If you're a middle-aged person who doesn't move much, your body's stress hormone levels might help your brain become more responsive when you take regular movement breaks—but not if you just sit all...

Pro

Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

Community contributions welcome

Acute effects of physical activity patterns on plasma cortisol and brain-derived neurotrophic factor in relation to corticospinal excitability.

Cross-Sectional Study

Human

2022 Jul 26

Contradicting (0)

Community contributions welcome

No contradicting evidence found

Gold Standard Evidence Needed

According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.

Source Study

Acute effects of physical activity patterns on plasma cortisol and brain-derived neurotrophic factor in relation to corticospinal excitability.

Score: 33

DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2022.113926

Similar Assertions

If you're a middle-aged adult who doesn't move much, your stress hormone levels go up more after sitting all day and then doing a 25-minute workout, compared to just sitting or breaking up your sitting time with short walks every half hour.

77%

A 40-minute high-intensity workout increases cortisol in the blood for over an hour after exercise in healthy adults, but a 5-minute sprint does not, suggesting that how long you exercise matters more than how hard you push for triggering this hormonal response.

72%

In healthy adults, doing moderate exercise by itself does not raise cortisol levels much, but when caffeine is consumed before exercise, cortisol levels rise about 40 minutes after the workout in both men and women.

70%