SECTION IV - PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF SPORT AND EXERCISE / RESEARCH PAPER
Enjoying the Peaks and the Valleys: Exploring the Predictive Value of the Peak-and-End Rule on Enjoyment
in a Resistance Training Session
1
Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, Lusófona University, Lisbon, Portugal.
2
Research Center in Sport, Physical Education, and Exercise and Health (CIDEFES), Lisbon, Portugal.
3
Center for Research, Training, Innovation, and Intervention in Sports (CIFI2D), Porto, Portugal.
Submission date: 2024-09-24
Final revision date: 2025-02-04
Acceptance date: 2025-12-22
Online publication date: 2026-07-10
Corresponding author
Vasco Bastos
Research Center in Sport, Physical Education, and Exercise and Health (CIDEFES), Lisbon, Portugal, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, Lusófona University, Lisbon, Portugal, Portugal
Research Center in Sport, Physical Education, and Exercise and Health (CIDEFES), Lisbon, Portugal, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, Lusófona University, Lisbon, Portugal, Portugal
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
The peak-and-end rule postulates that the most salient affective responses during exercise (i.e., most negative and/or positive peak) and the affect experienced at the end of a session (i.e., end affect) are associated with variables related to exercise adherence, such as enjoyment. However, this phenomenon remains considerably unexplored in resistance training (RT). This study aimed to explore the predictive value of the peak-and-end rule on the enjoyment levels in a commonly prescribed RT session. Experienced exercisers (N = 43) responded to the Feeling Scale (FS) after two aerobic exercise moments and six RT exercises. Individual and hierarchical regression analyses were applied to test the predictive value of the FS peaks and the FS end, as well as the FS slope and the FS mean. Results showed that the FS end was the only variable that consistently predicted enjoyment post- (15%) and 24 h after exercise (11%), while all variables predicted 24 h after enjoyment (7% to 15%). Overall, the peaks and end affect might be necessary for enjoyment promotion, but only the end affect presented consistent results. Future research should investigate the effect of the peak-and-end rule in RT on retrospective affective variables and objective exercise behaviour.
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