Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Extremadura, Cáceres,Spain.
Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Extremadura, Badajoz,Spain.
Motor Control. 2022 Jul 29;26(4):630-648. doi: 10.1123/mc.2022-0042. Print 2022 Oct 1.
Experts have highlighted the importance of coaches knowing the level of mental fatigue (MF) induced by different tasks. This study aimed to compare the mentally fatiguing nature of cognitive, physical, and combined tasks and, additionally, assess the effect of different moderating variables on MF. Twenty-three physically active (16 males: Mage = 24 years; seven females: Mage = 22.57 years) participants performed three experimental sessions: (a) physically fatiguing: 30 min of cycloergometer work (at 65%-75% of maximum heart rate), (b) mentally fatiguing: 30 min of an incongruent Stroop task, and (c) mixed fatiguing: 30 min of combining the physically and mentally fatiguing protocols. Subjective MF (visual analog scale), reaction time (psychomotor vigilance task), and cognitive performance (Stroop) were measured throughout the different protocols. Results showed significant increments in subjective MF after all tasks, with the mental and mixed protocols showing significantly higher increases. Only the mentally fatiguing protocol caused significant impairments in reaction time. No significant effects of sex, years of experience, or degree of mental toughness were observed. These results suggest that the use of all these tasks, and especially the mentally fatiguing exercises, should be avoided immediately prior to competitions due to the negative consequences of MF on performance. Moreover, this effect seems to be independent of the sex, years of experience, or mental toughness of athletes.
专家强调了教练了解不同任务引起的心理疲劳（MF）程度的重要性。本研究旨在比较认知、身体和混合任务的心理疲劳性质，并评估不同调节变量对 MF 的影响。23 名身体活跃的参与者（16 名男性：Mage = 24 岁；7 名女性：Mage = 22.57 岁）进行了三个实验：（a）身体疲劳：30 分钟的脚踏车运动（在最大心率的 65%-75%之间），（b）心理疲劳：30 分钟的不相符 Stroop 任务，（c）混合疲劳：30 分钟的身体和心理疲劳协议相结合。在不同的协议中，通过主观 MF（视觉模拟量表）、反应时间（精神运动警觉任务）和认知表现（Stroop）进行测量。结果表明，所有任务后 MF 均显著增加，心理和混合协议的增加更为显著。只有心理疲劳协议导致反应时间显著下降。没有观察到性别、经验年限或心理坚韧度的显著影响。这些结果表明，由于 MF 对表现的负面影响，所有这些任务，特别是心理疲劳运动，都应在比赛前避免使用。此外，这种效果似乎与运动员的性别、经验年限或心理坚韧度无关。
