Acute aerobic training and its impact on muscular dissatisfaction and body image perception in sedentary men

Abstract

Introduction: Body image disturbance, encompassing dissatisfaction, behaviors, and perceptions, is often associated with negative body image values. Scientific studies have aimed to identify strategies capable of modulating aspects of body image, with physical activity emerging as a viable intervention. Objective: This study aimed to assess the effects of aerobic exercise sessions at varying intensities on body image components in sedentary men. Twenty-six young adults (mean age 25.4 ± 3.3 years) were randomly assigned to either: a) 30 min at 60–70% of reserve heart rate (HRRes) or b) 70–80% of HRRes. Methods: Validated measures were used to assess body dissatisfaction, drive for muscularity, body checking behaviors, body-ideal internalization and body image perception in the five time-points: Pre-exercise, Post-exercise, 24, 48 and 72-hours postexercise. Results: The main results indicated increases in muscularity dissatisfaction, with an isolated effect of the measurement time-points (p≤0.001) in which the 48h post-exercise had a higher average compared to the others [Pre (p≤0.001; 95%CI= 0.8–3.9), Post (p=0.001; 95%CI= 0.5–3.7), 24h (p≤0.001; 95%CI= 0.7–3.9) and 72h (p≤0.001; 95%CI= 1.1–4.4)]. For body image perception, an isolated effect of the measurement time (p=0.032) was found, in which the 72h post-exercise scores was significantly higher when compared to the preexercise moment (p=0.022; 95%CI= -1.66–-0.05). Conclusion: The analysis of the present results allows us to conclude that the acute aerobic exercise results in higher muscularity dissatisfaction, mainly 48 hours after the exercise. In addition, there was also a higher body image distortion 72 hours post-exercise.