Impact of Age on the Affective Responses Following Worksite Resistance Exercise in Career Firefighters

Abstract

ABSTRACT Introduction The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of age on the affective responses (attitude, feelings, self-efficacy, intention, enjoyment, and fondness) after a worksite circuit-style resistance exercise routine in career firefighters. Methods Nineteen young (25.5 ± 3.3 yr) and 19 middle-aged male career firefighters (50.3 ± 3.5 yr) completed 2 d of physical testing at local fire stations. Participants were familiarized with the resistance training exercises (deadlift, shoulder press, lunge, and upright row) at visit 1 and performed a multirepetition maximum (RM) assessment to prescribe the appropriate loads for the resistance exercise bout on visit 2. The resistance training session included three sets of 8 to 10 repetitions per exercise at 80% 1-RM. Participants completed a postexercise questionnaire examining affective responses and a rating of perceived exertion (RPE). Mann–Whitney U tests and an independent t-test were used to determine differences between the young and middle-aged firefighters’ affective responses and RPE, respectively. Results There were no significant differences between groups for any of the six affective responses (P = 0.062–0.819) or RPE (P = 0.142). Conclusions Age did not influence the perceived effort or affective responses following an acute bout of worksite resistance exercise. Firefighters reported overall positive attitudes, feelings, and fondness paired with high self-efficacy and intention at a training frequency of twice per week. However, confidence, intention, and enjoyment decreased at higher training frequencies (i.e., 3–4x per week). Circuit-style resistance training performed twice per week may be a feasible and practical worksite exercise routine across ages in the fire service.