Acute effect of combined exercise with aerobic and resistance exercises on executive function

Ying-Chu Chen; Ruei-Hong Li; Feng-Tzu Chen; Chih-Han Wu; Chung-Yu Chen; Che-Chien Chang; Yu-Kai Chang

doi:10.7717/peerj.15768

Acute effect of combined exercise with aerobic and resistance exercises on executive function

PeerJ. 2023 Aug 21:11:e15768. doi: 10.7717/peerj.15768. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Ying-Chu Chen¹, Ruei-Hong Li¹, Feng-Tzu Chen², Chih-Han Wu³, Chung-Yu Chen⁴, Che-Chien Chang³, Yu-Kai Chang¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei City, Taiwan.
² Department of Sports Medicine, China Medical University, Tai-Chung City, Taiwan.
³ Office of Physical Education, National Central University, Taoyuan City, Taiwan.
⁴ University of Taipei, Department of Exercise and Health Sciences, Taipei City, Taiwan.

Abstract

Objective: Recent studies indicate that acute exercise, whether aerobic exercise (AE) or resistance exercise (RE), improves cognitive function. However, the effects on cognitive function of combined exercise (CE), involving both AE and RE in an exercise session, remain unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of acute CE on cognitive function.

Design: Within-subject design with counterbalancing.

Methods: Fifteen healthy men with a sedentary lifestyle in the previous three months were recruited. The participants were assessed for muscular fitness after performing four upper body exercises for a 10-repetition maximum and underwent a submaximal aerobic fitness assessment for V̇O_2peak and corresponding workload (watts). They were then assigned to a CE, RE, or sitting control (SC) session in counterbalanced order and were assessed with the Stroop Color and Word Test (SCWT) after each session.

Results: Acute CE led to a significantly shorter response time compared to SC (p < .05) in the SCWT, wherein there were no significant differences between acute CE and RE (p = 1.00). Additionally, no significant differences in the accuracy rate were observed across the different sessions (ps > .05).

Conclusion: A single session of moderate-intensity CE improved response time in the SCWT, comparable to RE. CE shows promise for enhancing cognitive function, warranting further research on its benefits and other exercise modalities.

Keywords: Combined Exercise; Executive Function; Inhibition Control; Interference effect; Stroop Color World Test.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Cognition
Executive Function*
Exercise
Exercise Therapy
Humans
Male
Resistance Training*

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Science and Technology Council, Taiwan (MOST109-2410-H845-014). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.