6533b7dbfe1ef96bd126fc72

RESEARCH PRODUCT

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

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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-subjects) the effectsof frowning with control conditions.Methods: Ten recreational endurance athletes performed cycling time-to-exhaustion tests in three conditions. In afrowning condition, participants frowned throughout the time-to-exhaustion test. In a matched-workload controlcondition, participants pressed their thumb against the ergometer handlebar throughout the test. Electromyographybiofeedback was used to deliver these interventions. There was also a no-intervention control condition. Perceptionof effort and exercise-related affect were measured throughout the time-to-exhaustion test, and positive andnegative affective states were measured before and after the test.Results: Intentionally frowning did not affect perception of effort, affective states experienced while cycling or afterexhaustion, or time to exhaustion.Conclusions: Frowning may not modulate perception of effort or affective responses during endurance exercise toexhaustion. Although additional research using different methods would allow firmer conclusions to be drawn, thesefindings suggest that interventions that target the expression of a frown would be unlikely to offer an efficaciousmethod of improving endurance performance.