Application of the Facial Feedback Hypothesis to Endurance Performance: Does Frowning Modulate Perception of Effort?

2016

International audience; Objectives: People frown during strenuous exercise. Research on the facial feedback hypothesis raises the intriguingpossibility that frowning may modulate (i.e., amplify/soften) perception of effort during endurance performance andtherefore play a causal role in endurance performance. This study examined whether intentionally frowningthroughout a cycling time-to-exhaustion test increased perception of effort and, consequently, reduced time toexhaustion. This study also examined the effects of frowning on affective states experienced during performanceand after exhaustion.Design: A randomised, controlled, crossover experimental design was used to compare (within-subje…