Stress Reactivity and Exercise in Women

Stress reactivity can be defined as any physiological response to a perturbation to homeostasis and generally includes both the response and recovery to a stressor. More broadly, in addition to the physiological response, it can include behavioral, subjective, and cognitive responses to stress. The focus of this chapter is primarily on stress reactivity as it pertains to the cardiovascular and neuroendocrine response to acute mental laboratory challenges or acute exercise. Stress reactivity is affected by sex, menstrual cycle phase, aging, and exercise. The role of stress reactivity in health and disease is outlined with a specific emphasis on the effects of acute and regular exercise on stress resilience. While the chapter focuses primarily on studies on women, additional studies on men are included for reference in areas where data on women are limited.