Running Environments on Physiological Responses, Emotion, Motivation, and Attention

Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn how different running environments affect physiological responses, emotional regulation, exercise motivation, and attentional control in healthy college students. The main questions it aims to answer are:

How do different running environments (indoor treadmill, outdoor road, and outdoor grass) affect physiological stress and recovery, such as heart rate variability, blood pressure, cortisol, and blood lactate levels?

Are there differences in subjective emotional experiences, perceived recovery, and exercise motivation when running in natural versus artificial environments?

Does the running environment influence post-exercise cognitive performance, specifically inhibitory control and sustained attention?

Researchers will compare indoor treadmill running, outdoor road running, and outdoor grass running to see if natural environments provide greater benefits for stress relief, mood improvement, and cognitive enhancement.

Participants will:

Attend three separate 70-minute experimental sessions (one for each environment) with at least 48 hours between sessions.

Complete baseline physiological measurements (HRV, blood pressure, saliva, and blood samples), psychological questionnaires, and computerized cognitive tasks.

Complete a 30-minute moderate-intensity running session in the randomly assigned environment while wearing a heart rate monitor.

Repeat the physiological measurements, psychological questionnaires, and cognitive tasks immediately and 10 minutes after the running session.

Conditions

• Sport Participation

Interventions

OTHER

Indoor Treadmill Running Session

20 minutes of moderate-intensity running on an indoor treadmill. Exercise intensity is monitored and controlled using heart rate devices to maintain a consistent moderate level.

OTHER

Outdoor Road Running Session

20 minutes of moderate-intensity running on an outdoor athletic track (paved surface).

OTHER

Outdoor Grass Running Session

20 minutes of moderate-intensity running on a natural grass surface.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Shanghai University of Sport

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Kun Zhu, Ph.D. · Shanghai University of Sport

• Jiwei Chen, Ph.D. · Shanghai University of Sport

• Wenqian Du · Shanghai University of Sport

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

SINGLE

Model

CROSSOVER

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

25 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2026-04-10

Primary Completion

2026-06-10

Completion

2026-06-10

Countries

• China

Study Locations