The effect of aerobic exercise on anxiety and secretion of cortisol in young male volleyball players

Abstract: The objective of this research was to study the effect of aerobic exercise on anxiety and secretion of cortisol in young male volleyball players. Cortisol is a stress hormone which is secreted in reaction to anxiety and highly affects carbohydrate, fat, and protein metabolisms and has a stimulating effect on central nervous system and circulatory system. In this research which was semi-empirical, of 240 volleyball players with the average age of 17 to 21 years, and divided into one group of 15 subjects; an aerobic exercise group that performed a 2400-meter run test Hamilton anxiety Inventory was used for those players with high level of anxiety. In order to determine the concentration of cortisol, blood samples were collected from group before and after aerobic exercise. Results were assessed at significance level of p < 0.05 and using t-test for dependent samples. The results showed that both an aerobic exercise session significantly affects blood concentration and cortisol secretion and that these exercise sessions have no significant effect on the reduction of anxiety.