International  Journal  of
Environmental Research
and Public Health
Article
Physical and Emotional Beneﬁts of Different Exercise
Environments Designed for Treadmill Running
Hsiao-Pu Yeh 1,*
, Joseph A. Stone 2
, Sarah M. Churchill 2, Eric Brymer 3 and Keith Davids 1
1
Centre for Sports Engineering Research, Shefﬁeld Hallam University, Shefﬁeld S10 2BP, UK;
hwbkd@exchange.shu.ac.uk
2
Academy of Sport and Physical Activity, Shefﬁeld Hallam University, Shefﬁeld S10 2BP, UK;
hwbjs9@exchange.shu.ac.uk (J.A.S.); hwbsc3@exchange.shu.ac.uk (S.M.C.)
3
Institute of Sport, Physical Activity and Leisure, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds LS1 3HE, UK;
E.Brymer@leedsbeckett.ac.uk
*
Correspondence: H.yeh@shu.ac.uk; Tel.: +44-114-225-2355
Received: 24 May 2017; Accepted: 6 July 2017; Published: 11 July 2017
Abstract: (1) Background: Green physical activity promotes physical health and mental wellbeing and
interesting questions concern effects of this information on designing indoor exercise environments.
This study examined the physical and emotional effects of different nature-based environments
designed for indoor treadmill running; (2) Methods: In a counterbalanced experimental design,
30 participants performed three, twenty-minute treadmill runs at a self-selected pace while viewing
either a static nature image, a dynamic nature image or self-selected entertainment. Distance ran,
heart rate (HR) and ﬁve pre-and post-exercise emotional states were measured; (3) Results:
Participants ran farther, and with higher HRs, with self-selected entertainment compared to the
two nature-based environment designs. Participants attained lowered anger, dejection, anxiety
and increased excitement post exercise in all of the designed environments. Happiness increased
during the two nature-based environment designs compared with self-selected entertainment;
(4) Conclusions: Self-selected entertainment encouraged greater physical performances whereas
running in nature-based exercise environments elicited greater happiness immediately after running.
Keywords: green physical activity; environmental design; happiness; ecological dynamics; indoor
exercise environments
1. Introduction
Physical inactivity has been identiﬁed as the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality,
associated with approximately 3.2 million deaths each year and implicated in the prevalence of
non-communicable diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular issues [1]. As the proportion of the
world’s population living in urban environments is increasing, this has become an important group to
target with strategies for increasing physical activity (PA) uptake, effectiveness and adherence [2,3].
Moreover, the increasing trend for exercising requires better understanding, how considering best to
design these settings to maximise beneﬁts. This paper examines the physical and emotional effects of
exercising in different indoor PA environments.
Urban environments, high-density trafﬁc, low air quality, a lack of parks, sports/recreation
facilities and fear of crime in outdoor areas [4] might inhibit urban dwellers from exercising outside.
Bad weather, lack of time or shorter daytime light can also act as barriers discouraging people from
exercising outside, especially during winter. As a result, gyms, homes or private exercise centres can
become preferred venues for PA because of the reduced concerns about safety and increased availability.
In fact, the exercise gym is the most preferred PA environment [5]. Depending on the exercise activity
and available facilities, exercisers physically and psychologically engage with their activity in different
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2017, 14, 752; doi:10.3390/ijerph14070752
www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2017, 14, 752
2 of 11
ways. For example, exercisers might prefer to exercise while watching television programmes, news
or movies, or listening to music available in the external environment or on their own music devices.
These varying media types offer different information sources which in turn inﬂuences exercisers’
perceptions, performance and experiences. For example, listening to music during treadmill running
can inﬂuence runners’ performance compared to watching television programmes [6]. Different forms
of the same entertainment might also result in different PA outcomes. For example, fast or loud
music can encourage treadmill runners to run faster or for a longer time [7–9], whereas slow or quiet
music has not been associated with any beneﬁcial physical outputs for treadmill runners [9]. Hence,
identifying the information in PA contexts that more effectively engages exercisers and maximises
physical and mental exercise beneﬁts is important for ensuring the effective design of PA environments.
Nature has been promoted as integral to human health and wellbeing, being associated with the
capacity to augment physical, cognitive and emotional wellbeing. For example, people who live in
greener environments report better perceived health [10] and viewing awesome nature scenes has
been associated with mood improvement [11]. When coupled with PA, the context of nature has
been associated with lowered blood pressure [12,13], reduced perceived exertion [14,15], enhanced
self-esteem [13,16], mood [13,14,16] and enjoyment [17–19] as well as reduced anxiety [20–23] and
stress [23–25]. Furthermore, viewing static and dynamic images of nature while participating in
indoor physical activities, such as running on a treadmill or cycling on an exercise bike (deﬁned as ‘in
the presence of nature’) has also demonstrated physical and mental beneﬁts, such as lowered blood
pressure [12,13], lowered perceived exertion [14,15], improved direct attention [26], mood [13–15],
self-esteem [13,27], affective valence and exercise enjoyment [19].
A meta-analysis undertaken by Bowler and colleagues indicated that the most commonly reported
beneﬁt of PA in the presence of nature (indoors or outdoors) was the enhancement of emotions [28].
A number of theoretical perspectives have been proposed as useful for understanding how this might
come about. Attention Restoration Theory suggests that nature environments have a restorative effect
on the brain's ability to focus. Whereas, the Stress Recovery Theory [29] posits a healing power of nature
that lies in an unconscious, autonomic response to natural elements that can occur without recognition
and most noticeably in individuals who have been stressed before the experience [30]. Further, The
Biophilia hypothesis assumes that humans have afﬁliations to nature [31]. Despite these explanations,
theoretical perspectives have largely ignored the role of nature in PA design. Interpretations have
been limited to psychological and cognitive responses, which provide a narrow perspective on the
beneﬁcial effects of nature. However, the individual, the type of PA and the environment in which the
PA is performed all play inﬂuential roles in the emergence of behaviour [2].
