Examination of the Consistency in Affective Response to Acute Exercise in Overweight and Obese Women

This study examined whether inactive, overweight/obese women experience consistent affective responses to moderate-intensity exercise. Twenty-eight women participated in 3 identical (same treadmill grade and speed within a subject) 30-min exercise sessions. The Feeling Scale (FS), Positive and Negative Affect Schedule and Subjective Exercise Experience Scale were administered pre- and postexercise and FS was also administered every 5 min during exercise. All measures exhibited less than optimal agreement in pre-to-postexercise change within an individual across the 3 sessions (ICCs = 0.02-0.60), even after controlling for within-subject variations in heart rate. Only FS exhibited "good" consistency when controlling for preexercise values (ICC = 0.72). However, the mean FS score during exercise was highly consistent within an individual (ICC = 0.83). Thus, an individual's affective response to an exercise session does not provide reliable information about how they will respond to subsequent exercise sessions. Taking the average of FS measurements during exercise may yield more consistent findings.