Eyes-Closed Interoceptive Aerobic Exercise Compared With Matched Eyes-Open Treadmill Exercise in Healthy Adults

Part of paid clinical trials in Norfolk, Virginia.

Sponsor
Old Dominion University
Study ID
NCT07625371
Status
Completed

Conditions

  • Affect and Exertion During and Post-exercise
  • Exercise
  • Healthy Adult
  • Interoception
  • Physical Activity

Eligibility Criteria

Sex
ALL
Age
18 Years - 45 Years
Healthy Volunteers
Accepted

Interventions

  • Eyes-Closed Interoceptive Aerobic Exercise — BEHAVIORAL
    Eyes-closed interoceptive aerobic exercise was a prototype multicomponent treadmill exercise condition. Participants completed the individualized 25-minute treadmill protocol at 0% incline using five consecutive 5-minute phases: walking, brisk walking, jogging or faster walking, faster jogging or fastest walking, and walking recovery. Participants kept their eyes closed, wore a safety harness, and maintained light contact with the front treadmill handle for positional reference. Before the bout, participants were instructed to close their eyes, clear their mind, and focus on breathing. During exercise, soft meditative background music was played continuously, and brief prerecorded reminders were delivered every 2.5 minutes: "clear the mind," "focus on breathing," and "close your eyes." Before each experimental treadmill session in both conditions, participants were told they could breathe through the nose when possible.
  • Matched Eyes-Open Treadmill Exercise — BEHAVIORAL
    The matched eyes-open treadmill exercise condition used the same individualized 25-minute treadmill protocol, 0% incline, five-phase structure, safety harness, front-handle contact requirement, laboratory supervision, and staff-controlled speed transitions as ECI-AE. Participants kept their eyes open. Before the bout, participants were told that a science audiobook would be played and that they could attend to or ignore it. No ECI-AE verbal reminders or meditative background music were delivered. The audiobook provided a standardized externally oriented audio context and avoided exercise-, emotion-, or meditation-related content. Before each experimental treadmill session in both conditions, participants were told they could breathe through the nose when possible.

Study Details

This completed single-site pilot trial evaluated a prototype eyes-closed interoceptive aerobic exercise condition compared with a matched eyes-open treadmill control condition in healthy adults. Participants attended one baseline/familiarization visit followed by four randomized experimental treadmill visits. Each participant completed the eyes-closed interoceptive aerobic exercise condition twice and the matched eyes-open control condition twice in one of two randomized sequences. Both conditions used the same individualized 25-minute treadmill protocol, 0% incline, safety harness, front-handle contact requirement, laboratory supervision, and staff-controlled speed transitions. The conditions differed in eye status, attentional instructions, and audio environment. The broader pilot project collected feasibility, safety, fidelity, acceptability, adaptation, affective-experience, cardiovascular/autonomic, blood-pressure, and cognitive-performance outcomes.

Key Dates

Start date
Oct 20, 2024
Status verified
May 2026
Primary completion
Dec 22, 2025
Completion
Dec 22, 2025

Study Design

Enrollment
40 participants (actual)
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
OTHER

Arms

  • Experimental: Sequence 1: Control, ECI-AE, Control, ECI-AE
    Participants randomized to Sequence 1 completed the matched eyes-open treadmill control condition at experimental visits 1 and 3 and the eyes-closed interoceptive aerobic exercise condition at experimental visits 2 and 4. The same individualized 25-minute treadmill protocol, determined during the baseline/familiarization visit, was used across all four experimental visits.
  • Experimental: Sequence 2: ECI-AE, Control, ECI-AE, Control
    Participants randomized to Sequence 2 completed the eyes-closed interoceptive aerobic exercise condition at experimental visits 1 and 3 and the matched eyes-open treadmill control condition at experimental visits 2 and 4. The same individualized 25-minute treadmill protocol, determined during the baseline/familiarization visit, was used across all four experimental visits.

Primary Outcome Measure

Number and Percentage of Participants Reaching Each Recruitment and Participation Milestone [ Time Frame: From screening through the fifth laboratory visit, up to 6 weeks per participant ]

Locations (1)

FacilityCityStateZIPSite coordinators
Old Dominion UniversityNorfolkVirginia23529-5000-

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By research site
Old Dominion University· Norfolk, VA

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