For best results rest your body and mind, suggests new study

Have you ever felt like your easy run wasn’t quite so easy after a long day of work? A new report by scientists at the University of Kent and the French Institute of Health and Medical Research suggests that mental fatigue can bleed over into our perceived physical effort.

The researchers started out with the hypothesis that prolonged mental exertion would result in a decrease in muscle strength and endurance, which would explain why sometimes even a light jog can feel like a lengthy slog.

The researchers put two groups of 10 healthy male subjects through a series of muscle tests before and after different mental tasks. The first group performed the tests around a mentally draining language task; the second before and after watching what researchers thought to be a satisfying experience – the documentary Earth. The conclusion of the study points to the mentally drained group as reporting a more difficult time with the physical components of the tests.

Researchers used the soothing images of migratory birds from the documentary Earth to calm their subjects.

But the researchers came to an unexpected conclusion.

The study actually found that maximal strength between the two groups was the same regardless of which mental tasks the subjects were put through. But the group who underwent the language game described the testing as much more exhausting.

The tests only seemed more difficult after the subjects were mentally exhausted, but their actual physiological performance remained unaltered.

The study seems to confirm what many of us already know all too well: that the best way to prepare for a race is to relax – not just physically, but mentally.