Ecological dynamics has been proposed as an effective framework for understanding the
relationship of individuals with the environment during PA [2,6]. Ecological dynamics emphasises
that the realisation of affordances underpins observed effects of PA [3,6]. The notion of affordances
highlights that the relationship between a perceiver’s capabilities and an environment supports
opportunities (both good and bad) that facilitate a given activity [32]. To perceive an affordance is
to detect an environmental property that provides an opportunity for action and it is speciﬁed in
the surrounding environment available to perceivers [32]. Therefore, when performing an activity,
an individual is constantly and actively detecting various types of information, such as olfactory,
acoustic, haptic and visual from the environment and utilising information that is most functional
during interactions. For example, when you run along a river, you might notice ﬁsh swimming in
the river, but it is not functionally relevant to your running. However, a puddle on the pathway or
a slippery surface near the water’s edge might be very relevant for the way that your emotions and
physical actions emerge. In this way, the perception-action relationship is a reciprocal and continuous
cycle that underpins human behaviour. Based on the concept of affordances, people exercising in
the same physical environment, might detect or utilise different information sources which would
accrue various effects on their behaviours, according to individual differences. A static scene is a
frozen moment and may contain limited information for participants to utilise compared to a dynamic
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2017, 14, 752
3 of 11
display which offers continuous and richer information for affordances. Hence, the functionality
offered by these two types of information may differ, although such variations might not have linear
effects. Previous work has examined these two types of displays and found a non-parallel relationship
between static and dynamic displays on preference rating, epistemic and evaluative variables with no
PA involvement [33]. When applied in a PA environment, the effects of viewing static and dynamic
displays during PA remain unclear.
To examine this key idea, we provided three conditions which afforded (offered) different
information sources for exercisers performing PA in the same physical setting, through different
environmental designs. We examined emotional and physical outcomes related to exercising when
viewing two types of nature-based designs and when participants were able to choose their habitual,
preferred entertainment. The two nature conditions were designed with visual-only information,
whereas in the self-selected entertainment condition, participants were able to choose visual, acoustic
or visual-acoustic information. In all three PA designs, participants were instructed to run at their
own comfortable pace and they were allowed to change their running speed at any time during the
activity. Therefore, the imposed speed of the run, e.g., the intensity of the run, was not allowed to
contaminate the ﬁndings. Allowing participants to self-adjust running intensity during an experimental
condition is more representative of their typical experiences during PA. It is, therefore, more likely to
enhance knowledge about how to design a more appealing indoor exercising (e.g., treadmill running)
environment with typical affordances of different activity contexts. We sought to investigate these
PA designs to understand whether any were more likely to be beneﬁcial for constraining experiences
of physical health and mental wellbeing [34,35]. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to examine
physical and emotional effects of PA in different exercise environments with and without nature-based
affordances without controlling the intensity of PA. We hypothesised that participants would accrue
more emotional beneﬁts when viewing dynamic image than a static image, due to the dynamic
qualities of the information present in that type of display, however, it was expected that self-selected
entertainment would result in better physical performance, based on previous research ﬁndings.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Participants
Thirty participants (mean ± SD: 18 males and 12 females; age 27.5 ± 9 years; mass 67.6 ± 11.1 kg;
stature 173.7 ± 8.2 cm; BMI 22.2 ± 2.1) were recruited. All participants gave their informed consent
for inclusion before they participated in the study. The study was conducted in accordance with
the Declaration of Helsinki, and the protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Shefﬁeld
Hallam University Research Ethics Committee of HWB-S&E-35. Twenty-four participants performed
regular exercise completing more than 150 min a week, such as attending gym sessions, weightlifting,
running, cycling and climbing. Six participants performed exercise irregularly or light exercise, such
as power walking.
2.2. Study Design
Two nature-based conditions, involving visual-only information of nature, were designed. The
ﬁrst involved a static image of nature and the second included a dynamic image. The dynamic
image condition was a 20-minute digital video recording made at the Shefﬁeld Botanical Gardens.
The video recording was created by ﬁxing a GoPro camera (Hero3+, GoPro, San Mateo, CA, USA)
on the helmet of a person cycling along a series of paths within the gardens, capturing the trail
through lawns, trees and ﬂower beds on a sunny afternoon in spring. The video aimed to represent
a ﬁrst person perspective of moving through the gardens and it was ﬁlmed at 2.32 m/s to present
a moderate exercise level [36]. The static image condition was composed of a single frame of the
dynamic image to avoid discrepancies between images and was used throughout the twenty minutes
physical activity period (see Figure 1). The third design, representative of popular gym conditions,
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2017, 14, 752
4 of 11
consisted of self-selected, preferred entertainment where participants were able to choose preferences
that included visual and/or auditory information. To focus on personal preferences of participants,
there were no speciﬁc limitations imposed on the self-selected entertainment used for Gym exercise.
Participants chose various entertainments, for example, listening to music (N = 23), watching television
(e.g., BBC news/talk shows) or movies (e.g., Simpsons) with sound (N = 6) and viewing a picture (one
person chose to view an image of friends). Television, movies and the static image of nature were
presented on a wall-mounted monitor with a 2 × 1 m screen, situated 3 m in front of the treadmill
(Figure 1). Music was presented either from wall mounted speakers or through participants’ own
headphones. In each trial, participants performed a self-organised warm up for 5 min. The information
panel on the treadmill was covered to ensure that participants were not able to view the distance of
their run. The researcher was able to record these data by using the treadmill application program in a
remote computer. There were two partitions on each side of the treadmill in order to control potential
distractions by limiting participants' visible area to the forward plane.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2017, 14, 752   
4 of 11 
 
conditions,  consisted  of  self‐selected,  preferred  entertainment  where  participants  were  able  to 
choose  preferences  that  included  visual  and/or  auditory  information.  To  focus  on  personal 
preferences  of  participants,  there  were  no  specific  limitations  imposed  on  the  self‐selected 
entertainment  used  for  Gym  exercise.  Participants  chose  various  entertainments,  for  example, 
listening  to  music  (N  =  23),  watching  television  (e.g.,  BBC  news/talk  shows)  or  movies  (e.g., 
Simpsons) with sound (N = 6) and viewing a picture (one person chose to view an image of friends). 
