The Impact of Aerobic and Anaerobic Exercises on the Level of Depression, Anxiety, Stress and Happiness of Non-Athlete Male

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Exercises bring about health. Therefore, knowing what kind of exercise is more effective in individuals’ spirituals health indices is important. Thus, the present study aims at comparing the impact of aerobic and anaerobic exercises on the level of depression, anxiety, stress, and happiness of nonathletic male students. Methods: In this clinical trial study, sample included the nonathletic male students of Zahedan Azad University in 2014. 90 students were selected through convenience sampling and they were divided randomly into two experimental groups (aerobic and anaerobic) and one control group. The aerobic group must do aerobic exercises and the anaerobic group must do anaerobic exercises for a period of 10 weeks (3 sessions a week, each lasted for 60 minutes). The data were collected using DASS-21 questionnaire for measuring the level of depression, anxiety and stress, and Oxford OHI questionnaire for measuring the amount of happiness before and after the intervention. The results were analyzed using statistical tests of MANCOVA in SPSS-13. Results: The results showed that in both aerobic and anaerobic groups the mean score of depression, anxiety, stress and happiness improved after treatment. However, the improve in the mean score of anxiety, stress and happiness was more apparent in the anaerobic group. The results also showed that only stress and happiness resulted in a significant difference in different groups. Conclusions: Both aerobic and anaerobic exercises result in reduction of stress and Anxiety. So it seems necessary to include such exercises in students’ daily schedule.