked to fill in the Mini-COPE Inventory for Measuring Coping with Stress, which provided answers in writing to some sociodemographic questions regarding age, sex, education, type of mobility impairment and duration of the disability. Results: The subjects who had suffered spinal injury at the cervical section obtained the lowest scores regarding their subjective assessment of their active stress management in difficult situations (p = 0.007). They scored the lowest, 1.5 points, when asked about acceptance in difficult circumstances compared to those with university education (p = 0.02). A statistically significant correlation was found to exist between education levels and positive revaluation, acceptance and seeking instrumental support. A negative correlation was observed between education and sustained use of psychoactive substances and denial. Conclusions: Highly educated cyclists with short-lasting disability, damage to the lower spine section or amputations tend to cope better with stress than other study participants.

Motivational-general arousal imagery does not improve decision-making performance in elite endurance cyclists.

Emotions are predicted to influence judgement and decision-making across a range of performance contexts. This experiment tested whether motivational-general arousal imagery can improve the decision-making performance of elite endurance cyclists. In total, 54 cyclists (38 men, 16 women) were assigned to either a positive imagery condition (where positive images associated with the affective experience of winning were encouraged) or a negative imagery condition (where negative images associated with poor performance were encouraged). The cyclists were read one of two scripts designed to elicit positive or negative images during a 20-min maximal sustainable interval on a cycle ergometer. A decision-making task (colour-word match Stroop) was performed before and immediately after the maximal sustainable power interval. Results showed that the manipulation was successful with cyclists in the positive imagery condition reporting more positive affective states (higher levels of happiness and lower levels of dejection) than those in the negative imagery condition. However, there was no significant difference between the two groups in their decision-making performance under physiological duress. These findings indicate that while motivational-general arousal imagery might be a useful method to induce positive emotions during exercise, it is unlikely to improve the decision-making performance of cyclists in performance-relevant conditions.

To me, to you: How you say things matters for endurance performance.

Self-talk enhances physical performance. Nothing is known however about the way that a subtle grammatical difference in self-talk, using first or second person pronouns, may effect performance. As second person self-talk supports self-regulation in non-exercise populations, we hypothesized that 10 km cycling time-trial performance would be superior following second versus first person self-talk. Using a randomized, counterbalanced, crossover design, sixteen physically active males (Mage = 21.99, SD = 3.04 years) completed a familiarization visit followed by a 10 km time-trial during two separate experimental visits using first and second person self-talk. A paired t-test revealed that second person self-talk generated significantly faster time-trial performance than first person self-talk (p = .014). This was reflected in a significantly greater power output throughout the time-trial when using second person self-talk (p = .03), despite RPE remaining similar between conditions (p = .75). This is the first evidence that strategically using grammatical pronouns when implementing self-talk can influence physical performance providing practitioners with a new aspect to consider when developing interventions. We discussed findings in the context of a self-distancing phenomenon induced by the use second person pronouns.

Effect of environmental feedbacks on pacing strategy and affective load during a self-paced 30 min cycling time trial.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the pacing strategy and its affective consequences during self-paced cycling time trials (TT) performed at different severity of hypoxia. Eight competitive cyclists performed five 30 min self-paced TTs at their best performance in the following conditions: 1) normobaric normoxia (NNSL); 2) normobaric hypoxia under two simulated altitudes: 2000 m (NH2000) and 3500 m (NH3500) and 3) normobaric hypoxia but the cyclists were deceived and thought to be at sea level for 2000 m (DecNH2000) and 3500 m (DecNH3500). Power Output (PO), oxygen uptake (VO2), and blood lactate concentration ([La]) were recorded to assess exercise intensity and physiological adaptations. The rate of perceived exertion (RPE) and pleasure were measured with a CR10 Borg scale to evaluate the affective load (AL). PO and VO2 decreased with the severity of hypoxia but no significantly difference on performance was measured between deceived and real conditions, except for pacing strategy. The started intensity depends on the exercise expectations, but PO was rapidly adjusted with the physiological constraints and the rate of increase of RPE. Finally, AL did not reach maximal values so that the athletes sustained a physiological and emotional reserve to perform a final spurt.

Effects of total sleep deprivation on endurance cycling performance and heart rate indices used for monitoring athlete readiness.

This study investigated effects of total sleep deprivation on self-paced endurance performance, and heart rate (HR) indices of athletes' "readiness to perform". Endurance athletes (n = 13) completed a crossover experiment comprising a normal sleep (NS) and sleep deprivation (SD) condition. Each required completion of an endurance time-trial (TT) on consecutive days (D1, D2) separated by normal sleep or total sleep deprivation. Finishing time, perceived exertion (RPE), mood, psychomotor vigilance (PVT), and HR responses were assessed. Time on D2 of SD was 10% slower than D2 of NS (64 ± 7 vs 59 ± 4 min, P < 0.01), and 11% slower than D1 of SD (58 ± 5 min, P < 0.01). Subjective to objective (RPE:mean HR) intensity ratio was higher on D2 of SD compared with D2 of NS and D1 of SD (P < 0.01). Mood disturbance and PVT mean response time increased on D2 of SD compared with D2 of NS and D1 of SD. Anaerobic threshold and change in TT time were correlated (R = -0.73, P < 0.01). Sleep helps to optimise endurance performance. Subjective to objective intensity ratios appear sensitive to effects of sleep on athletes' readiness. Research examining more subtle sleep manipulation is required.