Intensity-Dependent Influence of Interoceptive Accuracy on Psychophysiological Responses During Aerobic Exercise in Physically Inactive Men.

This article investigates how interoceptive accuracy—the ability to perceive internal bodily signals, specifically heartbeat perception—affects psychophysiological responses such as affective valence, arousal, and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) during 20 minutes of fixed-intensity aerobic exercise at moderate and heavy intensities in physically inactive young men. Participants were categorized into good heartbeat perceivers (GHP) and poor heartbeat perceivers (PHP) based on their interoceptive accuracy. Results showed that during moderate-intensity exercise, the GHP group experienced a greater decline in affective valence and a greater increase in RPE compared to the PHP group, while no differences were observed in heart rate reserve or arousal; however, no group differences emerged during heavy-intensity exercise. The findings suggest that interoceptive accuracy influences psychophysiological responses in an intensity-dependent manner, with implications for exercise prescription and adherence in sedentary populations.