Mood State Changes Accompanying the Crossfit Open™ Competition in Healthy Adults

Specific mood states were examined during the CrossFit Open, a consecutive 5-week fitness competition involving five separate CrossFit^® workouts, to determine whether the unique design or strenuous workouts of the competition resulted in acute and/or chronic mood state alterations.

Participants (n = 8) completed the Profile of Mood States (POMS) questionnaire one-week prior to the competition (baseline), prior to (PRE), immediately post (IP), 30-min post- (30P) and 60-min post-workout (60P) each week. Tension, depression, anger, confusion, fatigue and vigor were derived from the POMS, as was Total Mood Disturbance (TMD) and an Energy Index (EI).

Workout intensity exceeded 93% HR_max each week. No differences were observed between baseline and PRE-workout mood states across weeks, indicating little effect of the unique competition design. Significant (week x time) interactions were observed for TMD (p = 0.037), EI (p = 0.038) and fatigue (p = 0.005). Acute mood state fluctuations were consistent across each week, where mood states improved to and beyond PRE values 60-min post-workout.

In competitors, the differences in workout design between each week did not influence mood states. This may be related to adaptation to this style of training, while the acute mood state alterations are likely due to the workout intensity.