title: It wears me out just imagining it! Mental imagery leads to muscle fatigue and diminished performance of isometric exercise.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the aftereffects of self-generated mental imagery of an effortful task on physical self-control endurance and muscle fatigue. Participants performed two isometric handgrip endurance trials (50% of maximum contraction) separated by either an imagery manipulation or a quiet rest period. The imagery group showed greater negative changes in endurance performance from trial 1 to trial 2 (p=.003, d=0.87) and increased muscle activation at baseline (p=.01, d=0.73) and at 25% (p=.03, d=0.61) of the second endurance trial compared to controls. We conclude that imagined performance of an effortful task depletes self-control strength and contributes to muscle fatigue.
authors.affiliation: Department of Kinesiology, McMaster University, Canada. Electronic address: grahajd2@mcmcaster.ca.
authors.forename: Jeffrey D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Graham
authors.affiliation: Department of Kinesiology, McMaster University, Canada.
authors.forename: Michael W L
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Sonne
authors.affiliation: Department of Kinesiology, McMaster University, Canada.
authors.forename: Steven R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Bray
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D018737:Hand Strength / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination / Q000502:physiology*; D007537:Isometric Contraction / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D018763:Muscle Fatigue / Q000502:physiology*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology*; D010807:Physical Endurance / Q000502:physiology; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Ego depletion; Self-control; Self-regulation