The brain uses a whole lot of energy and is going essentially 24/7. We’d run into some really challenges if it wasn’t! This mental fatigue though can really add up and have quite the impact on our bodies in a variety of ways. One of which is the impact on physical performance. The mind-muscle connection is a very real thing and a tired mind could impact that. It’s important to work on finding that balance of mental and physical fatigue for optimal performance.
What is mental fatigue
This isn’t a trick question I promise! Mental fatigue is when our brain is doing a lot and gets tired. The exact same thing that happens to muscles when not given adequate rest. With the brain though some of those tasks aren’t as obvious as physical ones involving lifting weights. Our brains are being worked in a wide variety of manners just in our daily living. Some examples include office work, driving, reading, school work, using social media and even playing videogames. All of these things can add up causing fatigue to build up. This feeling is presented as overall feeling tired, “groggy” and slower decision making. Especially during competition you’re going to want to be able to assess the entire field and make accurate/quick decisions. Then once the decision is made it’s important be optimally be able to physically execute that decision.
Physical effects of mental fatigue
One of the most noticeable effects is on how difficult tasks feel. In situations of doing the exact same work, if mentally fatigued those situations feel much more tiring. As a result, when feeling more tired, you aren’t able to train/compete for as long or as well. Definitely not ideal! Currently it appears the effects are most noticeable on endurance performance. The study referenced here looked at how many reps could be lifted of a submaximal weight. While that showed decreased performance and increased fatigue in the mentally fatigued groups, maximal strength doesn’t appear to be as impacted. For single explosive task this may not be a major issue but for games it could have a large effect.
What to take away from this
Team sports and most competitions require at least some form of endurance to perform optimally. This indicates that in preparation it would be best to try and limit mentally challenging tasks in the build up. For student athletes this can be a challenge especially around finals week. The best strategy is doing study early and do work ahead of time to avoid cramming around competition. If unable to be avoided, adding in a proper nap could be incredibly helpful as well. That nap could help to reduce some of that mental fatigue before a match. It also may not be a bad idea to try and limit social media in the immediate lead up. So stay focused on the task at hand, relax and go compete.
Study referenced: click here