Television, movies and the static image of nature were presented on a wall‐mounted monitor with a 
2 × 1 m screen, situated 3 m in front of the treadmill (Figure 1). Music was presented either from wall 
mounted speakers or through participants’ own headphones. In each trial, participants performed a 
self‐organised warm up for 5 min. The information panel on the treadmill was covered to ensure 
that participants were not able to view the distance of their run. The researcher was able to record 
these  data  by  using  the  treadmill  application  program  in  a  remote  computer.  There  were  two 
partitions  on  each  side  of  the  treadmill  in  order  to  control  potential  distractions  by  limiting 
participantsʹ visible area to the forward plane. 
 
Figure 1. Left: The experimental setting, the treadmill is 3 m from the wall with projecting media and 
two partitions stand next to the treadmill [6]. The projected screen is 2 × 1 m; Right: The one single 
frame from the dynamic image condition used throughout the whole twenty‐minute. 
2.3. Procedure 
In a counterbalanced design, all participants were asked to perform a twenty‐minute treadmill 
run  at  a  comfortable  self‐selected  speed  in  each  design  at  a  similar  time  of  day  (within  a  4  h 
window). There was at least a seven‐day gap between conditions to ‘wash out’ condition effects and 
avoid  fatigue  for  each  participant  [26].  Participants  were  informed  that  they  could  change  their 
speed at any time during the run. The information displayed on the control panel of the treadmill 
was covered, but participants could still change their speed by pressing a button on the treadmill 
control  panel.  Before  the  first  trial,  data  on  age,  mass,  stature  and  resting  heart  rate  (HR)  were 
collected. The distance run by participants in each 20‐min session was recorded and HR data were 
recorded continuously (per second) for twenty minutes with a Polar HR watch (Polar RS400, Polar 
Electro,  Kempele, Finland).  The  speed of  the  twenty‐minute  run  was  recorded  by  the researcher 
minute‐by‐minute  (4  participants  were  excluded  because  of  an  incomplete  data  set).  The  Sport 
Emotion Questionnaire (SEQ) was used to examine people’s emotional states five minutes before the 
run  and  immediately  after  the  run  in  each  trial.  The  SEQ  is  a  valid  and  reliable  measure  of 
sport‐specific emotions [37], and has been effectively used in different exercise groups [38]. The SEQ 
is  a  22‐item  measure  for  happiness,  anxiety,  dejection,  anger  and  excitement.  The  Happiness 
subscale  encompasses  a  person’s  self‐appraisal  with  regards  to  their  progress  towards  a  goal.  It 
consists  of  four  items,  i.e.,  Pleased,  Joyful,  Happy  and  Cheerful.  Anxiety  is  considered  to  reflect 
uncertainty regarding goal attainment and coping, and consisted of five items, i.e., Uneasy, Tense, 
Nervous, Apprehensive and Anxious. Dejection is a negative emotion characterized by feelings of 
Figure 1. Left: The experimental setting, the treadmill is 3 m from the wall with projecting media and
two partitions stand next to the treadmill [6]. The projected screen is 2 × 1 m; Right: The one single
frame from the dynamic image condition used throughout the whole twenty-minute.
2.3. Procedure
In a counterbalanced design, all participants were asked to perform a twenty-minute treadmill
run at a comfortable self-selected speed in each design at a similar time of day (within a 4 h window).
There was at least a seven-day gap between conditions to ‘wash out’ condition effects and avoid fatigue
for each participant [26]. Participants were informed that they could change their speed at any time
during the run. The information displayed on the control panel of the treadmill was covered, but
participants could still change their speed by pressing a button on the treadmill control panel. Before
the ﬁrst trial, data on age, mass, stature and resting heart rate (HR) were collected. The distance run
by participants in each 20-min session was recorded and HR data were recorded continuously (per
second) for twenty minutes with a Polar HR watch (Polar RS400, Polar Electro, Kempele, Finland).
The speed of the twenty-minute run was recorded by the researcher minute-by-minute (4 participants
were excluded because of an incomplete data set). The Sport Emotion Questionnaire (SEQ) was used
to examine people’s emotional states ﬁve minutes before the run and immediately after the run in
each trial. The SEQ is a valid and reliable measure of sport-speciﬁc emotions [37], and has been
effectively used in different exercise groups [38]. The SEQ is a 22-item measure for happiness, anxiety,
dejection, anger and excitement. The Happiness subscale encompasses a person’s self-appraisal with
regards to their progress towards a goal. It consists of four items, i.e., Pleased, Joyful, Happy and
Cheerful. Anxiety is considered to reﬂect uncertainty regarding goal attainment and coping, and
consisted of ﬁve items, i.e., Uneasy, Tense, Nervous, Apprehensive and Anxious. Dejection is a negative
emotion characterized by feelings of deﬁciency and sadness and assessed by ﬁve items, i.e., Upset, Sad,
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2017, 14, 752
5 of 11
Unhappy, Disappointed and Dejected. Anger can be channeled internally to self-blame and associated
with feelings of depressions or externally toward the source of the frustration. This subscale consisted
of four items: Irritated, Furious, Annoyed and Angry. Excitement is proposed to occur when a person
has a positive expectation of his or her ability to cope and achieve goals in a challenging situation.
Exhilarated, Excited, Enthusiastic and Energetic are the four items for measuring excitement in the
SEQ. The SEQ is rated with a 5-point Likert scale, i.e., not at all (0), a little (1), moderately (2), quite
a bit (3) and extremely (4). Scores for each subscale are determined by calculating the mean of its
assessed items.
