This study is the first to demonstrate that ST significantly reduces RPE and enhances endurance performance. The findings support the psychobiological model of endurance performance and illustrate that psychobiological interventions designed to specifically target favorable changes in the perception of effort are beneficial to endurance performance. Consequently, this psychobiological model offers an important and novel perspective for future research investigations.

The effectiveness of a nap as a recovery strategy for endurance exercise is unknown and therefore the present study investigated the effect of napping on endurance exercise performance. Eleven trained male runners completed this randomised crossover study. On two occasions, runners completed treadmill running for 30 min at 75% ⩒O in the morning, returning that evening to run for 20 min at 60% ⩒O, and then to exhaustion at 90% ⩒O. On one trial, runners had an afternoon nap approximately 90 min before the evening exercise (NAP) whilst on the other, runners did not (CON). All runners napped (20 ± 10 min), but time to exhaustion (TTE) was not improved in all runners (NAP 596 ± 148 s vs. CON 589 ± 216 s, P = .83). Runners that improved TTE after the nap slept less at night than those that did not improve TTE (night-time sleep 6.4 ± 0.7 h vs. 7.5 ± 0.4 h, P < .01). Furthermore, night-time sleep predicted change in TTE, indicating that runners sleeping least at night improved TTE the most after the nap compared to CON (r = -0.76, P = .001). In runners that improved TTE, ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) were lower during the TTE on NAP than CON compared to runners that did not improve (-0.4 ± 0.6 vs. 0 ± 0, P = .05). Reduced exercising sense of effort (RPE) may account for the improved TTE after the nap. In conclusion, a short afternoon nap improves endurance performance in runners that obtain less than 7 h night-time sleep.

The psychobiological model of endurance performance proposes that endurance performance is determined by a decision-making process based on perception of effort and potential motivation. Recent research has reported that effort-based decision-making during cognitive tasks can be altered by non-conscious visual cues relating to affect and action. The effects of these non-conscious visual cues on effort and performance during physical tasks are however unknown. We report two experiments investigating the effects of subliminal priming with visual cues related to affect and action on perception of effort and endurance performance. In Experiment 1 thirteen individuals were subliminally primed with happy or sad faces as they cycled to exhaustion in a counterbalanced and randomized crossover design. A paired t-test (happy vs. sad faces) revealed that individuals cycled significantly longer (178 s, p = 0.04) when subliminally primed with happy faces. A 2 × 5 (condition × iso-time) ANOVA also revealed a significant main effect of condition on rating of perceived exertion (RPE) during the time to exhaustion (TTE) test with lower RPE when subjects were subliminally primed with happy faces (p = 0.04). In Experiment 2, a single-subject randomization tests design found that subliminal priming with action words facilitated a significantly longer TTE (399 s, p = 0.04) in comparison to inaction words. Like Experiment 1, this greater TTE was accompanied by a significantly lower RPE (p = 0.03). These experiments are the first to show that subliminal visual cues relating to affect and action can alter perception of effort and endurance performance. Non-conscious visual cues may therefore influence the effort-based decision-making process that is proposed to determine endurance performance. Accordingly, the findings raise notable implications for individuals who may encounter such visual cues during endurance competitions, training, or health related exercise.

This research examined the relative effectiveness of instructional versus motivational self-talk for skilled athletes. Forty Gaelic footballers completed a shooting accuracy task with their dominant and non-dominant feet. Results indicated significantly more accurate performance when executing the task using the dominant foot and motivational as compared to instructional self-talk. No difference emerged between the two types of self-talk within the non-dominant foot condition. Results challenge the widely held view that instructional self-talk is most effective for accuracy based tasks and should prompt practitioners to consider the skill level of their clients when constructing self-talk interventions.Keywords: performance, self-focus, verbal cues, dominant / non-dominant limbs It's good but it's not right: Instructional self-talk and skilled performance Self-talk refers to statements that athletes say to themselves automatically or deliberately and as such can be said silently or out loud so that some one close by could here what is said; nevertheless the intended target of the phrase is the athlete themselves not the observer (cf. Hardy, Oliver, & Tod, 2009). While a number of different types of self-talk have been identified in the self-talk literature (see Hardy, 2006 for a review), the present study examines skilled athletes' use of instructional and motivational self-talk. Instructional self-talk (e.g., "firm wrist") is typically technique or tactics oriented aiding concentration whereas motivational self-talk (e.g., "I can do this") is related to enhanced confidence, increased effort, and positive affective states. Research indicates that instructional self-talk can enhance the performance of motor skills.In fact, two relatively recent systematic reviews support the consistency of these performance benefits of instructional self-talk (Tod, Hardy, & Oliver, 2011) and indicate a moderately strong positive effect on motor skill execution (Hatzigeorgiadis, Zourbanos, Galanis, & Theordorakis, 2011). In order to provide practitioners with direction and guidance, Theodorakis, Weinberg, Natsis, Douma, and Kazakas (2000) put forward a matching hypothesis. Within this hypothesis instructional self-talk is proposed to be more effective than motivational self-talk for precision and outcome-based motor skills whereas the opposite is true for motor skills requiring strength and endurance. Instructional self-talk is proposed to be more helpful than motivational self-talk for accuracy oriented motor skills because instructional self-talk can facilitate performers' understanding of task requirements helping them to attend to task relevant cues aiding their concentration during task execution. While there is little direct empirical support for this attention related mechanism within the self-talk literature, examination of the attentional focus literature suggests that attending to one's actions is not necessarily beneficial for performance (e.g., Wulf, 2007). This is particularly true for skilled performers (e.g....

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