Endurance Performance in Sport

Psychological Theory and Interventions

Carla Meijen, Carla Meijen

• Editorial: Routledge
• Año: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781351682602
• Edición: 1
• Categoría: Psicologia
• Categoría: Storia e teoria della psicologia

Athletes participating at all levels of endurance performance can relate to the impact of psychological factors. Whether it is motivation, self-belief, feeling nervous before a race, exercise-induced pain, sticking to a pacing strategy, or thoughts around what to focus on, there are a vast number of psychological factors which can affect endurance performance.

Bringing together experts in the field from around the world, this is the first text to provide a detailed overview of the psychology of endurance performance where there is a research and an applied focus looking at both main theoretical models as well as how interventions can support an athlete's efficacy and well-being. The authors look at regulatory processes around pain, decision-making, self-belief, emotions, and meta-cognition, before examining a range of cognitive strategies, including the use of imagery, goals, self-talk, and mindfulness techniques. With a final section of the book outlining issues related to mental health that are relevant to endurance performance, the book shows that the future of research and application of psychological theory in endurance performance in sport is bright and thriving.

Aimed at researchers, students, coaches, and athletes themselves, this is essential reading for anyone wishing to better understand how our minds experience endurance in performance arenas, and what psychological techniques can be used to make us more efficient.

1

AN INTRODUCTION TO ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE IN SPORT: PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORY AND INTERVENTIONS

Carla Meijen and Samuele Marcora

What is endurance performance?

The focus of this book will be on endurance performance defined as “performance during whole-body, dynamic exercise that involves continuous effort and lasts for 75 seconds or longer” (McCormick, Meijen, & Marcora, 2015, p. 998). This kind of endurance performance, often referred to as cardiorespiratory or aerobic endurance, includes the most popular endurance sports such as road cycling, middle-distance running, marathons and ultra-marathons, many swimming events, triathlons, rowing, and cross-country skiing. Performance during tasks involving sustained or repeated submaximal contractions of a single muscle or muscle group (e.g., sit-ups, weight holding, hand-grip tasks, and leg-raise tasks) is referred to as muscular endurance (Kenney, Wilmore, & Costill, 2015). Although we may draw on some research related to muscular endurance, the focus of this book is on whole-body endurance performance and the application of knowledge to endurance performance at all levels, including competitive, elite, and recreational athletes, as well as those participating in mass-participation endurance events.

Like any other kind of physical performance, endurance performance can be investigated from different disciplinary perspectives, the main ones being physiological, biomechanical, and psychological. Because most books on the science of endurance performance have focused primarily on physiology, biomechanics, sports medicine, physical training, and nutrition (Shephard & Astrand, 2000) we felt it was timely to compile a book focusing on psychological aspects of endurance performance. Nevertheless, we believe that a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach should be adopted by researchers and practitioners involved in endurance sports. As a result, the book will also provide several examples of the complex interactions between psychology and the biomechanical/technical, tactical, physiological, and coaching/training methodology aspects of endurance performance. We will first provide a brief introduction to some more physiology-based models to help explain how the research in the area has developed historically.

Models of how the brain can limit endurance performance

The traditional physiological model of endurance performance proposes that endurance performance is determined primarily by three physiological constructs: maximal oxygen consumption (VO_2max), the ‘lactate threshold’ (the %VO_2max at which lactate starts to accumulate in the blood) and gross mechanical efficiency (the oxygen cost to generate a given velocity or power) (Joyner & Coyle, 2008). Although the role of the brain in physical fatigue has been recognised for more than a century (Giulio, Daniele, & Tipton, 2006), constructs related to brain function or psychology are not included in this traditional physiological model. Over the past 20 years, however, exercise physiologists have paid more attention to the brain/mind and included related constructs in their endurance performance models. These models can be classified as 1) the central fatigue model, 2) the central governor model, and 3) the psychobiological model.