2.4. Data Analysis
Data were analysed in SPSS version 22 (IBM, Chicago, IL, USA) and an alpha level of 0.05 was
used to indicate signiﬁcant difference levels, with Partial eta squared used for effect size calculations.
Least Signiﬁcant Difference (LSD) was used for post hoc analysis. The HR data were exported from
the commercial software (Polar Pro trainer 5, Polar Electro, Kempele, Finland) and mean HR for each
participant for the twenty minutes of the run was used for analysis. The mean HR value for every
minute of the run for all participants in the three separate conditions was calculated. Six participants
were removed from the HR analysis because of technical problems. Examination of the Shapiro-Wilk
test revealed distance and HR were not normally distributed. Hence, two Friedman tests were used
to statistically analyse the differences in the values of the distances run and HR. Scores of the ﬁve
subscales of SEQ were calculated. Five, separate, two-way repeated measures analysis of variance
(ANOVAs) (time × condition) were used to examine any differences on ﬁve subscales of the sport
emotion questionnaire.
3. Results
3.1. Running Distance, Heart Rate and Speed
Descriptive data for running distances and heart rate (HR) for each condition are displayed
in Table 1. Distance run was inﬂuenced by the designs, F (29) = 10.572, p < 0.05, pη2 = 0.2 with
participants in the self-selected entertainment condition (3066.8 ± 688.5 m) running longer distances
than the static image condition (2767.2 ± 662.6 m) (p < 0.05). HR was also affected by the three designs,
χ2 (2) = 10.750, p < 0.05. Participants exercising with self-selected entertainment (Mdn = 149.11 bmp)
achieved a higher HR than in the dynamic image condition (Mdn = 140.52 bmp, p < 0.05), and in the
static image condition (Mdn = 142.03 bmp, p < 0.05).
Table 1. The mean ± SD running distances and Heart Rate (HR) values in the three different conditions.
Variables
N
Dynamic Image
Static Image
Self-Selected Entertainment
Distance (m)
30
2891.6 ± 631.4
2767.2 ± 662.6 *
3066.8 ± 688.5 *
HR (bpm)
24
141 ± 18 *
138 ± 21 *
147 ± 188 *
*: indicated that p < 0.05.
The mean minute-by-minute running speed in the three conditions is presented in Figure 2.
The three exercise groups presented different running speeds, however with similar tendencies, i.e.,
gradually increasing speed throughout the twenty-minute period.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2017, 14, 752
6 of 11
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2017, 14, 752   
6 of 11 
 
 
Figure 2. The mean minute‐by‐minute running speed in the three different conditions. 
3.2. Emotional Variables 
Descriptive  data  of  pre‐and‐post  run  scores  of  five  subscales  of  SEQ  of  three  different 
conditions are displayed in Table 2. The scores of each subscale range from 0 to 4.   
Table 2. The pre‐and ‐post run scores of five subscales of Sport Emotion Questionnaires (SEQ) of 
three different conditions (mean ± SD). 
Variables 
N 
Dynamic Image 
Static Image 
Self‐Selected 
Entertainment 
Anxiety Pre‐test 
30 
0.48 ± 0.68 
0.52 ± 0.74 
0.40 ± 0.52 
Anxiety Post‐test 
30 
0.17 ± 0.26 
0.22 ± 0.34 
0.26 ± 0.31 
Dejection Pre‐test 
30 
0.20 ± 0.45 
0.11 ± 0.15 
0.17 ± 0.33 
Dejection Post‐test 
30 
0.04 ± 0.11 
0.02 ± 0.08 
0.06 ± 0.16 
Excitement Pre‐test 
30 
1.09 ± 1.01 
0.95 ± 1.07 
0.80 ± 1.03 
Excitement Post‐test 
30 
1.76 ± 0.88 
2.05 ± 0.93 
1.89 ± 0.72 
Anger Pre‐test 
30 
0.20 ± 0.57 
0.15 ± 0.46 
0.12 ± 0.26 
Anger Post‐test 
30 
0.06 ± 0.18 
0.07 ± 0.20 
0.06 ± 0.18 
Happiness Pre‐test 
30 
1.81 ± 0.86 
1.78 ± 0.88 
1.38 ± 0.85 
Happiness Post‐test 
30 
2.10 ± 0.84 
2.19 ± 0.86 
2.04 ± 0.88 
3.2.1. Happiness 
Time had a main effect on reported feelings of happiness (Figure 3.). People felt happier after 
running (pre‐scores 1.67 ± 0.88; post‐scores 2.11 ± 0.86; F (1, 29) = 27.185, p < 0.05, ƞp2 = 0.484). There 
was also a main effect for exercise design on reported feelings of happiness, F (2, 58) = 3.656, p < 0.05, 
ƞp2 =  0.112  when  the  data  of  pre‐and‐post  in  each  condition  were  pooled.  The  post  hoc  analysis 
indicated that participants felt happier in the dynamic image condition (1.958 ± 0.114), p < 0.05 and in 
the static image condition (1.987 ± 0.147), p < 0.05, than in the self‐selected entertainment condition 
Figure 2. The mean minute-by-minute running speed in the three different conditions.
3.2. Emotional Variables
Descriptive data of pre-and-post run scores of ﬁve subscales of SEQ of three different conditions
are displayed in Table 2. The scores of each subscale range from 0 to 4.
Table 2. The pre-and -post run scores of ﬁve subscales of Sport Emotion Questionnaires (SEQ) of three
different conditions (mean ± SD).
