Anticipatory Anxiety, Familiarization, and Performance: Finding the Sweet Spot to Optimize High-Quality Data...

Area of Science:

• Exercise Physiology
• Sports Psychology

Background:

• Accurate baseline data are crucial for evaluating intervention effectiveness.
• Anticipatory anxiety and assessment familiarity can influence baseline measurements.
• High-intensity functional training (HIFT) involves varied workouts, but its novices' responses to familiarization are understudied.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effects of familiarization sessions on anticipatory anxiety and workout performance in high-intensity functional training (HIFT) novices.
• To determine if familiarization decreases anxiety and enhances performance in a HIFT context.

Main Methods:

• Sixteen recreationally trained, HIFT-novice college students participated in one introductory and four HIFT workout sessions.
• State and trait anxiety were assessed, with state anxiety measured at multiple points during workouts (SQALS 1, 2, 3).
• Workout performance was tracked across sessions to evaluate familiarization effects.

Main Results:

• A significant main effect of prior sessions on workout performance was found (p = 0.011).
• Repeated-measures ANOVA revealed significant main effects of time on state anxiety (SQALS 1, 2, 3) across sessions (p < 0.001 for all).
• Anxiety levels decreased, and performance improved with increased familiarization sessions.

Conclusions:

• Two familiarization sessions appear adequate for reducing anxiety and establishing reliable baseline measurements in HIFT.
• Findings suggest a practical approach for incorporating novices into HIFT research and training.
• Further research is recommended to validate these findings across diverse HIFT modalities.