The Art of Deception

As an endurance athlete (I am using that definition in the most literal sense, I endure through it) pushing ourselves to go faster/farther is part body, part mind.  I would almost say for running it is more mind over my body.  If you bonk however in biking though nothing in your mind can force you to keep on going when you're muscles are done. This all stemmed from an experiment by Dr. Thompson at Northumbrian University in England. 

Cyclists of all people usually know what their limits are, like how hard they can push, how long they can push etc.  So cyclists were pitted in a race against themselves.  One of them was themselves going, while the other was also themselves going at their "best effort".  However, this best efort was actually about 2% more power, which translates into about a 1% increase in speed.  They were actually able to match this avatar doing "best effort" which is faster and stronger than what they've ever done.  The cool thing is it's not just a one off but rather a true change in performance.  This was actually replicated when people thought they were racing another rider across a screen, but this was actually just a CGI image of themselves doing a real best effort.  However at the end there was a burst of speed from the real rider to cross first showing once again, you go above and beyond what you think is your max.

So if you've already done your best effort, than where does this energy come from?  It's thought that it comes from your anaerobic system.  This is limited by what you actually have in the muscles.  It's almost as if your brain is preventing your body from working too hard.  However in competition, your body can tap into these reserves, you can dip further. 

Money however is not a motivation, cyclists were told to ride their best effort, and if they could beat their time they would get money.  So if there is this magical reserve to tap, how much is there to tap?

The tests were repeated with cyclists going against avatars that were either 2 or 5% more.  One group was told about this, and the other group was just told the avatar was going at best effort.  The group that was told about the avatars going faster gave up right away, only being able to do repeat their best effort.  Those that were deceived could keep up with the 2% one, but the 5% one was just too much, so there is a limit.  If an athlete thinks a certain pace is possible, he or she can draw on an energy reserve that the brain usually holds in reserve.

So there you can, this probably helps explain why we can usually go faster in races, even if we have ridiculous expectations about our ability.

~Cheers