The effect of a single bout of exercise on energy and fatigue states: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Background: Studies examining acute exercise effects on energy and fatigue levels have not been quantitatively summarized. Purpose: To estimate the population effects of a single bout of exercise on energy and fatigue states and examine potential moderators. Methods: Google Scholar and MEDLINE were searched systematically for published studies that measured changes in energy and fatigue after acute exercise. Meta-analytic techniques were used to analyze 58 energy effects and 58 fatigue effects from the same 16 studies involving 678 participants. Most studies involved 21-40 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobictype exercise. Result: The homogeneous mean effect for energy was Δ = 0.47 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.39, 0.56). The heterogeneous mean effect for fatigue was Δ = 0.03 (95% CI = −0.08, 0.13). The fatigue effect was moderated by a three-way interaction between change in feelings of energy, exercise intensity, and exercise duration. Conclusion: Acute exercise enhances feelings of energy. Decreases in fatigue occur only when post-exercise increases in energy are at least moderately large after low-to-moderate intensity exercise lasting longer than 20 minutes. Future research should focus on short-duration (<15 minutes), vigorous-intensity exercise and long-duration (>40 minutes) exercise in non-student groups.

Muscle strengthening exercises during pregnancy are associated with increased energy and reduced fatigue

“…The results showed that the majority of a small group of generally healthy pregnant women (i.e., ≥ 77%), on average across 24 workouts, reported increased feelings of energy and reduced feelings of fatigue after a single bout of low-to-moderate intensity muscle strengthening exercise. Generally consistent with studies of non-pregnant samples [4] , increases in energy were somewhat larger (e.g., 8.8 larger VAS change for feelings of physical energy compared to physical fatigue) and more common than decreases in fatigue (e.g., only 3/48 analyses showed nonsignificant pre-to-post exercise changes in energy compared to 8/48 for fatigue).…”

“…Among non-pregnant samples a single bout of exercise, regardless of mode, consistently increases feelings of energy but only decreases feelings of fatigue after 20 minutes or more of low-to-moderate intensity exercise that is accompanied by at least moderate increases in feelings of energy [4] .…”

Effect of Six Weeks of Sprint Interval Training on Mood and Perceived Health in Women at Risk for Metabolic Syndrome

“…and did you feel tired?). Recent research suggests that fatigue items are especially sensitive to high-intensity exercise (Loy, O'Connor, & Dishman, 2013). We speculate that the inclusion of the fatigue items in the SF-36 vitality scale contributed to the greater change in these scores than the POMS-B scores.…”

Effect of Acute Exercise on Fatigue in People with ME/CFS/SEID

“…Light and moderate, but not vigorous, intensity exercise has previously been reported to reduce fatigue (38). Exercise intensity was coded as light, moderate, or vigorous according to a position stand from the American College of Sports Medicine (19).…”

“…Indeed, an exacerbation of symptoms after acute exertion is used to diagnose ME/CFS/SEID (11, 17). Fatigue is reduced after standardized (e.g., relative to each individual’s aerobic capacity) low-intensity acute exercise lasting at least 20 minutes in people without ME/CFS/SEID (38). No standardized acute exercise stimulus is used in diagnosis of ME/CFS/SEID, although it is noted that “minimal” activity may provoke symptoms in some people (7, 11).…”