The acute effects of resistance exercise on affect, anxiety, and mood – practical implications for designing resistance training programs

ABSTRACT

Research in aerobic exercise has linked the affective responses (pleasure–displeasure) experienced during exercise to future exercise participation. While this is yet to be confirmed in anaerobic activities, it can be inferred that making resistance exercise (RE) more psychologically rewarding is an important consideration. The purpose of this article is to review the acute effects of RE on affect, anxiety, and mood and to draw conclusions on how to maximize feelings of pleasure in an effort to increase rates of participation. This review provides evidence to support lower training volumes performed at low to moderate intensities (50–70% 1RM) with long inter-set rest intervals (90–150 s). Additional recommendations are provided based on physiological and theoretical support, but there is a strong need for more research on the affective experience of RE.

KEYWORDS:

• Strength
• affect
• exercise
• anxiety
• mood
• resistance exercise
• adherence

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Eric E. Hall http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3590-5390

Notes

1. This volume of work will most likely be individualized, making the practical application limited.

2. This is adapted from an intensity of 60% 10RM.