Variables
N
Dynamic Image
Static Image
Self-Selected Entertainment
Anxiety Pre-test
30
0.48 ± 0.68
0.52 ± 0.74
0.40 ± 0.52
Anxiety Post-test
30
0.17 ± 0.26
0.22 ± 0.34
0.26 ± 0.31
Dejection Pre-test
30
0.20 ± 0.45
0.11 ± 0.15
0.17 ± 0.33
Dejection Post-test
30
0.04 ± 0.11
0.02 ± 0.08
0.06 ± 0.16
Excitement Pre-test
30
1.09 ± 1.01
0.95 ± 1.07
0.80 ± 1.03
Excitement Post-test
30
1.76 ± 0.88
2.05 ± 0.93
1.89 ± 0.72
Anger Pre-test
30
0.20 ± 0.57
0.15 ± 0.46
0.12 ± 0.26
Anger Post-test
30
0.06 ± 0.18
0.07 ± 0.20
0.06 ± 0.18
Happiness Pre-test
30
1.81 ± 0.86
1.78 ± 0.88
1.38 ± 0.85
Happiness Post-test
30
2.10 ± 0.84
2.19 ± 0.86
2.04 ± 0.88
3.2.1. Happiness
Time had a main effect on reported feelings of happiness (Figure 3.). People felt happier after
running (pre-scores 1.67 ± 0.88; post-scores 2.11 ± 0.86; F (1, 29) = 27.185, p < 0.05, ηp2 = 0.484). There
was also a main effect for exercise design on reported feelings of happiness, F (2, 58) = 3.656, p < 0.05,
ηp2 = 0.112 when the data of pre-and-post in each condition were pooled. The post hoc analysis
indicated that participants felt happier in the dynamic image condition (1.958 ± 0.114), p < 0.05 and in
the static image condition (1.987 ± 0.147), p < 0.05, than in the self-selected entertainment condition
(1.713 ± 0.142; Figure 3). There were no interaction effects between time and exercise design on
reported feelings of happiness, F (2, 58) = 2.337, p > 0.05, ηp2 = 0.075.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2017, 14, 752
7 of 11
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2017, 14, 752   
7 of 11 
 
(1.713  ±  0.142;  Figure  3).  There  were  no  interaction  effects  between  time  and  exercise  design  on 
reported feelings of happiness, F (2, 58) = 2.337, p > 0.05, ƞp2 = 0.075. 
 
 
Figure 3. Pre‐and‐post scores on happiness scale in three conditions (mean ± SD). * indicating the 
time effect, p < 0.05. 
3.2.2. Anxiety 
Time had a main effect on reported feelings of anxiety, F (1, 29) = 16.256, p < 0.05, ƞp2 = 0.259 
with participants feeling less anxious after running (pre 0.471 ± 0.066; post 0.218 ± 0.039) regardless 
of PA designs. There was no main effect of designs on reported feelings of anxiety, F (2, 58) = 0.190, p 
> 0.05, ƞp2 = 0.047, which showed that participants reported a similar level of anxiety across three 
designs. There were no interaction effects between time and exercise design on reported feelings of 
anxiety, F (2, 58) = 0.322, p > 0.05, ƞp2 = 0.016. 
3.2.3. Dejection 
Time had a main effect on reported feelings of dejection, F (1, 29) = 10.296, p < 0.05, ƞp2 = 0.262. 
Participants  felt  less  dejected  after  running  (pre  0.162  ±  0.035;  post  0.047  ±  0.014)  regardless  of 
designs. There was no main effect for condition on reported feelings of dejection, which indicated 
that participants reported a similar level of dejection across three designs (F (2, 58) = 0.645, p > 0.05, 
ƞp2 = 0.022). There was also no interaction between time and exercise designs on reported feelings of 
dejection, F (2, 58) = 0.356, p > 0.05, ƞp2 = 0.012. 
3.2.4. Anger 
Time had a main effect on reported feelings of anger, F (1, 29) = 4.563, p < 0.05, ƞp2 = 0.136 with 
participants  feeling  less  angry  after  running  (pre  0.161  ±  0.049;  post  0.069  ±  0.024)  regardless  of 
design. There was no main effect for condition on reported feelings of anger, F (2, 58) = 0.190, p > 0.05, 
ƞp2 = 0.047, which indicated that people report a similar level of anger across three designs. There 
were no interactions between time and exercise design on reported feelings of anger, F (2, 58) = 0.322, 
p > 0.05, ƞp2 = 0.011. 
3.2.5. Excitement 
Figure 3. Pre-and-post scores on happiness scale in three conditions (mean ± SD). * indicating the time
effect, p < 0.05.
3.2.2. Anxiety
Time had a main effect on reported feelings of anxiety, F (1, 29) = 16.256, p < 0.05, ηp2 = 0.259 with
participants feeling less anxious after running (pre 0.471 ± 0.066; post 0.218 ± 0.039) regardless of PA
designs. There was no main effect of designs on reported feelings of anxiety, F (2, 58) = 0.190, p > 0.05,
ηp2 = 0.047, which showed that participants reported a similar level of anxiety across three designs.
There were no interaction effects between time and exercise design on reported feelings of anxiety,
F (2, 58) = 0.322, p > 0.05, ηp2 = 0.016.
3.2.3. Dejection
Time had a main effect on reported feelings of dejection, F (1, 29) = 10.296, p < 0.05, ηp2 = 0.262.
Participants felt less dejected after running (pre 0.162 ± 0.035; post 0.047 ± 0.014) regardless of
designs. There was no main effect for condition on reported feelings of dejection, which indicated
that participants reported a similar level of dejection across three designs (F (2, 58) = 0.645, p > 0.05,
ηp2 = 0.022). There was also no interaction between time and exercise designs on reported feelings of
dejection, F (2, 58) = 0.356, p > 0.05, ηp2 = 0.012.
3.2.4. Anger
Time had a main effect on reported feelings of anger, F (1, 29) = 4.563, p < 0.05, ηp2 = 0.136 with
participants feeling less angry after running (pre 0.161 ± 0.049; post 0.069 ± 0.024) regardless of
design. There was no main effect for condition on reported feelings of anger, F (2, 58) = 0.190, p > 0.05,
ηp2 = 0.047, which indicated that people report a similar level of anger across three designs. There
were no interactions between time and exercise design on reported feelings of anger, F (2, 58) = 0.322,
p > 0.05, ηp2 = 0.011.
