Higher exercise intensity, lower stress - GetFit News

Shape, Dec, 2003

A strenuous workout routine might be a better tension tamer than a more moderate one, a new study at the University of Missouri-Columbia found. Researchers there first measured the anxiety levels of 24 women, ages 18-20 or 35-45. Then, on three occasions, the women exercised on a treadmill for 30 minutes at moderate intensity (60 percent of their maximum aerobic capacity) or at high intensity (80 percent of their max), or they read while on the treadmill.

No matter what they did, their anxiety levels were lower five, 30, 60 and 90 minutes afterward, though the high-intensity sessions worked best. (The difference didn't become apparent until 30-90 minutes after the workout.) If stress reduction is one of your exercise goals, says researcher Richard Cox, Ph.D., "within reason, increase the intensity of your 30-minute exercise bout."--K.D.