The Effects of Acute Coordinative vs. Acute Endurance Exercise on the Cortisol Concentration

BackgroundPhysical exercise interventions can cause neuroendocrine activation, which in turn increases salivary cortisol concentrations. Until now there have been no studies comparing endurance and coordinative exercise. ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to examine the effects of these different interventions with an intraindividual comparison. Methods61 students between 18 and 30 years of age were included and first completed a coordinative exercise and one week later an endurance exercise of the same intensity and length which was self-set on the first day, with a maximum heart rate of 64 - 76% (HRmax) over a period of 15 min. To measure changes in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA-axis) activity, saliva samples were collected before (t1) and after exercise (t2 and t3). ResultsBaseline values of cortisol (t0) did not differ significantly between coordinative and endurance exercise, t(55) = .233, p = .816. Post hoc tests revealed that the cortisol values of the second coordinative vs. endurance time point, t(55) = 2.097, p = .040, d = .741, and third coordinative vs. endurance time point, t(55) = 3.004, p = .004, d = .735, differed significantly with large effect sizes. ConclusionThe results show for the first time that coordinative exercise produced a higher cortisol release than endurance exercise of the same intensity and duration. Interventions such as coordinative exercise require higher cognitive components resulting in stronger cortisol release than endurance exercise. Thus, the type of acute exercise is a psychophysiological factor in determining the neuroendocrine stress response. Key pointsCortisol is an important catabolic hormone when it comes to overtraining or burnout in an athlete. Our results show for the first time that acute coordinative exercise produces a higher cortisol release than endurance exercise of the same intensity and duration.