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Updated: Dec 8, 2025

Visualization of Intensity Levels to Reduce the Gap Between Self-Reported and Directly Measured Physical Activity
Published on: March 7, 2019
Active Today, Replenished Tomorrow? How Daily Physical Activity Diminishes Next-Morning Depletion
Emily A Rost1, Trevin E Glasgow2, Charles Calderwood1
1Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, USA.
Background:
Physical activity is a salient input to psychological health and well-being. Recent applied psychology research suggests that physical activity of a greater intensity is particularly important for recovery from work-related effort expenditure. However, whether and how moderate-to-vigorous levels of physical activity influence recovery outside of working populations remains unclear. Further, the process through which this relationship unfolds on a day-to-day basis has yet to be mapped.
Method:
We conducted a 10-day daily diary study in a sample of 66 college students that incorporated objective measurements of physical activity and sleep to address these research gaps.
Results:
We found that higher levels of daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity were associated with leisure-time psychological detachment from daily school demands, which in turn related to longer duration sleep that diminished next-morning depletion.
Discussion:
We discuss how our findings advance a dynamic perspective of the intersection of physical activity and recovery from day-to-day that can be applied outside of working populations.
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