Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Impact of Coastal Walking Outdoor and Virtual Reality Indoor Walking on Heart Rate, Enjoyment Levels and Mindfulness Experiences in Healthy Adults

Gianpiero Greco
,
Claudio Centrone
ORCID logo ,
Luca Poli
ORCID logo ,
Ana Filipa Silva
ORCID logo ,
Luca Russo
ORCID logo ,
Stefania Cataldi
* ORCID logo ,
Valerio Giustino
ORCID logo ,
Francesco Fischetti
ORCID logo
Version 1 : Received: 24 November 2023 / Approved: 24 November 2023 / Online: 27 November 2023 (11:18:31 CET)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Greco, G.; Centrone, C.; Poli, L.; Silva, A.F.; Russo, L.; Cataldi, S.; Giustino, V.; Fischetti, F. Impact of Coastal Walking Outdoors and Virtual Reality Indoor Walking on Heart Rate, Enjoyment Levels and Mindfulness Experiences in Healthy Adults. J. Funct. Morphol. Kinesiol. 2024, 9, 11. Greco, G.; Centrone, C.; Poli, L.; Silva, A.F.; Russo, L.; Cataldi, S.; Giustino, V.; Fischetti, F. Impact of Coastal Walking Outdoors and Virtual Reality Indoor Walking on Heart Rate, Enjoyment Levels and Mindfulness Experiences in Healthy Adults. J. Funct. Morphol. Kinesiol. 2024, 9, 11.

Abstract

Outdoor exercise is beneficial for psychophysical well-being. Limited studies have compared outdoor and virtual reality (VR) indoor physical activities, especially in coastal settings. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the impact of outdoor coastal walking and indoor walking in a VR simulation with a similar environment on physiological and psychological variables in healthy adults. Twenty-six subjects (14M and 12F; age 25.2 ± 2.5 years) voluntarily participated in this crossover randomized controlled and counterbalanced study and were allocated under three conditions: VR indoor walking (INVR), outdoor walking (OUT) and standard indoor walking (IN). IN and INVR conditions were performed on a treadmill (speed 4.5 Km/h) and the OUT was per-formed on a seaside pedestrian road. The same outdoor environment was displayed in the visor during the INVR. Heart rate (HRmean/max), Physical Activity Enjoyment (PACES-It) and State of Mindfulness for Physical Activity (SMS-PA) were assessed at the end of each condition. The OUT condition showed significantly greater PACES-It scores and HRmean than IN and INVR (p<0.001) and greater SMS-PA scores and HRmax than IN (p<0.01 and p<0.05, respectively). No significant dif-ferences were found between OUT and INVR regarding HRmax and SMS-PA scores (p>0.05). Findings suggest that physical activity in an immersive technology may lead to physiological loads comparable to the outdoor environment. OUT is more enjoyable than IN and INVR but exhibits a mindfulness response comparable to INVR. Therefore, INVR could be an alternative to OUT for those who cannot engage in outdoor activities for various reasons.

Keywords

VR; Technology; Physical activity; Physical fitness; Exercise adherence.

Subject

Public Health and Healthcare, Public, Environmental and Occupational Health

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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