you mustn't think deeply while competing

[Handsome Jack]

interesting study

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/25/well/move/the-battle-of-brains-vs-brawn.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fhealth&action=click&contentCollection=health&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront

"During one visit, the men sat quietly while dozens of words were displayed on a large screen in front of them. The men had three minutes to memorize the words and then, immediately afterward (when the screen went dark) write down as many as they could remember. This was their mental task.

On another day, they rowed on a rowing machine as intensely as they could for three minutes while the researchers tracked their power output, testing muscular prowess.

Finally, on the last visit, they rowed for three minutes while simultaneously viewing a list of new words and then, immediately afterward, writing down as many as they could recall.

Then the researchers simply compared their performance on each task. Almost uniformly, the men had been able to produce fewer watts and recall fewer words when they performed the muscular and mental tasks together.

But the falloff in physical functioning was much steeper than the mental slump. The rowers lost almost 13 percent of their power output, a decline that was about 30 percent greater than their loss in word recall after the combined session."

[Richard21142]

While rowing and memorizing words, you dissociate from rowing.  Anyone who has used an indoor rowing machine understands that there can be a significant reduction in watts if there isn't total comncentration on each stroke.

[siamesedream]

There used to be a guy at me old gym who would read a newspaper as he pedaled the recumbent bike.


Feel the burn, big fella!

[Handsome Jack]

Does anyone disagree with the findings, that when it comes to resourcing the body is going to serve up higher order brain needs with more of those resources as opposed to what our muscles are demanding?

I might have thought that higher order brain functions would have been more likely to be ignored in favor of what we are asking of our muscles in the immediate: "Gotta run now, that saber tooth tiger is chasing me and figuring out the wheel can wait."

[SnarlyMarly]

It would be interesting to test women to see if they truly are better multi taskers.


 

[diablita]

Yes, I agree as well

[SnarlyMarly]

I mean, it's CAMBRIDGE ... male rowers are pretty much all they had to choose from, athletics-wise

Let's get a normal university here in the US and get some women signed up; then the test would be legit

Normal😂😂😂


I know ASU did something similar with cc team.   But they were looking more at the athletes perceived effort versus actual effort.   It would be interesting to see if there were a disparity among sexes, or if it's just imdividual

[SnarlyMarly]

I was thinking about the other part of this test yesterday; the part where the subjects were told to remember something WHILE they were working out

My church is exactly one mile from my house. We have four statues next to the Rectory, for the four churches that merged into the one parish when it was consolidated a few years ago - The Blessed Mother [Assumption Church], St. Lucy, St Anthony, and Sacred Heart

It is my habit to stop and say a couple Hail Marys or Our Fathers on my way out [or back depending on which route I'm doing that day]

Some days, if I'm doing a particularly strong effort, I can forget the words ... even after four dozen years or so of nearly daily repetition

I was hoping it wasn't the Tupac version as you passed all those churches🤣