3.2.5. Excitement
Time had a main effect on reported feelings of excitement, F (1, 29) = 97.054, p < 0.05, ηp2 = 0.770.
Participants felt more excited after running (pre 0.947 ± 0.092; post 1.906 ± 0.136) regardless of the
condition. There was no main effect for condition on reported feelings of excitement, which indicated
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2017, 14, 752
8 of 11
people reported similar levels of excitement across all designs (F (2, 58) = 0.459, p > 0.05, ηp2 = 0.016).
There were no interactions between time and exercise condition on reported feelings of excitement,
F (2, 58) = 1.318, p > 0.05, ηp2 = 0.043.
4. Discussion
The aim of this paper was to examine physical and emotional effects of the design of different
exercise environments, using preferred entertainment and the presence of nature (using a static and
dynamic image), without imposing the same intensity levels of physical activity (PA) on all participants.
For physical outcomes, the self-selected entertainment condition resulted in greater physical beneﬁts.
That is, participants ran longer distances with a higher heart rate (HR) value, compared to the
nature-based exercise designs. Previous studies investigating the physical beneﬁts of indoor exercise
in the presence of nature have shown inconsistent ﬁndings, with some studies advocating enhanced
physical effects, such as lowing perceived exertion [14,15] and blood pressure [12,13]. In contrast,
research has shown no differences in energy expenditure [6,26], perceived exertion [26] and HR [12,26].
The varying beneﬁts of green PA found in previous studies may be linked to the control conditions to
which green PA was examined against. In the present study, by introducing a more ecological
representative control conditions (i.e., self-selected entertainment) rather than imposing a less
representative control condition, like asking participants to view a blank wall, we were able to
examine the effects of introducing a nature-based environment compared a typical gym environment.
As participants of gym-based PA would typically engage in the exercise experience using self-selected
entertainment, rather than viewing urban images or a blank wall, our results suggested that, over
longer running distances using self-selected entertainment could be beneﬁcial if an individual’s main
goal when exercising is to enhance physical performance.
Although the ﬁndings revealed that the use of self-selected entertainment resulted in participants
running farther than in the two nature designs, with a higher HR, it is worth noting that greater
happiness was reported in the two nature-based exercise designs compared to the self-selected
entertainment PA. All participants accrued emotional beneﬁts with decreases in anger, dejection
and anxiety and increased excitement after the run in all PA designs using indoor treadmill running.
These ﬁndings suggested that nature-based exercise designs are just as effective as preferred exercise
conditions with which participants were most familiar. The two nature-based designs showed stronger
effects on happiness compared to self-selected entertainment conditions. The enhanced happiness
scores observed in the nature-based PA designs indicate that using nature images for exercise is of some
value, since if participants experience greater happiness after exercising they would be more likely to
prolong exercise duration or beneﬁt from exercise adherence [34]. A positive exercise experience is
more likely to be associated with maintenance of future physical activity participation [35], which can
also help in promoting physical activity.
Inconsistent results in the literature might also be because of the use of different modes of PA
(e.g., cycling and running), different exercise durations (e.g., 5 min, 15 min and 20 min) and different
intensity levels (e.g., maintain 70–80 rpm or cycling at 50% personal peak power output). While
the majority of previous studies controlled exercise intensity, based on each runner’s maximum
energy output, we intentionally did not regulate the intensity of PA. Instead we designed a study
which would allow us to ﬁnd out how people interacted with different environmental designs by
detecting information from a speciﬁc environment. An important consideration when interpreting
the ﬁnding that the self-selected entertainment condition increased running distance compared to
nature designs relates to the type of nature conditions presented to participants. In the static nature
image condition, participants detected the same visual information with minor changes from the
physical environment over twenty minutes. In this case, the same visual information from the static
image might have become less functional, without providing further inspiration or encouragement
for physical activity. This interpretation supports results of previous research which examined the
physiological beneﬁts of nature exposure during exercise and found the ﬁrst 5 min was more efﬁcient
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2017, 14, 752
9 of 11
than the second 5 min in eliciting improvements in the recovery process following a stressor [39].
Participants might detect richer visual information from the dynamic images during running. However,
the suitability of the information offered by the dynamic images might also need to be considered
in further work on treadmill running [6]. The information perceived from the video might not
have closely matched the physical task, i.e., treadmill running, as the recording was made while
cycling in the park. This might have been a distraction for physical performance on a treadmill.
Participants might have found that the richer information in the dynamic image condition lead to
some dissonance between perception and action. In the self-selected entertainment condition, people
chose acoustic or visual-acoustic information which constantly offered rich information acoustically
and visually during the run. Further, the majority of self-selected entertainment chosen in this study
was listening to music. Previous research has investigated the effects of different types of music
(e.g., self-selected, motivational and simulative), demonstrating beneﬁts, such as encouraging physical
performances, enhancing enjoyment, reducing ratings of perceived exertion and improving energy
efﬁciency [7,19,40–42]. The ﬁndings in our study, regarding better physical outcomes when running
with self-selected entertainment, are aligned with previous research.
