Exploring the Impact of a Low-Dose Mindfulness Intervention on Perceived Exertion, Attention, and Rowing Performance

<b>Objectives</b>: This study examined the effects of a four-week low-dose mindfulness intervention on ratings of perceived exertion, heart rate, attentional allocation, and performance outcomes, including power output, distance rowed, and strokes per minute, during a rowing task. <b>Methods</b>: Thirty-two participants between 18 and 37 years of age (21.09 ± 3.67) who met the World Health Organization (WHO) physical activity guidelines and had no previous experience with mindfulness or meditation completed a four-week intervention. Participants were either in the mindfulness intervention (<i>n</i> = 17) or the placebo group (<i>n</i> = 15). Participants completed ten visits over four weeks, each consisting of watching an episode of either <i>Headspace Guide to Meditation</i> or <i>Wild Babies</i> on Netflix, followed by a 25 min rowing task. <b>Results</b>: Results indicated no significant group-by-session interaction for any variables. However, a significant main effect for session showed that perceived exertion was significantly lower at the post-assessment compared to the pre-assessment for all participants (<i>p</i> = 0.013, <i>η_p</i>² = 0.19). Additionally, a significant main effect for time revealed a linear increase in perceived exertion across the rowing task (<i>p</i> < 0.001, <i>η_p</i>² = 0.81). Both groups also showed a significant shift from dissociative to associative attention (<i>p</i> < 0.001, <i>η_p</i>² = 0.25). For performance, a significant main effect for session was observed, with greater power output (<i>p</i> = 0.008, <i>η_p</i>² = 0.22) and distance rowed (<i>p</i> = 0.013, <i>η_p</i>² = 0.19) at the post-assessment for both groups. <b>Conclusions</b>: The lack of significant group differences suggests that a low-dose, pre-exercise mindfulness video intervention is likely ineffective for altering psychophysiological responses, indicating that future research should prioritize higher-dosage or real-time guided interventions.