Cognitive Reappraisal Improves Daily Time To Exhaustion Cycling Performance

Cognitive Reappraisal (CR) is a technique of reframing your perception of a negative stimulus towards a positive outlook. In relation to exercise, CR can modify one’s emotions or feelings towards exercise by reframing their perception to focus on the benefits of exercise, rather than pain or exhaustion. PURPOSE: This study examined the effects of CR on exercise performance during time to exhaustion (TTE) trials. METHODS: Sixteen participants completed a single-blinded, randomized controlled study. Participants performed an eight-minute functional threshold power (8-FTP) cycling test to collect their average power output (POAVG). TTE trials were conducted daily Mon-Fri. During TTE trials, participants cycled as long as possible while maintaining 90-100% of their POAVG from their FTP. Participants were blinded to time, cadence, and other variables except for power output. A final FTP test was completed after all TTE trials. The control (CON) group, received constant motivation to complete the TTE, and the intervention group was taught CR on day 1 and was continuously, reminded to reframe their negative emotions during exercise to positive ones. A five x two ANOVA (time [2, 3, 4, 5, 6] × condition [CR, CON]) was used to determine differences in the day-to-day performance of the TTE. RESULTS: There was a significant time x condition interaction (F(1,15) = 3.212, p = 0.050, =0.517) indicating that CR improved the participants TTE from visit 2 to 6. Post hoc analysis indicates the intervention group showed significant improvements in endurance time compared to control, during TTE 3 (270.4 ± 125.1 s, p = 0.047) and TTE 5 (465.8 ± 195.5 s, p = 0.031). Significant increases within the intervention group were observed from TTE 1 (815.1 s) to TTE 5 (1245.9 s, p = 0.044; , =0.533). CONCLUSION: CR positively impacts exercise performance, with the intervention group demonstrating significant improvements in TTE across multiple trials compared to the control group. These findings suggest that CR could positively impact one’s ability to perform better by increasing endurance time during aerobic exercise.