Affective and enjoyment responses to 12 weeks of high intensity interval training and moderate continuous training in adults with Crohn's disease.

Lindsay Bottoms,Elizabeth Coleman,Dean Leighton,John Ramage,Garry Tew,Michael Seed,Roger Carpenter,Simon Anderson,Louise Langmead,Caroline Fairhurst,James Faulkner,Gordon Fisher

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0222060

Abstract

The aim was to undertake secondary data analysis from a three-arm randomised feasibility trial of high intensity interval training (HIIT), moderate intensity continuous training (MICT), and usual care control in adults with Crohn’s disease (CD; n = 36), with a primary focus on exploring affective and enjoyment responses. Twenty-five participants with quiescent or mildly-active CD were randomised to one of the two exercise groups: HIIT (n = 13) and MICT (n = 12). Both groups were offered thrice weekly sessions for 12 weeks. MICT consisted of cycling for 30 minutes at 35% peak power (Wpeak), whereas HIIT involved ten 1-minute bouts at 90% Wpeak, interspersed with 1-minute bouts at 15% Wpeak. Heart rate (HR), differentiated ratings of perceived exertion for legs (RPE-L) and central (RPE-C), along with feeling state (Feeling Scale; FS) were measured at 92.5% of each session. Enjoyment was measured at the end of training using the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PACES). Post-hoc exploratory analysis involved a mixed-model two-way ANOVA to compare HR, RPE-L, RPE-C and FS for the exercise sessions in weeks 1, 6 and 12 between groups. Overall, HR was greater (p < 0.01) during HIIT (173 ± 8 bpm) compared with MICT (128 ± 6 bpm). Similarly, RPE-L and RPE-C responses were greater overall (p = 0.03 and p = 0.03, respectively) during HIIT (5.5 ± 1.6 and 5.1 ± 1.7, respectively) compared to MICT (3.3 ± 1.5 and 2.9 ± 1.5, respectively). Overall, FS was 2.2 ± 1.9 for HIIT and 2.1 ± 1.4 for MICT with no effect of treatment group (p = 0.25) or time (p = 0.94). There was also no significant difference in PACES scores between HIIT (99.4 ± 12.9) and MICT (101.3 ± 17.4; p = 0.78). The findings suggest HIIT and MICT protocols elicited similar enjoyment and affect in adults with quiescent or mildly-active CD.

Highlights

Crohn’s Disease (CD) is a type of inflammatory bowel disease which can affect a patient anywhere from the mouth to the anus
When participants were asked for their preference to a specific group allocation prior to randomisation 74% preferred high intensity interval training (HIIT), 22% MICT, and 4% control
Despite significantly greater HR and RPE responses during HIIT compared to MICT, these methods of training elicited similar enjoyment and affective responses

Summary

Introduction

Crohn’s Disease (CD) is a type of inflammatory bowel disease which can affect a patient anywhere from the mouth to the anus. Due to the inflammation of the gut wall it can lead to malabsorption and this can lead to side effects such as low bone mineral density and loss of muscle mass [1]. Such effects can reduce quality of life in a patient [2, 3]. In 2006, it was observed that treatment for inflammatory bowel disease costs the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS) approximately £720 million per annum [5] and with numbers of patients increasing annually the economic burden will have risen and will continue to rise

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