To investigate how the pituitary-adrenal and sympathetic nervous hormones change in
psychologically exhaustive states following an ultraendurance race, the Profile of
Mood States (POMS), plasma ACTH, β-endorphin, adrenaline, noradrenaline, and serum
Cortisol were measured in 29 male athletes two days before, immediately after, and
one day after a triathlon. Psychological exhaustion was defined as possessing low
POMS vigour and high fatigue immediately post-race. Eleven subjects met the criteria
for the exhaustive group, and another ten were placed in the vigour group, which possessed
high vigour regardless of fatigue score and the remaining eight subjects were excluded
from analysis because they did not satisfy experimental protocol. Student's t-tests
revealed no significant group differences in age, race time, pre-race POMS and hormone
values. Immediately post-race, serum Cortisol and plasma adrenaline did mot differ
between groups. However, significantly lower levels of plasma (β-endorphin (p = 0.03)
and noradrenaline (p = 0.05), and relatively lower levels of plasma ACTH (p = 0.08)
immediately post-race were observed in the exhaustive group when compared with the
vigour group. We conclude that pituitary and sympathetic nervous hormone reactivity
is attenuated following ultraendurance race in athletes showing psychological exhaustion
and this is independent of race performance.
Key words
Exhaustion - Profile of Mood States - β-eridorphin - noradrenaline - triathlon
