Acute Effects of Aerobic Exercise on Feelings of Energy in Relation to Age and Sex

Abstract

A crossover experiment was performed to determine whether age and sex, or their interaction, affect the impact of acute aerobic exercise on Vigor-Activity (VA). We also tested whether changes in VA mediated exercise effects on performance on various cognitive tasks. Sixtyeight physically inactive volunteers participated in exercise and TV-watching control conditions. They completed the Vigor-Activity subscale of the Profile of Mood States immediately prior to and 2 minutes after the intervention in each condition. They also performed the Trail Making Test 3 minutes after the intervention in each condition. Statistical analyses produced a condition × age × sex interaction characterized by a higher mean VA gain value in the exercise condition (compared to the VA gain value in the TV-watching condition) for young female participants only. In addition, the mediational analyses revealed that changes in VA fully mediated the effects of exercise on TMT-Part A performance.

A Single 30 Minutes Bout of Combination Physical Exercises Improved Inhibition and Vigor-Mood in Middle-Aged and Older Females: Evidence From a Randomized Controlled Trial

“…This result is consistent with previous findings. For example, previous studies employing aerobic exercise showed a positive correlation between the improvement of cognitive functions processing speed/visual attention measured by Trail making test A and the improvement of vigor mood measured by POMS in young adults (Legrand et al, 2018) and older adults (Legrand et al, 2016). Also, another study using aerobic exercise reported a positive correlation between the improvement of inhibition performance measured by the Stroop task and improvement of arousal mood measured by the Two-Dimensional Mood Scale (TDMS) in healthy young adults (Byun et al, 2014).…”

Effects of a Brief Stair-Climbing Intervention on Cognitive Performance and Mood States in Healthy Young Adults

“…Previous research has also shown that the effects of exercise on cognition and mood may vary as a function of fitness or physical activity levels and sex (Budde et al, 2012; Chang et al, 2012; Hamer et al, 2012; Etnier et al, 2016; Legrand et al, 2016; McDowell et al, 2016; Tsai et al, 2016). For example, some studies indicate that acute bouts of exercise are most beneficial for cognition in fit or more physically active individuals (Budde et al, 2012; Tsai et al, 2016), whereas others have not found differential effects as a function of fitness levels (Magnié et al, 2000; Themanson and Hillman, 2006).…”

“…When sex differences are found they tend to favor females over males (Colcombe and Kramer, 2003), however, some studies have shown negative effects of exercise on certain cognitive functions (implicit learning) in females (Stillman et al, 2016). Acute bouts of exercise have also been shown to increase feelings of vigor among young adult females but not males (Legrand et al, 2016). Larger overall improvements in mood responses to acute aerobic exercise among females have also been reported in previous studies (McDowell et al, 2016).…”