Can In-Task Affect During Interval and Continuous Exercise Predict 12-Month Physical Activity Behavior? Findings from...

In-task affective responses to moderate-intensity continuous exercise training (MICT) have been shown to predict future physical activity behavior. However, limited research has investigated whether this affect-behavior relationship is similar for high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and whether it holds true over the longer term. This study aims to determine (1) if in-task affect during 2 weeks of supervised MICT and HIIT predicted changes to unsupervised moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) behavior 12 months post-intervention and (2) if this predictive relationship was moderated by exercise type (MICT vs. HIIT).

Ninety-nine adults (69.7% female; 50.9 ± 9.4 years) who were low active and overweight were randomized to 2 weeks of exercise training of MICT (n = 52) or HIIT (n = 47), followed by 12 months of accelerometry-assessed free-living MVPA.

The pooled moderation model was not significant, F(3, 94) = 2.54, p = .07 (R² = 0.085), with a non-significant group by affect interaction (p = .06). The conditional effect for MICT was significant (B = 17.27, t = 2.17, p = .03), suggesting that 12-month change in MVPA increased by 17.27 min/week for every one-point increase in in-task affect. The conditional effect for HIIT was not significant (p = .85), suggesting that in-task affect was not predictive of 12-month change in MVPA.

The current findings raise important questions about whether the affect-behavior relationship may vary depending on exercise type. For HIIT-based exercise in particular, additional psychological constructs beyond in-task affect should be considered when attempting to predict future physical activity behavior.