Greater perceived happiness was found when people exercised in the nature-based designs
compared to the self-preferred, familiar entertainment condition. This ﬁnding might be because
these two nature-based exercise designs encouraged participants to engage more with the presented
information, rather than focusing on physical performance and running. The exercise experience
under the nature conditions might have been more dissociative, while running with music might be
more associative in focusing on exercise intensity during PA [43]. Further investigations, involving
interviewing participants post exercise, might be able to shed further light on this assumption. All
participants experienced less anxiety, less dejection, more excitement and less anger in all three
exercise designs after twenty minutes of running supports the notion that exercise has positive
emotional beneﬁts. Based on the results, the acoustic or visual-acoustic information in the self-selected
entertainment condition aided runners’ physical performance outcomes while the visual nature-based
information would be more beneﬁcial to emotional wellbeing. With regards to the design of typical gym
exercise conditions, there are different types of self-selected entertainment used in this study which
might lead to different exercise outcomes. Future studies could consider focusing on entertainment
choices in a highly speciﬁc way, without reducing the representative design of the research. Further
studies could explore presentation of images from different types of nature spaces, such as beaches,
oceans, and forest trails as exercise environments and different sources of information, e.g., nature
sounds, could be inﬂuential and need to be examined.
5. Conclusions
In conclusion, this study advances our understanding of the physical and emotional effects of
different affordances in exercise designs for indoor treadmill running. However, there is much that
still needs to be explored, such as different types of media or different contents of media, might accrue
different effects among different age groups. Different methods, such as qualitative interviews, can
also be used in future research to explore the data from a different perspective, such as the participants’
perspectives on engagement with the physical activity (PA) environment under different designs.
Acknowledgments: The authors would like to thank the participants for their time, the anonymous reviewers for
their comments.
Author Contributions: Hsiao-Pu Yeh contributed to the concept, design, data collection, data analysis and writing
of this research and manuscript. Joseph Stone, Sarah Churchill, Eric Brymer and Keith Davids contributed to the
design, data analysis and writing of this research and manuscript.
Conﬂicts of Interest: The authors declare no conﬂict of interest.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2017, 14, 752
10 of 11
References
1.
World Health Organization. Global Recommendations on Physical Activity for Health; World Health Organization:
Geneva, Switzerland, 2010.
2.
Keith, D.; Duarte, A.; Brymer, E. Designing Affordances for Health-Enhancing Physical Activity and Exercise
in Sedentary Individuals. Sports Med. 2016. [CrossRef]
3.
Yeh, H.-P.; Stone, J.A.; Churchill, S.M.; Wheat, J.S.; Brymer, E.; Davids, K. Physical, psychological and
emotional beneﬁts of green physical activity: An ecological dynamics perspective. Sports Med. 2015.
[CrossRef] [PubMed]
4.
World Health Organization.
Physical Activity Fact Sheet.
Available online: http://www.who.int/
mediacentre/factsheets/fs385/en/ (accessed on 10 July 2017).
5.
Sport England. Taking Part in Sport Once a Week—The Numbers. Available online: https://www.
sportengland.org/media/10865/aps10q2summary.pdf (accessed on 6 July 2017).
6.
Yeh, H.-P.; Stone, J.A.; Churchill, S.M.; Brymer, E.; Davids, K. Designing Physical Activity Environments to
Enhance Physical and Psychological Effects. Procedia Eng. 2016. [CrossRef]
7.
Bharani, A.; Sahu, A.; Mathew, V. Effect of passive distraction on treadmill exercise test performance in
healthy males using music. Int. J. Cardiol. 2004. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
8.
Tenenbaum, G.; Lidor, R.; Lavyan, N.; Morrow, K.; Tonnel, S.; Gershgoren, A.; Meis, J.; Johnson, M. The effect
of music type on running perseverance and coping with effort sensations. Psychol. Sports Exerc. 2004,
5, 89–109. [CrossRef]
9.
Edworthy, J.; Waring, H. The effects of music tempo and loudness level on treadmill exercise. Ergonomics
2006, 49, 1597–1610. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
10.
De Vries, S.; Verheij, R.A.; Groenewegen, P.P.; Spreeuwenberg, P. Natural environments–healthy
environments? An exploratory analysis of the relationship between greenspace and health. Environ. Plan. A.
2003, 35, 1717–1731. [CrossRef]
11.
Joye, Y.; Bolderdijk, J. An exploratory study into the effects of extraordinary nature on emotions, mood, and
prosociality. Front. Psychol. 2014. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
12.
Duncan, M.J.; Clarke, N.D.; Birch, S.L.; Tallis, J.; Hankey, J.; Bryant, E.; Eyre, E.L. The effect of green exercise
on blood pressure, heart rate and mood state in primary school children. Int. J. Environ. Res. PublicHealth
2014, 11, 3678–3688. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
13.
Pretty, J.; Peacock, J.; Sellens, M.; Grifﬁn, M. The mental and physical health outcomes of green exercise.
Int. J. Environ. Health Res. 2005, 15, 319–337. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
14.
Akers, A.; Barton, J.; Cossey, R.; Gainsford, P.; Grifﬁn, M.; Micklewright, D. Visual Color Perception in
Green Exercise: Positive Effects on Mood and Perceived Exertion. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2012, 46, 8861–8866.
[CrossRef] [PubMed]
15.
Wooller, J.J.; Barton, J.; Gladwell, V.F.; Micklewright, D. Occlusion of sight, sound and smell during Green
Exercise inﬂuences mood, perceived exertion and heart rate. Int. J. Envoiron. Health Res. 2015, 26, 267–280.
[CrossRef] [PubMed]
16.
Pretty, J.; Peacock, J.; Hine, R.; Sellens, M.; South, N.; Grifﬁn, M. Green exercise in the UK countryside: Effects
on health and psychological well-being, and implications for policy and planning. J. Environ. Plan. Manag.
2007, 50, 211–231. [CrossRef]
17.
Focht, B.C. Brief Walks in outdoor and laboratory environments: Effects on affective responses, enjoyment,
and intentions to walk for exercise. Res. Q. Exerc. Sport 2009, 80, 611–620. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
18.
Plante, T.G.; Gores, C.; Carrow, J.B.; Imbs, A.; Willemsen, E. Does Exercise Environment Enhance the
Psychological Beneﬁts of Exercise for Women? Int. J. Stress. Manag. 2007, 14, 88–98. [CrossRef]
19.
