A 4-week endurance training program improves tolerance to mental exertion in untrained individuals.
J Sci Med Sport
; 23(12): 1215-1219, 2020 Dec.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32456979
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
The aim of this study was to investigate whether 4 weeks of endurance training could improve tolerance to mental exertion in untrained participants.DESIGN:
Longitudinal training study.METHODS:
Twenty untrained young adults (14 F, 6 M; 27.6±6.2 years) completed a 4-week training protocol in a randomised and counterbalanced order. Baseline and follow-up assessment were conducted over three sessions in the week preceding and following the training period. During session 1, participants completed an incremental maximal ramp test. During sessions 2 and 3 participants completed a 15min cycling time trial preceded by either a mental exertion or control conditions. Following baseline assessments, participants were randomised into a physical training or placebo group that completed the training intervention thrice weekly over four weeks.RESULTS:
The physical training resulted in increase in VO2 peak relative to the placebo group (p=0.003). Linear Mixed Models utilising the control condition time trial performance as a covariate found the physical training group increased their time trial distance following the mental exertion condition to a greater extent than the placebo group (p=0.03). RPE during the time trial and perceptual measures of mental exertion did not significantly change between groups (all p>0.10) although interaction effects were observed when considering the RPE-power output relationship during the time trial.CONCLUSIONS:
Four weeks of endurance training increased tolerance to mental exertion in untrained participants during a subsequent physical performance, but not during prolonged cognitive performance. This finding suggests that the ability to tolerate mental exertion is trainable in at least some contexts and highlights the far-reaching benefits of endurance training.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Physical Exertion
/
Mental Fatigue
/
Endurance Training
Type of study:
Clinical_trials
/
Prognostic_studies
Limits:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Language:
En
Journal:
J Sci Med Sport
Journal subject:
MEDICINA ESPORTIVA
Year:
2020
Document type:
Article