Razi University

Abstract: Background: Sedentary lifestyles and prolonged sitting are common characteristics of office-based occupations and may be associated with reduced energy and vigor, increased fatigue and tension, and disturbances in overall mood state. Although the beneficial effects of physical activity on mental health are well established, less is known about differences in acute mood responses to aerobic and resistance exercise, particularly among sedentary employees and during the hours following exercise. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate and compare the acute effects of a single morning session of aerobic and resistance exercise on total mood disturbance, vigor, fatigue, tension, and energy index in sedentary male office workers. Methods: This study employed a randomized crossover design in sedentary male office workers aged 20–44 years employed in office-based occupations in Nasiriyah, Iraq. Sedentary status was determined using the short form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire and was defined as a physical activity level of less than 600 MET-min/week. Each participant completed three conditions—control, aerobic exercise, and resistance exercise—with a 7-day washout period between conditions. The aerobic exercise protocol consisted of a 5-min warm-up, 30 min of exercise at 70% of maximal heart rate, and a 5-min cool-down. The resistance exercise protocol consisted of six exercises, including leg press, chest press, knee extension, lat pulldown, knee flexion, and triceps exercise, each performed for two sets of 10–12 repetitions at 60% of one-repetition maximum, with 120 s of active rest between sets and exercises. Mood states were assessed using the Brunel Mood Scale (BRUMS), a brief and valid instrument for assessing momentary mood states. In the present study, the tension, fatigue, and vigor subscales were examined, together with two additional indices, total mood disturbance (TMD) and the energy index, which were calculated from the questionnaire subscales. The BRUMS was administered at four time points: before the intervention, 10 min after exercise, 60 min after exercise, and at 12:00 PM. After assessment of data normality using the Shapiro–Wilk test, parametric variables were analyzed using two-way repeated-measures analysis of variance with condition and time as factors. Tension was analyzed using the Friedman test, followed by pairwise Wilcoxon tests with Bonferroni correction. Statistical significance was set at 0.05. Results: