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19.08.2015

Feeling tense? Need more energy? A short training session is more effective than resting

You've got an important presentation coming up, or a crucial meeting. Or maybe you've got an exam. At any rate, there's something that you want to make sure you're on top form for, and you're nervous. Of course, you can use the time still available to sit quietly and go over things, but according to a study that the American sports scientist Brian Focht did, 20 minutes of cardio training will be more useful.

Study
Focht did an experiment with 50 female students, average age 19. He got the subjects to complete questionnaires about their mood and then got them to either sit quietly for 20 minutes or to do 20 minutes training on cardio machines. The students were allowed to choose themselves which machines they used and the intensity at which they trained.

Half an hour after the students had finished training Focht gave them the same mood questionnaire.

Results
Both the quiet time and the cardio session made the students less anxious [Anxiety] and calmer [Tranquillity], but only the cardio session gave the students a more positive feeling [Pos. Eng.] and more energy [Revitalization].

Neither the cardio training nor the quiet sitting had a statistically significant effect on the amount of physical fatigue. [Phys. Exh.]

Conclusion
"The use of exercise as a form of primary prevention of psychological disturbance may be preferable to alternative options", the researcher concluded.

Source:
Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 2001, 23, 108-21.

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