Psychological stress during exercise: cardiorespiratory and hormonal responses

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the cardiorespiratory (CR) and stress hormone responses to a combined physical and mental stress. Eight participants (VO2(max) = 41.24 +/- 6.20 ml kg(-1) min(-1)) completed two experimental conditions, a treatment condition including a 37 min ride at 60% of VO2(max) with participants responding to a computerized mental challenge dual stress condition (DSC) and a control condition of the same duration and intensity without the mental challenge exercise alone condition (EAC). Significant interactions across time were found for CR responses, with heart rate, ventilation, and respiration rate demonstrating higher increases in the DSC. Additionally, norepinephrine was significantly greater in the DSC at the end of the combined challenge. Furthermore, cortisol area-under-the-curve (AUC) was also significantly elevated during the DSC. These results demonstrate that a mental challenge during exercise can exacerbate the stress response, including the release of hormones that have been linked to negative health consequences (cardiovascular, metabolic, autoimmune illnesses).

Stress hormones and immunological responses to a dual challenge in professional firefighters

“…This finding is consistent with an earlier study (Ray et al, 2006), examining firefighters from India, which observed greater NE and EPI responses in firefighters challenged with a physical and psychological demand. Furthermore, Webb et al (2008) have examined healthy individuals in response to a combination of physical and psychological stress and found a greater increase for NE in dual stress condition. The NE results in this study are consistent with Webb et al (2008).…”

Stress Reactivity to Repeated Low-Level Challenges: A Pilot Study

“…The MC and MEC trials were counter-balanced between subjects. The mental challenge included a modified version of the Stroop Color Word (SCW) and mental arithmetic (MA) tasks (Acevedo et al 2006;Webb et al 2008) presented as an Authorware (Macromedia, Version 5.0) computer program. Participants were presented with a color word for 0.5 s, displayed in a conflicting font color with simultaneous audible presentation of a word color, and then given an additional 0.5 s of blank screen to respond on a keypad.…”

Rate of cardiovascular recovery to combined or separate orthostatic and mental challenges

“…The combination of stressors has not been well examined, yet. While there are some studies on reactivity to combined stressors (Durocher et al, 2009;Webb et al, 2008), detailed analysis of the pattern of recovery has been rare to date.…”