Neurophysiological Stress Response and Mood Changes Induced by High-Intensity Interval Training: A Pilot Study

Inmaculada C. Martínez-Díaz and Luis Carrasco
Additional contact information
Inmaculada C. Martínez-Díaz: Department of Physical Education and Sport, University of Seville, E-41013 Seville, Spain
Luis Carrasco: Department of Physical Education and Sport, University of Seville, E-41013 Seville, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 14, 1-13

Abstract: This pilot study, conducted in advance of a future definitive randomized controlled trial, aimed to investigate the feasibility of using a HIIT-based intervention to induce neurophysiological stress responses that could be associated with possible changes in mood. Twenty-five active male college students with an average age of 21.7 ± 2.1 years, weight 72.6 ± 8.4 kg, height 177 ± 6.1 cm, and BMI: 23.1 ± 1.4 kg/m 2 took part in this quasi-experimental pilot study in which they were evaluated in two different sessions. In the first session, subjects performed a graded exercise test to determine the cycling power output corresponding to VO 2peak . The second session consisted of (a) pre-intervention assessment (collection of blood samples for measuring plasma corticotropin and cortisol levels, and application of POMS questionnaire to evaluate mood states); (b) exercise intervention (10 × 1-min of cycling at VO 2peak power output); (c) post-intervention assessment, and (d) 30-min post-intervention evaluation. Significant post-exercise increases in corticotropin and cortisol plasma levels were observed whereas mood states decreased significantly at this assessment time-point. However, a significant increase in mood was found 30-min after exercise. Finally, significant relationships between increases in stress hormones concentrations and changes in mood states after intense exercise were observed. In conclusion, our HIIT-based intervention was feasible to deliver and acceptable to participants. A single bout of HIIT induced acute changes in mood states that seems to be associated with hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activation.

Keywords: exercise; HIIT; stress; mood states; cortisol; corticotropin (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/14/7320/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/14/7320/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:14:p:7320-:d:590809

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().