Effects of Social Media Use Before Short, High-Intensity Exercise Tasks

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of 30 min of social media (SM) use on salivary cortisol, countermovement jump, reaction time, agility, and anaerobic capacity. Methods: Ten physically active college students (five males and five females) completed the randomized, repeated-measures, crossover design study. Participants completed two trials: 30 min of SM or 30 min of a neutral video. Heart rate and blood pressure were measured during treatment. Salivary cortisol, affect, and Stroop task scores were measured before and after treatment, then participants completed several high-intensity exercise tasks. Treatments were administered at least 48 h apart. Results: No significant differences were found between treatments for vertical jump (median = 0.63 cm; P = 0.18), running reaction time (median = − 0.035 s; P = 0.65), local reaction (median = − 0.32 in; P = 0.71), agility (median = − 0.46 s; P = 0.47), and anaerobic run time (median = 2.5 s; P = 0.39). No significant interaction was found for the Stroop task ( F (1,9) = 0.86; P = 0.38) or salivary cortisol ( F (2,18) = 0.75; P = 0.49) between treatments over time. Conclusion: SM use before exercise did not negatively affect exercise performance, Stroop task scores, or stress after acute treatment.