The purpose of this study is to investigate how physiological responses to exercise are affected by applying pressure on small objects (seeds, small stell balls etc.) taped to acupuncture points of the ear (ear point pressing). Twelve healthy male students served as subjects. Each subject performed 75% VO2 maximum with and without ear point pressing respectively. Both ears were stimulated during the 20th-25th and 5th-10th minutes before exercise and the 5th-10th minutes after exercise. The ANOVA was applied in data analysis. The results obtained from this study were as follows: (1) Ear point pressing significantly increased oxygen consumption at rest and during exercise, but not after exercise. (2) Ear point pressing significantly decreased the heart rate while resting but no significant differences in values were found during and after exercise. (3) Ear point pressing significantly lowered the rate of perceived exertion at the tenth and fifteenth minutes, but not significantly at the fifth minute of exercise. These results indicate that ear point pressing may enhance exercise performance by virtue of its beneficial effects on physiological responses.
