The purpose of this investigation was to study state anxiety responses associated
with running at different times of day. Thirty volunteers (15 ♀ and 15 ♂) who regularly
exercised in the morning (n = 10), at noon (n = 10), or in the evening (n = 10) completed
three running sessions at 0600 h - 0800 h, 1100 h - 1300 h, and 1600 h - 1800 h. A
post-hoc analysis was also performed comparing individuals who ran at their preferred
time (N = 18) with individuals who ran at a time different from their preferred time
(N = 11). The duration and pace of these runs were based upon each runner's „preferred
exertion”, and this was held constant across trials for each participant. The estimated
metabolic cost did not differ across the three sessions, but there was a significant
difference between ♀ (X = 11.4 METS) and ♂ (X = 12.9 METS) runners. The dependent
variables were state anxiety, perceived exertion, heart rate, tympanic temperature
and blood pressure. Data were analyzed by means of repeated measures MANOVA for multifactor
experiments. State anxiety was reduced significantly (p < 0.05) for both the women
and men, and this effect was independent of time of day. Furthermore, this effect
occurred regardless of whether or not the individual's usual exercise time was the
preferred time. Perceived exertion increased significantly (p < 0.05) from half-way
through to the end of the run and this response occurred regardless of time of day.
None of the remaining variables were influenced by time of day. It is concluded that
the anxiolytic effects of running exercise are independent of the time of day the
exercise is performed.
Key words
Anxiety - preferred exertion - exercise - time-of-day - gender
