Ever wonder why a short jog leaves some people gasping for air while others seem to run effortlessly?
Fitness, training and muscle strength do play into tolerance, but new research shows the brain plays a major role in how hard exercise feels.
How Effort Feels Different for Everyone
Effort is the energy we use for activities like running, hiking or lifting weights.
While it can be measured physically, the way it feels is also shaped by perception.
Some people experience the same workout as exhausting, while others find it manageable.
It may seem like a no-brainer: Fitter people will find it manageable, while less fit people will find it hard.
But perception is also a part of this experience.
Exercise perception affects whether people stick with the activity.
Workouts that feel too hard are easier to skip, while those that feel doable are more tolerable and sustainable over time.
Could the perception of effort be reduced?
Benjamin Pageaux, a professor at Université de Montréal, is studying ways to reduce perceived effort.
Also involved in this pursuit are researchers from Université Savoie Mont Blanc in France.
Their goal is to help people push past the sense that exercise is too difficult.
Testing Vibration During Cycling
In one study, the team explored whether vibrating certain tendons could make cycling feel easier.
Volunteers wore a device on the Achilles and knee tendons for 10 minutes before short cycling sessions.
Each participant also cycled without vibration for comparison.
The results were surprising. After tendon vibration, participants generated more power and had higher heart rates, but their sense of effort did not increase.
In other words, their bodies worked harder while exercise felt the same.
How Vibration May Change Brain Signals
Pageaux explains that vibration may excite or inhibit neurons in the spinal cord and alter signals sent from muscles to the brain.
When how the brain interprets movement is changed, exercise can feel easier even when muscles are producing more force.
Encouraging More Physical Activity
The research is still early and has only tested short, controlled cycling sessions.
Next, the team plans to study brain activity using tools like EEG and MRI to see how tendon vibration affects perception during exercise.
They are also exploring how pain and fatigue make exercise feel harder.
The ultimate goal with this research is to find ways to lower perceived effort.
This would encourage sedentary people to get going with regular exercise.
