STATE ANXIETY RESPONSES TO ACUTE WEIGHT TRAINING OR STEP AEROBIC EXERCISE ACROSS 8-WK OF TRAINING

Abstract

1152 Research consistently indicates state anxiety reductions occur following acute aerobic exercise, whereas findings on acute weight training are less conclusive. However, it is unclear if state anxiety responses are moderated with training. In an effort to address this issue, state anxiety (SAI-Y1) responses to acute exercise were assessed in 42 adults (28 women, 14 men, mean age=20.3, SD=2.6) who had enrolled in beginning weight training or step aerobic exercise classes. State anxiety was assessed immediately prior to and 10-min following 50-min exercise sessions during the first, fourth, and eighth weeks of 16-week courses. Exercise intensity was self-prescribed but participants were instructed to maintain intensity of each activity between 70-80% of their own maximum. Repeated measures ANOVA revealed that state anxiety decreased (p<0.05) for aerobic and weight training exercise at wk-1 and wk-8, but not wk-4. To determine if responses were influenced by initial anxiety levels participants were grouped into cases in which baseline state anxiety was either >40 or <40. ANOVA revealed that state anxiety decreased significantly (p<0.05) in the aerobic exercise condition irrespective of time or baseline anxiety (high: 49.7 to 40.4; low: 29.9 to 26.8). In the case of weight training, anxiety was significantly (p<0.05) reduced only for persons whose baseline anxiety was equal to or above 40 (high: 47.6 to 38.5; low: 29.6 to 29.5). The results indicate each exercise mode was associated with significant reductions in state anxiety that appear not to be altered at 8-wk of training. However, only aerobic exercise was effective in reducing state anxiety in persons with low baseline values.