Effect of mild psychological stress on physiological responses to exercise in men

To find out whether a negative shift in subject's mood alters cardio-respiratory and endocrine responses to exercise, 20 young men performed a graded bicycle ergometer test (50, 100, 150 W): 1) when they experienced a mixed emotional and cognitive stress before exercise (1st session), 2) when they were familiarized with the laboratory and rested quietly before exercise (2nd session). The subjects' mood was assessed by the Profile of Mood State (POMS) questionnaire. In the 1st session the subjects started exercise with significantly higher scores of tension, anger, depression, confusion and global mood in comparison with the 2-nd session. They also had slightly elevated systolic blood pressure, blood lactate, plasma cortisol and noradrenaline concentrations. During exercise performed in the 1st session only plasma free and total noradrenaline and cortisol levels were higher than those in the 2nd session.

a mild psychological stress, causing the mood worsening before standard exercise test, does not evoke pronounced alterations in cardio-respiratory responses to exercise in healthy men, but it does affect the magnitude of exercise-induced changes in both plasma free and total noradrenaline concentrations.