Investigation of the stress-buffering effect of physical exercise and fitness on mental and physical health outcomes in insufficiently active men: A randomized controlled trial

Objective: Exercise is seen as a possible way to manage stress, yet causal evidence regarding the stress-buffer potential of exercise is still very limited. The present study experimentally tested the stress-buffer hypothesis of exercise by examining whether participation in an aerobic exercise training program reduces the detrimental effects of stress on health.  Methods: A total of 149 healthy and insufficiently active men were randomly assigned to a 12-week exercise training intervention, a 12-week relaxation training intervention, or a wait list control group. Health, stress, exercise levels, and physical fitness were assessed before and after the interventions. One hundred and six subjects completed all measurements and were included in the final analyses.  Results : As the main result, covariance analyses showed that both intervention programs buffered negative effects of stress on general health and mental health; however, no significant buffer effects for physical health and physical complaints were found. Furthermore, regression analyses provided support for the assumption that the amount of exercise participants engaged in functions as a moderator of the relationship between stress and general health; physical fitness was not found to moderate the stress–health relationship.  Conclusions : Overall, the findings present experimental support for the assumption that physical exercise buffers the effects of stress on general and mental health. Remarkably, the same effects were found for the participants of the relaxation training program. Thus, future studies need to further examine the stress-buffering effects of different exercise types as well as the effects of alternative stress-regulative interventions to determine which interventions are the most effective

A mixed method exploration of the effects and feasibility of an intergenerational fall prevention gardening programme in older adults at risk of falling: A clinical trial

...A preprint is available under a Creative Commons (CC BY) Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) on OSF Preprints at https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/bnw52. It may not have been certified by peer review. Please consult the version of record when it is published....Health Innovation Network (HIN); Health Education England working across South London (HEE); South West London System (SWLS) [South London Innovation and Diffusion awards 2016]

The Influence of the ‘Trier Social Stress Test’ on Free Throw Performance in Basketball: An Interdisciplinary Study

International audienceThe aim of the present study was to explore the relationship between stress and sport performance in a controlled setting. The experimental protocol used to induce stress in a basketball free throw was the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and its control condition (Placebo -TSST). Participants (n = 19), novice basketball players but trained sportspersons, were exposed to two counterbalanced conditions in a crossover design. They were equipped with sensors to measure movement execution, while salivary cortisol and psychological state were also measured. The task consisted of two sequences of 40 free throws, one before either the TSST or Placebo-TSST and one after. Physiological and psychological measures evidenced that the TSST induced significant stress responses, whereas the Placebo-TSST did not. Shooting performance remained stable after the TSST but decreased after the Placebo -TSST. We found no effect of the TSST or Placebo-TSST on movement execution. A multivariate model of free throw performance demonstrated that timing, smoothness and explosiveness of the movements are more relevant to account for beginner's behavior than stress-related physiological and psychological states. We conclude that the TSST is a suitable protocol to induce stress responses in sport context, even though the effects on begin-ners' free throw performance and execution are small and complex