Performance of gymnastics skill benefits from an external focus of attention

The present study was designed to fill a gap in the literature on attentional focus and sports performance. Specifically, in contrast to most previous studies in which an external focus was directed at an implement, we used a gymnastics skill that did not involve the use of an implement. Furthermore, while most studies used only outcome measures of performance, we also assessed movement quality. Twelve-year-old gymnasts performed a maximum vertical jump with a 180-degree turn while airborne, with their hands crossing in front of their chest during the turn under three different focus conditions. Under the external focus condition, participants were asked to focus on the direction in which a tape marker, which was attached to their chest, was pointing after the turn. Under the internal focus condition, they were asked to focus on the direction in which their hands were pointing after the turn. Under the control condition, no focus instructions were given. The external focus condition resulted in both superior movement form and greater jump height than did the other two conditions, which produced comparable results. The present findings show that, similar to other tasks, the performance of form-based skills can be enhanced relatively easily by appropriate external focus instructions.     

Enhanced jump performance when providing augmented feedback compared to an external or internal focus of attention

Factors such as an external focus of attention (EF) and augmented feedback (AF) have been shown to improve performance. However, the efficacy of providing AF to enhance motor performance has never been compared with the effects of an EF or an internal focus of attention (IF). Therefore, the aim of the present study was to identify which of the three conditions (AF, EF or IF) leads to the highest performance in a countermovement jump (CMJ). Nineteen volunteers performed 12 series of 8 maximum CMJs. Changes in jump height between conditions and within the series were analysed. Jump heights differed between conditions (P < 0.001), resulting in best performance with AF (32.04 ± 7.11 cm), followed by EF (31.21 ± 6.67 cm) and IF (30.77 ± 6.87 cm). Significantly different (P < 0.001) within-series effects of higher jump heights at the end of the series in AF (+1.60%) and lower jump heights at the end of the series in EF (?1.79%) and IF (?1.68%) were observed. Muscle activity did not differ between conditions. The differences between conditions and within the series provide evidence that AF leads to higher performance and better progression within one series than EF and IF. Consequently, AF seems to outperform EF and IF when maximising jump height.     

The learning advantages of an external focus of attention in golf.

This study examined whether the learning advantages of an external focus of attention relative to an internal focus, as demonstrated by Wulf, H?ss, and Prinz (1998), would also be found for a sport skill under field-like conditions. Participants (9 women, 13 men; age range: 21-29 years) without experience in golf were required to practice pitch shots. The practice phase consisted of 80 practice trials. One group was instructed to focus on the arm swing (internal focus), whereas another group was instructed to focus on the club swing (external focus). One day after practice, a retention test of 30 trials without instructions was performed. The external-focus condition was more effective for performance during both practice and retention.     

Caffeine ingestion acutely enhances muscular strength and power but not muscular endurance in resistance-trained men

The goal of this randomized, double-blind, cross-over study was to assess the acute effects of caffeine ingestion on muscular strength and power, muscular endurance, rate of perceived exertion (RPE), and pain perception (PP) in resistance-trained men. Seventeen volunteers (mean?±?SD: age?=?26?±?6 years, stature?=?182?±?9?cm, body mass?=?84?±?9?kg, resistance training experience?=?7?±?3 years) consumed placebo or 6?mg?kg^?1 of anhydrous caffeine 1?h before testing. Muscular power was assessed with seated medicine ball throw and vertical jump exercises, muscular strength with one-repetition maximum (1RM) barbell back squat and bench press exercises, and muscular endurance with repetitions of back squat and bench press exercises (load corresponding to 60% of 1RM) to momentary muscular failure. RPE and PP were assessed immediately after the completion of the back squat and bench press exercises. Compared to placebo, caffeine intake enhanced 1RM back squat performance (+2.8%; effect size [ES]?=?0.19; p?=?.016), which was accompanied by a reduced RPE (+7%; ES?=?0.53; p?=?.037), and seated medicine ball throw performance (+4.3%, ES?=?0.32; p?=?.009). Improvements in 1RM bench press were not noted although there were significant (p?=?.029) decreases in PP related to this exercise when participants ingested caffeine. The results point to an acute benefit of caffeine intake in enhancing lower-body strength, likely due to a decrease in RPE; upper-, but not lower-body power; and no effects on muscular endurance, in resistance-trained men. Individuals competing in events in which strength and power are important performance-related factors may consider taking 6?mg?kg^?1 of caffeine pre-training/competition for performance enhancement.     

