ACUTE MOOD RESPONSES TO MAXIMAL AND SUBMAXIMAL EXERCISE IN ACTIVE AND INACTIVE MEN

36 competitive sportsmen and 36 inactive men carried out a maximal exercise test to volitional exhaustion on a bicycle ergometer. In a second session, they were randomised to 20 minutes exercise at a high intensity of 70% maximal oxygen consumption (VO2 max), a moderate intensity of 50% of VO2 max or a light exercise control, with 12 sportsmen and 12 inactive men in each condition. Mood was assessed with rating of tension-anxiety, mental vigour and exhilaration. Sportsmen but not inactive men showed a decrease in tension-anxiety across the maximal exercise test, while exhilaration increased in both groups. Increases in mental vigour and exhilaration were recorded two minutes after exercise at 70% and 50% VO2 max, and these responses were significantly greater than those in the control condition. In the case of exhilaration, effects were maintained after 30 minutes post-exercise recovery. The sportsmen and inactive men did not differ in these responses, nor were there differences between the two exercise intensities. Mood changes were not influenced by negative affectivity, or the intensity of cognitive and somatic anxiety. The relevance of the immediate mood effects of exercise for the understanding of long-term psychological changes with regular exercise is discussed.