Mindfulness during exercise and its effects on affective responses: a systematic review and meta-analysis with implications for exercise behavior.

Affective experiences play a central role in sustaining exercise participation, and mindfulness-based approaches have been proposed to enhance these experiences by promoting greater awareness and acceptance during physical activity. This review synthesized current evidence on mindfulness-based exercise interventions that intentionally integrated mindfulness into movement (e.g., walking, running) to examine their effects on affective responses and exercise behavior. Seventeen studies met inclusion criteria for the systematic review, and 13 contributed to the meta-analysis. A three-level random-effects model showed a significant positive effect of mindfulness-based exercise interventions on affective responses (g = 0.41, 95 % CI [0.19, 0.63], p < .001). Moderator analyses indicated that baseline PA level significantly influenced outcomes, with greater benefits for highly active (b = 0.51, p < .001) and unspecified samples (b = 0.80, p < .001), whereas other moderators-including exercise intensity, duration, frequency, setting, control group type, and affect type-were not significant. Despite consistent positive effects on affective responses, the overall certainty of evidence was limited by methodological heterogeneity, small and homogeneous samples, and inconsistent operationalization of mindfulness. Most studies lacked preparatory training, manipulation checks, or control of individual differences such as trait mindfulness and prior meditation experience, constraining interpretability and generalizability. Moreover, few studies examined behavioral outcomes, leaving the mindfulness-affect-behavior pathway largely untested. Future research should employ more rigorous, theoretically grounded, and longitudinal designs to clarify how mindfulness shapes affective and behavioral adaptations to exercise.