Aim: The aim of the present study was to investigate the stress--related changes of a TeamGym competition considering both physiological [i.e. salivary cortisol (sC) and alpha--amylase (sAA)] and psychological (i.e. state anxiety) responses in relation to exercise intensity and competition outcomes.
Methods: Eleven (5 males and 6 females) elite TeamGym athletes (age: 21--28 yrs) were administered the State--Trait Anxiety Inventory before an official international TeamGym competition. sAA and sC samples were collected 15 minutes prior to competition, after each apparatus, 10--min and 30--min after competition. Exercise intensity was estimated by heart rate (HR) recording and performance was evaluated by three international judges. All these parameters were correlated with competition outcomes.
Results: TeamGym competition posed a low exercise load (most of exercise was performed below 85% of the individual HR max ). Significant increases (P<0.004) in sAA (3.53 fold induction) and state anxiety (P=0.045) were observed, with respect to baseline values. Conversely, sC remained stable throughout the competition. Significant (P=0.029) correlation between sAA, state anxiety and competition outcomes emerged.
Conclusions: Present findings provide the first evidence that the psycho--physiological stress response prior to and during competition can affect performance outcome, especially in a technical sport such as TeamGym.