87477
document
Effect of chronic aerobic exercise and progressive relaxation on motor performance and affect following acute stress . The effects of a 10-week aerobic exercise and progressive relaxation training program on somatic , emotional , and behavioral responses to acute stress , as determined by quality of motor performance and affect , were examined . The participants consisted of 60 unfit male university undergraduate students with no previous training in stress management who were randomly and evenly assigned to engage in one of four treatments over 10 weeks : ( a ) moderate aerobic exercise , ( b ) progressive relaxation , ( c ) a placebo group that engaged in group discussion but did experience acute stress , and ( d ) a nonintervention control group that did not experience stress while performing the motor task . Acute stress consisted of " losing " against a competitor of the opposite sex on the criterion motor task while receiving unpleasant information about their performance over 30 preintervention and 30 postintervention trials . Analyses indicated that aerobic exercisers , in comparisons with the other groups , responded to acute stress with more positive affect , lower stressor task heart rate , reduced systolic ( but not diastolic ) blood pressure , and superior motor performance . Progressive relaxation markedly reduced systolic blood pressure but did not favorably influence performance or affect in response to acute stress . Placebo and control groups were statistically similar on all measures . The findings indicated support for the use of chronic aerobic exercise as a strategy for improved coping with acute stress .
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Intervention_Physical
chronic aerobic exercise
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Intervention_Physical
progressive relaxation
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Intervention_Physical
aerobic exercise
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Intervention_Physical
progressive relaxation
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Intervention_Educational
one of four treatments over 10 weeks
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Intervention_Physical
moderate aerobic exercise
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Intervention_Physical
progressive relaxation
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Intervention_Control
placebo group that engaged in group discussion but did experience acute stress
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Intervention_Control
nonintervention control group that did not experience stress while performing the motor task
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Outcome_Physical
lower stressor task heart rate , reduced systolic ( but not diastolic ) blood pressure
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Outcome_Mental
motor performance
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Outcome_Mental
systolic blood pressure
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Participant_Sample-size
60
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Participant_Sex
male