The relationship between the amount of exercise individuals take and the stress they experience

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The relationship between the amount of exercise individuals take and the stress they experience.

Abstract

This report focuses on the hypotheses that exercise reduces stress levels. To evaluate this hypotheses 178 subjects were used, all of whom were first year undergraduate psychology students. The subjects were recruited to the study via convenience sampling. These subjects exercise and stress levels were collected through the use of a two part questionnaire that focused on these two variables. The results backed this hypothesis through statistical testing, which showed there was a negative correlation between the two.

Introduction

Stress is defined as being: “The non-specific response of the body to any demand placed upon it” (Hans Selye (1926); Orman, M. (1991). The 14 Day Stress Cure. Houston (Texas): Breakthru Publishing.) This definition of stress comes from a man who “first documented the chemical and hormonal changes that occur with stress”. His research is obviously highly relevant in the comparison of stress levels and physical energy levels, because when a person exercises their chemical/ hormonal levels alter.

The aim of this study is to investigate whether or not people who exercise suffer less from stress and in stressful situations than people who don’t exercise as much if at all. A similar study was conducted in this field by Morse and Walker (1994). The study took a group of 46 undergraduate students and divided them into two groups: an exercising group and a non-exercising group. They then put the exercising group through 6 weeks of exercise accredited by ASCM. After this period both groups were given The General Symptom Index questionnaire to complete. Their results stated that after exercise intervention stress symptoms were reduced and the subjects that didn’t exercise had raised stress symptoms. So according to this study there is a correlation between the amount of exercise a person does and the amount of stress symptoms they show. This allows the assumption that this study will support their results and provide a negative correlation.

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Steptoe and Cox also conducted a similar study in 1988; they followed much the same method. The difference was they put the two different groups of people through low intensity and high intensity training programs. They found that the high intensity training brought about feelings of tension and anxiety, whereas the low intensity training bought about much more positive mood changes e.g. exhilaration. This shows that training at an extensive level can have adverse effects, which work against the positive stress reducing effects.

 

As with the studies quoted above, the aim of this study is to see if ...

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