Attention and motor performance: preferences for and advantages of an external focus.

This study examined individuad differences in the preference for and effectiveness of the type of attentional focus for motor learning. In two experiments, participants practicing a balance task (stabilometer) were asked to find out whether focusing on their feet (internal focus) or on two markets in front of their feet (external focus) was more effective. In Experiment 1, participants switched their attentional focus from trial to trial on Day 1 and used their preferred attentional focus on Day 2. In Experiment 2, participants were free to switch their attentional focus any time during 2 days of practice. Retention tests were performed on Day 3. Most participants chose an external focus. Also, they were more effective in retention than participants who preferred an internal focus.     

Attentional focus in endurance activity: new paradigms and future directions

After more than 35 years of investigation, research on attentional focus in endurance activity is still mired by a lack of consensus. Specific challenges relate to the conceptualisation of association and dissociation, and discrepancies in methodology, research design, and data collection techniques. This review addresses previously unresolved issues that may limit research findings in this field. Initial concerns include how the endpoint of exercise tasks is defined, how pace is controlled, and the subjects employed within research investigations. An additional objective is to provide direction for future investigations. Traditional views of attentional focus may be limited in their explanatory value. We present a new working model of attentional focus in endurance activity that may more precisely categorise cognitive processes. Finally, research on this topic needs to be grounded in a recognised framework that captures the dynamic nature of human cognition. We propose that existing perspectives are recognised, such as the parallel processing model of pain and the mindfulness approach, and in addition we propose a metacognitive perspective be explored. Means of integrating these conceptual frameworks are suggested to further enhance the understanding of attentional processes in endurance activity.     

Training rugby athletes with an external attentional focus promotes more automatic adaptions in landing forces

Training to reduce landing forces is a common component of anterior cruciate ligament injury prevention programmes. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of training incorporating instructions promoting an internal versus external attentional focus on landing forces in adolescent rugby athletes. Twenty-two rugby athletes were randomly allocated to groups that received instructions promoting an internal versus an external focus during a two week training programme. Landing forces were recorded before and after completion of the programme. During follow-up testing, landings were performed with and without a secondary cognitive task. Both groups exhibited a similar reduction in landing forces following training for trials performed without the secondary cognitive task. However, the groups responded differently when the secondary cognitive task was imposed. Athletes who were trained with an internal focus demonstrated a prominent increase in landing forces for trials that included the secondary cognitive task (vs. trials performed without the secondary cognitive task), whereas the secondary cognitive task had minimal influence for athletes who were trained with an external focus. It appears that training with an external focus may promote adaptations in landing mechanics that can be implemented more automatically.     

The relationship between selected body composition variables and muscular endurance in women

The primary purpose of this study was to determine if muscular endurance is affected by referenced waist circumference groupings, independent of body mass and subcutaneous abdominal fat, in women. This study also explored whether selected body composition measures were associated with muscular endurance. Eighty-four women were measured for height, weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and abdominal skinfold thickness (SFAB) and performed 60-s sit-ups (SU) and maximal push-ups (PU) tests. Mean differences in SU and PU scores were tested across three groups based on WC as follows: WCG1 < 70 cm; WCG2 between 70 and 89 cm; WCG3 > or = 90 cm. There were no significant differences in SU and PU scores between WCG1 and WCG2. WCG3 had significantly lower SU and PU scores compared to the other groups. After adjusting for the influence of SFAB, BMI, and weight, the differences disappeared. The regression analysis revealed a two-variable (BMI and SFAB) model that accounted for the variation in SU performance. For PU, only BMI loaded into the regression model. The results of this study suggest that women with a WC > or = 90 cm have decreased muscular endurance compared to their lower WC counterparts. This difference is related to higher body masses.     