The central fatigue model is based on the observation that the muscle fatigue that progressively develops during endurance exercise (Marcora & Staiano, 2010) is not solely caused by metabolic factors or muscular damage if eccentric contractions are involved (peripheral fatigue). The progressive reduction in maximal voluntary force or power induced by endurance exercise is, in part, due to a reduction in the capacity of the central nervous system (CNS) to recruit the locomotor muscles (central fatigue) (Millet & Lepers, 2004). The specific mechanisms of central fatigue depend on the task. For example, during high-intensity endurance exercise in normoxia (i.e., at sea level) or mild hypoxia, it has been proposed that the main cause of central fatigue is feedback from Group III–IV afferents that sense fatigue-related metabolites in the locomotor muscles (Amann & Calbet, 2008). These afferents are thinly myelinated (Group III) and unmyelinated (Group IV) nerve fibres located within the muscle and receive sensory information. This afferent feedback inhibits the descending drive to the locomotor muscles at spinal and/or supraspinal (above the spine) level, and it is believed to limit endurance performance when peripheral locomotor muscle fatigue reaches a critical threshold (Amann, 2012). On the contrary, during high-intensity exercise in severe hypoxia (high altitude), the main mechanism of central fatigue seems to be the direct effect of limited convective oxygen delivery to the brain (Amann & Calbet, 2008). During endurance exercise in the heat, it has been proposed that central fatigue is caused by changes in the activity of the dopaminergic system and inhibitory signals from the hypothalamus, a region in the brain, when brain temperature increases (Nybo, 2008). Although there are different task specific-mechanisms (such as the altitude one may be exercising at), the assumption of this model is that central fatigue, together with peripheral fatigue, directly limits the capacity of the athlete to sustain endurance exercise (Nybo, 2008). Although the motor function of the brain is included in this central fatigue model, there are no specific psychological constructs. Therefore, it is difficult for the central fatigue model to explain the effects of psychological variables on endurance performance. Furthermore, a model based on simple inhibitory reflexes cannot explain the complex decision-making processes that determine the self-regulation of velocity and power (pacing) during endurance events (Amann & Secher, 2010).

The central governor model is a very influential model originally popularised by Noakes (1997) and further developed by Noakes and colleagues (Noakes, 2012; Noakes, St Clair Gibson, & Lambert, 2005). The core idea is that a subconscious intelligent system in the brain, the central governor, senses the physiological conditions of the body (e.g., myocardial oxygenation) and regulates endurance performance by continuously modifying the number of motor units that are recruited in the exercising limbs. The purpose of this teleoanticipatory control system is to ensure that humans terminate endurance exercise before there is a catastrophic failure of bodily homeostasis (e.g., myocardial ischemia) (Noakes, 1997, 2012; Noakes et al., 2005). In its original formulation, the positive influence of psychological variables like the placebo effect on endurance performance was considered to be in conflict with the core idea that endurance performance is regulated at a subconscious level to prevent conscious override that may damage the human (Noakes, 2000). Over the years, however, psychological constructs like perception of effort (Noakes et al., 2005) and self-belief (Noakes, 2012) have been added to the model. Although an interdisciplinary approach is to be applauded, it has been argued that these post-hoc modifications of the model can make the central governor appear like an all-knowing homunculus and unfalsifiable in principle, which reduces the validity of this model as a scientific explanation of fatigue during physical and mental tasks (Inzlicht & Marcora, 2016).

The psychobiological model is a model of endurance performance based on psychological theory, specifically the motivational intensity theory proposed by Brehm and Self (1989). In this model, the athlete, rather than a subconscious central governor, is the agent that self-regulates the velocity/power during endurance exercise (Marcora, 2007, 2008) and the capacity to sustain endurance exercise is not directly limited by locomotor muscle fatigue (Marcora, Bosio, & de Morree, 2008; Marcora & Staiano, 2010). What limits endurance performance is a decision-making process based on perception of effort and potential motivation. Potential motivation is the maximum effort an individual is willing to exert in order to succeed in the task. Specifically, the model postulates that an athlete decides to terminate endurance exercise (or slow down, i.e., disengage from the task) when sustaining the required or desired velocity/power is perceived as impossible or excessively difficult in relation to what they are willing to offer to achieve the particular outcome. More details about this model will be provided in Chapter 2.

