Many of us prefer walking outdoors in our neighborhood, on our favorite hiking trail under a canopy of trees, or in our local cities and towns. There are positives to using a treadmill, including using it any time the gym is open, even if the weather outside is less than favorable. You can also control the incline and use the built-in fan on your face when you start working up a sweat. Researchers assessed the effects of walking on a treadmill compared to walking outdoors. Let’s look at the study.
The study
In a study published in Ecopsychology, researchers compared how walking in a natural outdoor environment and walking in an indoor simulated natural environment affected emotion and measures of perceived exertion. The goal was to understand if exercising outside leads to more significant physical exertion and the resulting emotional responses. They measured heart rate to assess physical exertion in a study involving 74 university students.
The participants were split into two groups. Group one walked outdoors on a 0.6 km flat pavement. Group two watched a video of the same outdoor path while walking indoors on a treadmill.
Both groups walked for 15 minutes at their own pace. Researchers used the Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion Scale or RPE scale and used heart rate monitors to measure exertion. They assessed the participants’ emotional responses using surveys that involved factors like calmness, tension, energy, and tiredness before and after walking. Participants also recorded weather conditions like temperature, wind, and cloud cover.
The results
The researchers concluded that:
- Outdoor walking increased the heart rate more than walking indoors on the treadmill. Participants who walked outdoors had a much higher average heart rate, indicating more significant physiological exertion.
- Participants’ perceptions of their walks were pretty similar between both the outdoor and indoor walkers, with both rating their exertion as ‘very light’ to ‘light’ using the RPE scale.
- The group that walked outdoors found a much higher increase in their energy levels, whereas indoor walkers reported no change. Indoor walkers did experience a significant reduction in tension, but the outdoor walkers didn’t.
- There were no notable differences between the groups when it comes to calmness, tiredness, positive affect, and negative affect.
The researchers stated that their findings align with previous research highlighting that acute bouts of physical activity in a natural environment enhance positive activated effect. The positive activated effect refers to a subjective mental state and feelings of positive energy, engagement, alertness, and enthusiasm.
The takeaway
This study showed that walking or exercising outdoors and breathing in the natural fresh air can elevate your heart rate higher compared to walking indoors on a treadmill. Outdoor walking seems to be more energizing, so maybe it’s worth finding a nearby tranquil trail or strolling through your neighborhood. This study also shows that walking outside could lead to greater enjoyment, and if you enjoy something more, you’re more likely to do it, setting us up for future fitness success.
