STATE ANXIETY FOLLOWING 20 MINUTES OF BICYCLE ERGOMETER EXERCISE AT SELECTED INTENSITIES

An attempt was made to determine if state anxiety responses following acute exercise are influenced by the intensity of exercise. Fifteen ad ults (5 female, 10 male) completed 20 minute sessions of bicycle ergom eter exercise on separate days at intensities equal to 40, 60, or 70% VO(2)peak. Expired gas spirometry was employed to determine peak oxyge n consumption and to control the workload during the submaximal protoc ols. State anxiety (STAI-Y1) was assessed prior to and following each exercise session, and 5, 60 and 120 minutes post-exercise. Repeated me asures ANOVA revealed that state anxiety decreased (p < 0.05) followin g each exercise condition. Post hoc analysis indicated that state anxi ety was significantly (p < 0.05) reduced at all post-exercise assessme nts in the 40 and 60% VO(2)peak conditions. State anxiety was elevated by 3.4 units at 5 minutes following exercise at 70% VO(2)peak, but de creased (p < 0.05) below baseline at 60 and 120 minutes post-exercise to a degree not different from the other exercise conditions, Further analysis indicated the increase in anxiety 5 minutes following 70% VO( 2)peak exercise was significant only in subjects with low baseline sta te anxiety values, whereas it was unchanged in subjects with higher ba seline values. In conclusion, 20-minute sessions of cycle ergometer ex ercise at intensities ranging from light to heavy were equally effecti ve in reducing state anxiety in young, healthy adults. However, this r eduction is delayed somewhat following exercise at a high intensity (i .e., 70% VO(2)peak).