Walking in (affective) circles: Can short walks enhance affect?

Recent physical activity recommendations call for activities that are of mo derate intensity and can be performed intermittently during the day, such a s walking. These proclamations were based partly on the assumption that mod erate activities are generally more enjoyable than physically demanding one s, and they are, therefore, also more likely to be continued over the long haul. However, little is actually known about the affective outcomes of sho rt bouts of walking and extant findings are equivocal. Four experimental st udies examined the affective responses associated with short (10- to 15-min ) bouts of walking using a dimensional conceptual model of affect, namely t he circumplex. Results consistently showed that walking was associated with shifts toward increased activation and more positive affective valence Rec overy from walking for 10-15 min was associated with a return toward calmne ss and relaxation. This pattern was robust across different self-report mea sures of the circumplex affective dimensions, across ecological settings (f ield and laboratory), across time, and across samples.