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Can You Have Your Vigorous Exercise and Enjoy It Too? Ramping Intensity Down Increases Postexercise, Remembered, and Forecasted Pleasure.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Zenko, Z; Ekkekakis, P; Ariely, D
Published in: Journal of sport & exercise psychology
April 2016

There is a paucity of methods for improving the affective experience of exercise. We tested a novel method based on discoveries about the relation between exercise intensity and pleasure, and lessons from behavioral economics. We examined the effect of reversing the slope of pleasure during exercise from negative to positive on pleasure and enjoyment, remembered pleasure, and forecasted pleasure. Forty-six adults were randomly assigned to a 15-min bout of recumbent cycling of either increasing intensity (0-120% of watts corresponding to the ventilatory threshold) or decreasing intensity (120-0%). Ramping intensity down, thereby eliciting a positive slope of pleasure during exercise, improved postexercise pleasure and enjoyment, remembered pleasure, and forecasted pleasure. The slope of pleasure accounted for 35-46% of the variance in remembered and forecasted pleasure from 15 min to 7 days postexercise. Ramping intensity down makes it possible to combine exposure to vigorous and moderate intensities with a pleasant affective experience.

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Published In

Journal of sport & exercise psychology

DOI

EISSN

1543-2904

ISSN

0895-2779

Publication Date

April 2016

Volume

38

Issue

2

Start / End Page

149 / 159

Related Subject Headings

  • Sport Sciences
  • Pleasure
  • Physical Exertion
  • Motivation
  • Mental Recall
  • Male
  • Intention
  • Humans
  • Female
  • Exercise
 

Citation

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Zenko, Z., Ekkekakis, P., & Ariely, D. (2016). Can You Have Your Vigorous Exercise and Enjoy It Too? Ramping Intensity Down Increases Postexercise, Remembered, and Forecasted Pleasure. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 38(2), 149–159. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsep.2015-0286
Zenko, Zachary, Panteleimon Ekkekakis, and Dan Ariely. “Can You Have Your Vigorous Exercise and Enjoy It Too? Ramping Intensity Down Increases Postexercise, Remembered, and Forecasted Pleasure.Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology 38, no. 2 (April 2016): 149–59. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsep.2015-0286.
Zenko Z, Ekkekakis P, Ariely D. Can You Have Your Vigorous Exercise and Enjoy It Too? Ramping Intensity Down Increases Postexercise, Remembered, and Forecasted Pleasure. Journal of sport & exercise psychology. 2016 Apr;38(2):149–59.
Zenko, Zachary, et al. “Can You Have Your Vigorous Exercise and Enjoy It Too? Ramping Intensity Down Increases Postexercise, Remembered, and Forecasted Pleasure.Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, vol. 38, no. 2, Apr. 2016, pp. 149–59. Epmc, doi:10.1123/jsep.2015-0286.
Zenko Z, Ekkekakis P, Ariely D. Can You Have Your Vigorous Exercise and Enjoy It Too? Ramping Intensity Down Increases Postexercise, Remembered, and Forecasted Pleasure. Journal of sport & exercise psychology. 2016 Apr;38(2):149–159.

Published In

Journal of sport & exercise psychology

DOI

EISSN

1543-2904

ISSN

0895-2779

Publication Date

April 2016

Volume

38

Issue

2

Start / End Page

149 / 159

Related Subject Headings

  • Sport Sciences
  • Pleasure
  • Physical Exertion
  • Motivation
  • Mental Recall
  • Male
  • Intention
  • Humans
  • Female
  • Exercise