Instructions to Adopt an External Focus Enhance Muscular Endurance

Abstract

The influence of internal (movement focus) and external (outcome focus) attentional-focusing instructions on muscular endurance were investigated using three exercise protocols with experienced exercisers. Twenty-three participants completed a maximal repetition, assisted bench-press test on a Smith's machine. An external focus of attention resulted in significant (p < .05) improvements in performance compared to the internal focus of attention, but not the control condition. Seventeen participants completed repetitions to failure at 75% 1-RM on free bench-press and squat exercises. In both tasks, externally focused instructions resulted in significantly greater repetitions to failure than control and internal focus conditions (p < .05). These results support previous research showing beneficial effects of externally focused instructions on movement efficiency.     

Internal and external focus of attention in a novice form sport

In the current experiment, we examined optimal focus for novices during a movement sequence in which performance was measured on accurate movement form/technique. A novel gymnastics routine was practiced under either an internal skill-relevant, internal skill-irrelevant, external, or no attention focus. Retention and transfer tests were then completed. During acquisition, adopting an internal irrelevant focus significantly improved performance, whereas an external focus degraded performance. There were no significant group differences in the retention and transfer tests. This suggests that learning of movement form/technique did not benefit from a specific focus of attention. The results are interpreted via an attentional capacity viewpoint and the notion that form tasks do not always contain obvious movement effects central to common coding and the constrained action hypothesis.     

An external focus of attention promotes flow experience during simulated driving

Achieving a state of flow is associated with positive experiences and improved sporting performance (Jackson &; Csikszentmihalyi, 1999). Focused attention is a fundamental component of the flow experience, but to date there has been little investigation of whether attention plays a causal role in creating flow, or is a product of it. Consequently, this study aimed to test the effect of an attentional focus manipulation on flow and performance in a simulated driving task. It was predicted that an external focus would lead to improved visuomotor control, greater flow experience and improved performance. Thirty-three participants from a student population completed the driving task under both internal and external focus instructions. Eye movements and steering wheel movements were recorded during each race. Participants reported greater flow experience (p?d?=?1.78) and enhanced outcome expectancies (p?=?.02, d?=?0.41) under external, compared to internal focus conditions, however, there was no effect on visuomotor control (gaze-steering coordination and steering entropy) or racing performance (ps?>?0.28). These findings suggest that adopting an external focus of attention may contribute to positive performance states such as flow.     

Additive benefits of external focus and enhanced performance expectancy for motor learning

The authors examined the individual and combined influences of 2 factors that have been shown to benefit motor learning: an external focus of attention and enhanced performance expectancies. Another purpose of this study was to gain further insight into the mechanisms underlying these variables. In a factorial design, participants learning a novel motor skill (i.e., throwing with the non-dominant arm) were or were not given external focus instructions, and were or were not provided bogus positive social-comparative feedback to enhance their expectancies. This resulted in 4 groups: external focus, enhanced expectancy, external focus/enhanced expectancy and control. External focus instructions and enhanced expectancies had additive benefits for learning: the external focus/enhanced expectancy group demonstrated the greatest throwing accuracy on both retention and transfer tests, while the accuracy scores of the external focus and enhanced expectancy groups were lower, but higher than those of the control group. Furthermore, self-efficacy was increased by both external focus and enhanced expectancy, and predicted retention and transfer performance. Positive affect was heightened in the enhanced expectancy and external focus/enhanced expectancy groups after practice and predicted transfer performance. The findings suggest that the learning benefits of an external focus and enhanced expectancies mediate learning through partially different mechanisms.     

