Women And Mountains: The Benefits Of Exercising Outdoors

PURPOSE: Although there has been a growing trend towards outdoor activities, limited research is available on the effects on enjoyment and blood pressure responses, especially in females. This study aims to compare enjoyment and hemodynamic responses following indoor and outdoor activities in female adults. METHODS: 18 active females (age = 24.7 ± 0.7 years) completed an outdoor hiking session (3.8 km) and an indoor session during which they self-selected the speed in the initial 2-min stage at 0% grade slope. The grade increased by 2% during each stage of the uphill phase until reaching 95% of individual maximum heart rate or volitional fatigue, followed by a 2% decrease at each 2-min stage during the downhill phase until returning to a 0% grade slope. During both sessions, systolic blood pressure (sBP) was measured 15-min before (PRE) and 30-min after (POST) the exercise. Enjoyment was evaluated using the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PACES) after each session. Means (M) and standard deviations of PRE and POST sBP, as well as post-exercise hypotension (PEH) (PRE - POST), were determined. Repeated measures mixed models were used to assess the effects on sBP, treating subjects as random and measurement times (PRE and POST) as fixed effects. T-tests compared PEH and PACES between sessions (p < 0.05). RESULTS: Significant (p < 0.001) reductions in sBP were observed following the outdoor session (M slope = 5.3%, M duration = 41:86 min) between PRE (115.9 ± 1.4 mmHg) and POST (104.1 ± 1.4 mmHg), resulting in a 11.7 ± 7.2 mmHg PEH. Similarly, in the indoor session (M slope = 8.1%, M duration = 40:00 min), there were significant reductions between PRE (115.4 ± 2.1 mmHg) and POST (104.7 ± 2.2 mmHg) measurements, resulting in 10.7 ± 9.5 mmHg PEH. No significant differences in PEH (M difference = 1.1 ± 2.8 mmHg) were observed between outdoor and indoor sessions. Significantly higher (p = 0.003) PACES scores were found during the outdoor (33 ± 0.3 AU) session with respect to indoor (30 ± 0.8 AU). CONCLUSIONS: Findings confirm the positive effect of physical activity, regardless of its setting, on reducing blood pressure in female participants. Moreover, outdoor activities not only produced an equivalent hypotensive response compared to indoor activity but led to greater enjoyment, potentially enhancing long-term adherence to physical activity. Supported by: Olga Papale's and Emanuel Festino’s Ph.D. scholarships are funded by the National Reform for Recovery and Resilience (PNRR) and Pegaso University, CUP: H36E22000130001