A psychophysiological approach to the study of strategic self-talk mechanisms through heart rate variability during a cycling task

Introduction: The self-talk literature has stressed the importance of employing multidisciplinary approaches to better understand how strategic self-talk operates. Objective: The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of a strategic self-talk intervention on vagal modulation during moderate-intensity aerobic exercise. Methodology: A randomized control trial was employed. Eighty-three sport science students (36 females) with a mean age of 21.02 (±2.31) years, completed the requirements of the study. Participants were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. Heart rate variability was monitored during exercise to assess changes in vagal modulation. Participants cycled at 50% of their heart rate reserve for 20 minutes, with the experimental group using strategic instructional self-talk. The heart rate variability measures were averaged to 4-minute time intervals and analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance. Results: Analysis of pairwise comparisons showed significant differences between the two groups for RMSSD during the final 8-minute of the task (p< .05). Discussion: These differences reflected less vagal suppression for the self-talk group compared to the control group. The observed differences in vagal modulation may be explained by the self-regulating effects of strategic self-talk during the task, particularly in the later parts, suggesting a less effortful performance. Conclusions: The present findings provide encouraging evidence to further investigate the strategic self-talk mechanisms through psychophysiological approaches.