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Abstract
The aim of this experiment was to compare the influence of 10-minutes of low-to-moderate perceived intensity stair walking to a low dose of caffeine and placebo on mood, cognitive performance and motivation in college female caffeine users with chronic insufficient sleep. A repeated measures crossover experiment was conducted with 18 college women who reported (i) daily caffeine use, (ii) typical physical activity, and (iii) sleeping <45 hours per week. Measures of mood, working memory, sustained attention, simple reaction time, and motivation to complete the cognitive tasks were measured before and twice after all treatments. Results showed that exercise (i) increased vigor at Post-1 compared to both placebo and caffeine, and (ii) attenuated the slowing of simple reaction time that occurred in the placebo condition. A brief bout of low-to-moderate perceived intensity stair walking has energizing effects that exceed a low dose of caffeine for active young women with chronic insufficient sleep.