Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in mood during exercise. Twenty recreational runners were administered the instrument, Profile of Mood States, at 5, 15, 25, and 35 minutes during a 40-minute treadmill run. Half of the sample ran at 65% of their age-predicted maximum heart rate and half ran at 85% of their age-predicted maximum heart rate. An additional 10 runners were assessed during an equivalent period of quiet reading. Analysis by a series of 2-way Repeated Measures ANOVAs with post hoc tests revealed that mood did not change during the condition in which participants ran at 65% of their maximum heart rate. During the run conducted at 85% of maximum heart rate, levels of fatigue were significantly higher, relative to prerun levels, by 15 minutes into the run and remained elevated at each of the subsequent assessment points (at 25 and 35 minutes and 10 minutes following the run). No alterations in mood were reported during the control condition. It was also noteworthy that mood was generally more negative at the assessment designed to familiarise participants with the testing procedure than it was at the later precondition (baseline) assessment. The present findings supported reports linking negative mood with demanding physical activity and emphasised the importance of using a familiarisation assessment of mood prior to preexercise measures.