091 Mental Fatigue and Physical Performance

Many studies have induced mental fatigue to see if it affects physical performance. 

They have everybody perform the test under normal conditions. 

Then they wait a couple days. 

Then they take one group, and have them perform 30-60 minutes of mentally fatiguing tasks right before the retest. 

The other group watches a documentary. 

Here are the tests that mental fatigue is likely to make you worse at:

• Endurance (e.g. cycling at 80% intensity to exhaustion, 30 minute TT)
• Muscle Endurance (e.g. repeating 50% 1RM to failure)
• Strength-Endurance 
• Battery (e.g. repeated near-maximal sprints or jumps)
• Skill (e.g. soccer, basketball, and table tennis) 

Tests it is much less likely to affect:

• Anaerobic (30s all out, one time)
• Strength (maximal voluntary contraction)
• Power (sprinting, countermovement jump)

Resources:

Effects of Mental Fatigue on Strength Endurance: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36509089/

Mental Fatigue and Sport-Specific Psychomotor Performance: A Systematic Review
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33710524/

Effects of Prior Cognitive Exertion on Physical Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31873926/

How to Tackle Mental Fatigue: A Systematic Review of Potential Countermeasures and Their Underlying Mechanisms
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35543922/

Mental fatigue impairs physical performance in humans
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19131473/

The Effects of Mental Fatigue on Physical Performance: A Systematic Review
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28044281/

Endurance exercise-induced and mental fatigue and the brain
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32176398/

Mental Fatigue Impairs Endurance Performance: A Physiological Explanation
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29923147/

Mental fatigue impairs physical performance but not the neural drive to the muscle: a preliminary analysis
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36988671/

Mental fatigue impairs time trial performance in sub-elite under 23 cyclists
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31206523/

Interindividual Variability in Mental Fatigue-Related Impairments in Endurance Performance: A Systematic Review and Multiple Meta-regression
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36808018/

The effects of mental fatigue on sport-related performance
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30390836/

Mental fatigue impairs repeated sprint and jump performance in team sport athletes
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37957039/

Perceived Exertion: Revisiting the History and Updating the Neurophysiology and the Practical Applications
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36361320/