title: Effects of cycling exercise on the soleus H-reflex and state anxiety among men with low or high trait anxiety.
abstract: The present study examined the effects of low- and high-intensity cycling exercise on the H-reflex and state anxiety among men having low (n=20) or high (n=20) trait anxiety. Participants completed measures of state anxiety and underwent elicitation and recording of the H-reflex in the soleus muscle before and 10 min after three 20-min conditions: (1) quiet rest, (2) cycling at 40% VO2peak, and (3) cycling at 70% VO2peak. We found that (1) exercise, but not quiet rest, resulted in a reduction of the H-reflex; the magnitude of the reduction did not differ between men having low or high trait anxiety; (2) exercise and quiet rest resulted in similar reductions of state anxiety, and the magnitude of the reductions was larger for men having high trait anxiety than low trait anxiety; and (3) reductions of the H-reflex were unrelated to reductions of self-reported state anxiety across all three conditions. Contrary to prior opinion, the postexercise reduction in the H-reflex reported by previous researchers and in the present study appears to be unrelated to self-reported anxiety after exercise.
authors.affiliation: Department of Exercise Science, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602-6554, USA.
authors.forename: Robert W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Motl
authors.forename: Patrick J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: O'connor
authors.forename: Rod K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Dishman
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology; D001642:Bicycling / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology; D004576:Electromyography; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology; D006181:H-Reflex / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000294:innervation / Q000503:physiopathology; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D012146:Rest / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D013979:Tibial Nerve / Q000503:physiopathology