Exercise and Time Perception: An Exploration of the Impact of High Intensity Cardio Exercise (Zumba) on Human Timing

Abstract

Time is an important aspect of people’s lives and how it is perceived has a great impact on how we function, which includes whether we engage in activities such as exercise that are beneficial for our health. These activities can also have impact on our experience of time. The current study aims to investigate human interval timing after completion of one of two tasks: listening to an audiobook, or engaging in a Zumba workout. Participants in this study completed two temporal bisection tasks (pre and post intervention). Bisection points (point of subjective equality) and Weber’s ratios (sensitivity to time) were examined. It was hypothesised that individuals in the Zumba condition would experience a distortion in their timing post workout consistent with an increase in pacemaker speed. Unexpectedly there appeared to be no significant difference in bisection points across or within (pre/post) the conditions, suggesting that neither intervention had an impact on an internal pacemaker. However, there were significant differences in sensitivity to timing after Zumba Fitness suggesting a potential attentional focus post workout. Implications and future directions are also discussed.