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.
Full-time college students aged 18 to 25 years old.
Healthy, with no history of major cardiovascular, respiratory, neurological, or endocrine diseases.
No exercise contraindications or injuries, capable of safely completing moderate-intensity running (treadmill, outdoor road, and grass running).
No recent major life events affecting physiological or psychological status (e.g., severe insomnia, anxiety, depression, or extreme fatigue).
Current or past diagnosis of severe cardiovascular disease (e.g., myocardial infarction, severe arrhythmia, uncontrolled hypertension).
Severe respiratory disease (e.g., severe asthma, COPD) or recent acute respiratory infection within the past month.
History of neurological disease or brain injury (e.g., epilepsy, recent concussion) affecting safety or cognitive task performance.
Endocrine or metabolic diseases (e.g., uncontrolled thyroid disease, severe diabetes) affecting cortisol or metabolic measurements.
Crossover
Indoor Treadmill Running Session
Other intervention20 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.
Outdoor Road Running Session
Other intervention20 minutes of moderate-intensity running on an outdoor athletic track (paved surface).
Outdoor Grass Running Session
Other intervention20 minutes of moderate-intensity running on a natural grass surface.
Change in Salivary Cortisol Concentration
Salivary cortisol concentration will be measured to evaluate the acute endocrine and physiological stress response to different running environments.
Change in Heart Rate Variability (HRV)
Heart Rate Variability (HRV) parameters, specifically RMSSD and SDNN, will be recorded to assess the acute autonomic nervous system responses and recovery. Both parameters share the exact same unit of measure, which is milliseconds (ms).
Change in Systolic and Diastolic Blood Pressure
Blood pressure will be measured in mmHg to evaluate the cardiovascular stress response across different running environments.
Change in Blood Lactate Concentration
Blood lactate will be measured using a portable analyzer to assess metabolic exertion.
Inhibitory Control Assessed by the Stroop Task: Reaction Time
The Stroop task measures inhibitory control and cognitive interference. This measure reports the reaction time in milliseconds (ms). Lower reaction times indicate better inhibitory control.
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