The role of psychology in endurance performance

Before we further introduce the role of psychology in endurance performance, let us first take a step back and define (sport) psychology. Sport psychology is about understanding the performance, mental processes, and well-being of people in sporting settings, taking into account psychological theory and methods (Moran & Toner, 2017). Within this we need to consider the thoughts, feelings, and behaviours of individuals. The reason we go back to this definition is to initiate an awareness that although the role of the brain is integral to the regulation of endurance performance as outlined by the central fatigue model, the central governor model, and the psychobiological model, we do need to focus on a much wider range of psychological variables if we want to understand and improve endurance performance from a psychological perspective. The constructs and processes explored in sport psychology are ‘emergent’ properties of the brain. Endurance activities share psychological demands that makes it such as fascinating field to study. For example, consider the motivation that is needed to go out for long and physically demanding training sessions on a dark and windy winter morning. To be able to perform well in endurance events, practice is an important predictor of performance (for example see Baker, Deakin, & Côté, 2005). There are no shortcuts in terms of the time commitment required to perform optimally in endurance activities, and training sessions can be lonely and repetitive. Also inherent to endurance activities are the pain and discomfort experienced by endurance athletes when exerting themselves and pushing their exercise tolerance to the limit, and this can also influence an athlete’s affective state. Endurance activities also require complex decision-making to optimise pacing during endurance events. In addition to these variables, dealing with environmental factors, such as varying weather conditions, or mechanical failures, as well as other competitors can play a role in endurance performance (McCormick, Meijen, & Marcora, 2018a).

Endurance athletes and coaches are aware of the interdisciplinary nature of endurance performance, yet it is striking how much physiology has dominated research in the field of endurance performance. On the one hand, this is odd considering that physiological aspects are not able to fully predict endurance performance (e.g., see O’Connor (1992)), but on the other hand it can be explained by the line of thinking that optimal performance in endurance activities is primarily determined by physiological capacity and muscle fatigue, in which, typically, psychological factors were referred to fleetingly (Joyner & Coyle, 2008). Many endurance athletes at all levels of performance, from recreational to Olympic level, have, however, emphasised the important role of psychological variables (for example see Fitzgerald (2015)). Perhaps, we should also be surprised that within the field of sport psychology endurance activities are under-researched compared to sports such as golf, football, and tennis, especially considering that the paper that is often referred to as one of the first sport psychology studies (Triplett, 1898) discusses an endurance activity. Most of the research outputs examining endurance performance rely on the application of sport psychology concepts to endurance activities (Simons, 2012).

The focus of research in endurance performance is, however, shifting and more of a movement towards the inclusion of a variety of psychological variables in endurance performance research is emerging. Initially, the majority of studies on psychological variables focused on attentional strategies. In their seminal paper, Morgan and Pollock (1977) explored the attentional strategies of elite and non-elite marathon runners. They suggested that elite marathon runners used more associate strategies, such as focusing on how their body feels, to help dictate their pacing, whereas non-elite marathon runners tended to adopt more dissociative strategies (i.e., focusing on aspects away from bodily sensations, such as counting the number of dogs on a training run). There was, however, no empirical evidence to assess whether these associative and dissociative attentional strategies have distinct, differential, effects on performance. The area of attentional strategies has received much attention from researchers, but those researchers who have attempted to better understand the distinct effects of attentional strategies on performance failed to arrive at a consistent conclusion (for a review see Masters & Ogles 1998; Salmon, Hanneman, & Harwood 2010). The distinction between associative and dissociative strategies is, indeed, overly simplistic. Athletes may rely on both strategies at different parts of an endurance activity; for example, when the task intensity is high endurance athletes rely more on associative strategies (Hutchinson & Tenenbaum 2007; Salmon et al., 2010). More recently, a new model has been introduced where Brick, MacIntyre, and Campbell (2014) have endeavoured to categorise these cognitive processes more specifically. During endurance activities there is a lot of time to think, and it is no surprise that research has continued to focus on the role of thoughts (Baker, Côté, & Deakin, 2005; Stevinson & Biddle, 1998). Meta-cognitive processes (‘thinking about thinking’) and cognitive processes will be covered in Chapters 6 and 8 of this book.

The perception of psychological demands is evident in a range of endurance activities. When we interviewed competitive recreational athletes from a range of endurance sports about the types of things that can make their sport challenging, we found that endurance athletes were worried about whether they had done enough preparation. Moreover, they experienced pre-event stressors such as practical worries about how to get to the course. Feeling guilty about the time investment and lifestyle sacrifices, as well as the commitment to training that is required were also considered to be demands as part of endurance training. During the event athletes experienced demands such as worries about optimising pacing and remaining focused despite adversity (McCormick, Meijen, & Marcora, 2018a). When working with runners before long distance running events (Meijen, Day, & Hays, 2017) we also find that athletes are anxious and worried about the upcoming event, some have concerns about optimising their pacing and sticking to their race plan, and runners often mention that they feel tense as a result of their nerves. The impact of an endurance athlete...