Reproducibility of an isokinetic eccentric muscle endurance task

Abstract

Despite the widespread use of isokinetic eccentric muscle endurance protocols, no research has examined the absolute and relative reliability of such tests. The aim of this study was to examine the reliability of an isokinetic eccentric knee muscle endurance task. Fifteen healthy untrained males volunteered to take part in the study and written informed consent was obtained. The procedures received approval from the University Research Ethics Committee. Participants visited the laboratory on three separate occasions: 2 weeks before testing to familiarize them with the experimental procedures, and on two separate occasions, 2 weeks apart and at the same time of day. Isokinetic eccentric knee extension and flexion movements of the dominant limb were performed using a calibrated dynamometer (Biodex System 3). Range of motion during testing was set using voluntary maximal full extension (0 rad) to 1.57 rad of knee flexion and testing was conducted at 1.56 rad · s^?1. Participants performed four maximal efforts to determine maximal peak torque. After 2 min rest, participants completed the all-out endurance test of 50 continuous eccentric repetitions. Data were gravity corrected and windowed to only include constant velocity periods. Repeated-measures analyses of variance were used to examine differences in maximal peak extension and flexion torque and the maximal torque measurement recorded during the endurance test. Absolute and relative reliability of the torque fatigue index, work fatigue index, and total work were assessed through calculation of intra-class correlation coefficients, coefficients of variation, and absolute 95% limits of agreement using the methods described by Bland and Altman (1986). Differences between the strength test and the endurance trial for peak torque were found to be non-significant for both quadriceps (323 vs. 323 N · m) and hamstrings (183 vs. 178 N · m). The intra-class correlation coefficients revealed significant (P<0.05) positive moderate to strong correlations (r=0.44–0.94) across repeated trials for all parameters except hamstring torque fatigue (P=0.11) and hamstring work fatigue index (P=0.08). Coefficients of variation ranged from 6% to 48% and were large for the work fatigue index and torque fatigue index but acceptable for total work for both the extensors and flexors. The 95% limits of agreement indicated systematic bias in repeated trials for both the work fatigue index and torque fatigue index for extensors and flexors, ranging from ?3% to ?10%, with less fatigue evident in the second test. There was also systematic bias for total work, with more work being performed during the second than the first test for both extensors and flexors. The random error was large for all variables and there was greater random error in the hamstrings compared with the quadriceps. Together with moderate to strong intra-class correlation coefficients and large coefficients of variation, the data suggest that there is small systematic bias in repeated eccentric muscle actions for both the quadriceps and hamstrings, although the random error was large despite habituation procedures. Therefore, data from an isokinetic eccentric muscle endurance task should be viewed with some caution even when participants receive considerable habituation before assessment.     

Quantifying external focus of attention in sailing by means of action sport cameras

The aim of the current study was twofold: (1) to validate the use of action sport cameras for quantifying focus of visual attention in sailing and (2) to apply this method to examine whether an external focus of attention is associated with better performance in upwind sailing. To test the validity of this novel quantification method, we first calculated the agreement between gaze location measures and head orientation measures in 13 sailors sailing upwind during training regattas using a head mounted eye tracker. The results confirmed that for measuring visual focus of attention in upwind sailing, the agreement for the two measures was high (intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) = 0.97) and the 95% limits of agreement were acceptable (between ?8.0% and 14.6%). In a next step, we quantified the focus of visual attention in sailing upwind as fast as possible by means of an action sport camera. We captured sailing performance, operationalised as boat speed in the direction of the wind, and environmental conditions using a GPS, compass and wind meter. Four trials, each lasting 1 min, were analysed for 15 sailors each, resulting in a total of 30 upwind speed trials on port tack and 30 upwind speed trials on starboard tack. The results revealed that in sailing – within constantly changing environments – the focus of attention is not a significant predictor for better upwind sailing performances. This implicates that neither external nor internal foci of attention was per se correlated with better performances. Rather, relatively large interindividual differences seem to indicate that different visual attention strategies can lead to similar performance outcomes.     

补服乳清蛋白对人体有氧耐力的影响

目的:观察运动前补服不同量的乳清蛋白对人体有氧耐力成绩的影响.方法:在单盲设计中,12名健康的体育系男生作为受试者,每次于运动前半小时补服不同补剂(79、14g乳清蛋白,安慰剂),然后进行12min跑的耐力运动,记录每名受试者的成绩.本实验按照补剂的不同分为三组,在三周内完成.结果:补服79、149乳清蛋白与补服安慰剂相比,机体有氧耐力水平出现显著性差异(P＜0.05).结论:在运动前补服乳清蛋白饮料可能会提高人体的有氧耐力.     

提高大学生耐力素质的实践研究

对大学生耐力素质呈下降趋势,一直未得到最根本转变的现象,运用文献资料、比较研究和数理统计等方法,对提高大学生的耐力素质进行了实践研究     

浅析如何提高学生耐久跑能力

耐力素质是一项重要的身体素质，而耐久跑是提高耐力素质较简单有效的运动项目，耐久跑教学由于其形式单调枯燥，易使学生产生厌烦心理，如何调动学生的锻炼积极性，激发其学习热情，是教师们一直悉心研究的问题。