Jones, L.; Karageorghis, C.I.; Ekkekakis, P. Can high-intensity exercise be more pleasant? Attentional
dissociation using music and video. J. Sport Exerc. Psychol. 2014, 36, 528–541. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
20.
Mackay, G.J.; Neill, J.T. The effect of “green exercise” on state anxiety and the role of exercise duration,
intensity, and greenness: A quasi-experimental study. Psychol. Sport Exerc. 2010, 11, 238–245. [CrossRef]
21.
Bratman, G.N.; Daily, G.C.; Levy, B.J.; Gross, J.J. The beneﬁts of nature experience: Improved affect and
cognition. Landsc. Urban Plan. 2015, 138, 41–50. [CrossRef]
22.
Weng, P.Y.; Chiang, Y.C. Psychological restoration through indoor and outdoor leisure activities. J. Leis. Res.
2014, 46, 203–217.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2017, 14, 752
11 of 11
23.
Marselle, M.R.; Irvine, K.N.; Warber, S.L. Walking for well-being: Are group walks in certain types of
natural environments better for well-being than group walks in urban environments? Int. J. Environ. Res.
Public Health 2013, 10, 5603–5628. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
24.
Calogiuri, G.; Evensen, K.; Weydahl, A.; Andersson, K.; Patil, G.; Ihlebæk, C.; Raanaas, R.K. Green exercise
as a workplace intervention to reduce job stress. Results from a pilot study. Work 2016, 53, 99–111. [CrossRef]
[PubMed]
25.
Shin, W.S. The inﬂuence of forest view through a window on job satisfaction and job stress. Scand. J. For. Res.
2007, 22, 248–253. [CrossRef]
26.
Rogerson, M.; Barton, J.L. Effects of the visual exercise environments on cognitive directed attention, energy
expenditure and perceived exertion. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2015, 12, 7321–7336. [CrossRef]
[PubMed]
27.
Wood, C.; Caroline, A.; Jules, P.; Gavin, S.; Jo, B. A randomised control trial of physical activity in a perceived
environment on self-esteem and mood in UK adolescents. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2013, 23, 311–320.
[CrossRef] [PubMed]
28.
Bowler, D.E.; Buyung-ali, L.M.; Knight, T.M.; Pullin, A.S. A systematic review of evidence for the added
beneﬁts to health of exposure to natural environments. BMC Public Heaith 2010, 10, 456. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
29.
Kaplan, R.; Kaplan, S. The Experience of Nature; Cambrige University Press: Cambridge, UK, 1989.
30.
Bratman, G.N.; Hamilton, J.P.; Daily, G.C. The impacts of nature experience on human cognitive function
and mental health. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 2012, 1249, 118–136. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
31.
Johnson, A. The Biophilia Hypothesis; Stephen, R.K., Edward, O.W., Eds.; Island Press: Washington, DC,
USA, 1994.
32.
Gibson, E.J.; Pick, A.D. An Ecological Approach to Perceptual Learning and Development; Oxford University
Press: Oxford, UK, 2000.
33.
Heft, H.; Nasar, J.L. Evaluating environmental scenes using dynamic. Environ. Behav. 2000, 32, 301–322.
[CrossRef]
34.
Huberty, J.L.; Ransdell, L.B.; Sidman, C.; Flohr, J.A.; Shultz, B.; Grosshans, O.; Durrant, L. Explaining
long-term exercise adherence in program explaining long-term exercise adherence in women. Res. Q.
Exerc. Sport 2008, 79, 374–384. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
35.
Williams, D.M.; Dunsiger, S.; Ciccolo, J.T.; Lewis, B.A.; Albrecht, A.E.; Marcus, B.H. Acute affective response
to a moderate-intensity exercise stimulus predicts physical activity participation 6 and 12 months later.
Psychol. Sport Exerc. 2008, 9, 231–245. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
36.
Kilpatrick, M.W.; Kraemer, R.R.; Quigley, E.J.; Mears, J.L.; Powers, J.M.; Dedea, A.J.; Ferrer, N.F. Heart rate
and metabolic responses to moderate-intensity aerobic exercise: A comparison of graded walking and
ungraded jogging at a constant perceived exertion. J. Sports Sci. 2009, 27, 509–516. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
37.
Jones, M.V.; Lane, A.M.; Bray, S.R.; Uphill, M.; Catlin, J. Development and validation of the Sport Emotion
Questionnaire. J. Sport Exerc. Psychol. 2005, 27, 407–431. [CrossRef]
38.
Arnold, R.; Fletcher, D. Conﬁrmatory factor analysis of the Sport Emotion Questionnaire in organisational
environments. J. Sports Sci. 2014, 414, 1–11. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
39.
Brown, D.K.; Barton, J.L.; Gladwell, V.F. Viewing nature scenes positively affects recovery of autonomic
function following acute-mental stress. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2013, 47, 5562–5569. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
40.
Karageorghis, C.I.; Priest, D.L. Music in the exercise domain: A review and synthesis (Part I). Int. Rev. Sport
Exerc. Psychol. 2012, 5, 44–66. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
41.
Dyrlund, A.K.; Wininger, S.R. The effects of music preference and exercise intensity on psychological
variables. J. Music Ther. 2008, 45, 114–134. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
42.
Barwood, M.J.; Weston, N.J.V.; Thelwell, R.; Page, J. A motivational music and video intervention improves
high-intensity exercise performance. J. Sport Sci. Med. 2009, 8, 435–442.
43.
Maters, N.S.; Ogles, B.M. Associative and dissociate cognitive strategies in exercise and running: 20 years
later, what do we know? Sport Psychol. 1998, 12, 253–270. [CrossRef]
© 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access
article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution
(CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Physical and Emotional Benefits of Different Exercise Environments Designed for Treadmill Running.
Yeh, Hsiao-Pu,Stone, Joseph A,Churchill, Sarah M,Brymer, Eric,Davids, Keith