Image credit: Markus Spiske / Unsplash Researchers at the Universities of Birmingham, UK, Valencia, Spain, Odense, Denmark, and Bologna Italy show how adding cognitively demanding tasks after standard physical training has been completed (Brain Endurance Training – BET) can benefit cycling performance. The results of their research are published in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport.
Mental fatigue can impair physical performance. While traditional training for endurance athletes has focused in improving physiological fitness, sports scientists are increasingly turning to mental fatigue resilience training to make further improvements to overall performance.
Professor Christopher Ring, co-author on the study, at the University of Birmingham’s School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences, said: “When athletes carry out brain endurance training (BET) after a physical training session, this increases the overall cognitive load of the training session. Over time this can increase mental stamina, leading to physical improvements. Importantly, however, it doesn’t add extra physical load on the athlete’s cardiovascular and musculoskeletal systems.
“At the level of elite sport, this increased mental resilience could reduce the risk of injury and could make a difference to overall performance. Our work also shows how BET can be customised to fit athletes’ training needs, so they are able to use these tools even withing a busy and demanding schedule.” At the level of elite sport, increased mental resilience could reduce the risk of injury and could make a difference to overall performance. Our work also shows how BET can be customised to fit athletes’ training […]
Continue reading the original article at: www.birmingham.ac.uk