Think Fast

This week, mental training leads to faster running, Apple updates WatchOS 10 and your recommendations.

The Rundown

Think Fast. When it comes to physical activity, it’s often the case that your mind influences your performance so it would seem logical that you can train your mind to improve that performance. Yet, designing a study that looks at a specific mental training program that will say, help you get faster, is difficult because placebo effects are hard to rule out. A team from Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California, decided it was worth trying and the initial data is promising.

The study was presented at the American College of Sports Medicine’s annual conference held earlier this month. Eleven of 20 subjects were randomly selected to follow a two-week program where they watched a five-minute video each day. The videos were produced by a Dartmouth University sports psychologist and “taught strategies for controlling stress (both internal and external), feelings of anxiousness, and panic in stressful situations.”

Before and after the mental training program, all subjects completed a 90-minute easy/moderate run on a track followed by a 1.5-mile time trial on a treadmill.

The results were impressive. During the 90-minute run, the mental training group reported lower overall effort, leg fatigue and pain. Their heart rate was seven beats per minute lower at the same pace as in the first run.

In the time trial, they were 37 seconds faster (compared to 6.5 seconds for the control group), with a slightly lower heart rate and perceived effort. One of the study’s authors believes the results are due, in part, to decreases in parasympathetic nervous system activity.

The preliminary results leave questions as to whether larger groups will produce the same outcome and if the mental training group may have experienced some placebo benefits. But if a placebo effect that makes you 37 seconds faster over 1.5 miles is repeatable, maybe it’s not so bad to be fooled?

Apple Updates WatchOS 10. During its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Apple announced several activities updates for WatchOS 10. New features for cyclists include connecting to Bluetooth-enabled bike sensors and live activity on your iPhone. Using power, heart rate and motion data, the watch will be able to estimate your functional threshold power. This can give you insights into your power zones and track how much time you spend in each one.

For hikers, Compass will automatically generate two new waypoints. A new cellular connection waypoint will show the last place you had reception and a second new waypoint will indicate where on your route you can make an emergency call using any available carrier’s network. Also, Maps is getting a new topographic map with contour lines, hill shading, elevation details and points of interest along trail heads.

Extra Point

Watch

Tour de France: Unchained. Not a cycling fan? You might be after you watch this eight-part docuseries that follows various riders, coaches and directors on the 2022 Tour. It’s an entertaining and informative combination of human-interest stories and behind-the-scenes access.

The first episode tracks the comeback of sprinter Fabio Jakobsen who returns to the race just 22 months after he was almost killed in a crash at the Tour of Poland. Similar stories of loss and struggle are told throughout the series along with explanations of bike racing that will help casual viewers understand the sport’s nuances. Tour de France: Unchained is streaming now on Netflix.

Listen

Foodtrainers. If you have specific nutrition questions, this could be the podcast for you. Hosted by registered dietician Lauren Slayton, it’s a no-nonsense, information in 30-minutes or less discussion. Recent topics include food portions, sweeteners, protein, nutrition trends and the best diet for your brain.

Read

No, Working Out is Not a Replacement for Going to Therapy. In this piece for Well + Good, Christina Stiehl argues that while working out is beneficial for your mental health, physical activity is not clinical treatment and conflating the two “might just boil down to misconceptions around therapy.”