Smartphone Use Among High Level Swimmers Is Associated With Mental Fatigue and Slower 100- and 200- but Not 50-Meter Freestyle Racing

Abstract

Discovering any performance degradation effect of racing swimmers’ use of social media smartphone apps might lead to new training and race preparation protocols, including pre-meet smartphone avoidance. This study’s objective was to analyze the performance effects of using smartphone social media apps on the 50, 100, and 200-m freestyle among 25 high-level swimmers. Each participant performed the three race distances in two conditions: with smartphone app exposure (50-MF, 100-MF, and 200-MF) and without (50-CON, 100-CON, and 200-CON). We randomized the order of these two conditions across participants. While smartphone app use was not associated with statistically significant performance differences on the shortest race (50CON versus 50MF), a repeated measures ANOVA showed a significant condition × time interaction for the swimmers’100-m freestyle performance ( p = 0.01), with a significantly slower performance following smartphone app use evident in the last half of this race ( p = 0.02) but not in the first half ( p = 0.41). We also found a condition × time interaction in the same direction (slower for swimmers who used the smartphone app) for the 200-m freestyle performance ( p = 0.01), with the slower performance occurring in the second ( p = 0.01) but not the first ( p = 0.91), third ( p = 0.07) or fourth ( p = 0.06 ) quarters of this race. Thus, prolonged smartphone social media app use was associated with reduced performance from elite swimmers on the 100- and 200- but not the 50-m freestyle.

Mental Fatigue From Smartphone Use Reduces Volume-Load in Resistance Training: A Randomized, Single-Blinded Cross-Over Study

“…Before each session, participants were instructed to attend all conditions in a well-rested state (i.e., sleep for at least eight hours and to abstain from any physical exercise and alcohol ingestion in the 48-hours before the sessions). Additionally, caffeine, nicotine, and smartphone use (e.g., social media) were to be avoided for at least three hours before the sessions (Azevedo et al., 2016; Fortes et al., 2021). A previous study showed that subjective mental fatigue recovered post-60 minutes of mental fatigue induced by 45-minutes of the Stroop task and almost recovered after 45-minutes of the AX-CPT task (Smith et al., 2019).…”

“…(2019) showed that 30- and 45-minute exposure times to smartphone networking apps acutely reduced inhibition control and passing decision-making among professional soccer players. More recently, Fortes et al. (2021) also found that 30-minutes of continuous social media on smartphones induced mental fatigue in high-level swimmers (e.g., impaired Stroop task response time and increase perceived mental fatigue).…”

“…One such task might be smartphone use, as this is a common modern tool among young adults, with 3.6 billion smartphone users worldwide (Statista, 2020) . Some researchers have reported that prolonged exposure time to smartphones negatively affected cognitive functions (Fortes et al., 2019; 2021; Wilmer et al., 2017).…”

What is the effect of vigorous exercise on the brain?

“…In order to understand the impact of this condition on performance, instruments which require cognitive demands through sustained attention, inhibition of response, and goal maintenance have been used, the most common instruments are computer tests the Stroop task, 7 and the AX CPT 4 . In addition, other common situations such as using smartphones before exercising can also cause this condition 12 . However, the literature normally investigates cognitive stimulation prior to exercise 12,13 , disregarding the effects of physical exercise , on mental fatigue.…”

“…In addition, other common situations such as using smartphones before exercising can also cause this condition 12 . However, the literature normally investigates cognitive stimulation prior to exercise 12,13 , disregarding the effects of physical exercise , on mental fatigue. Some studies have recently shown that physical exercise can cause mental fatigue; for example, Xu 15 performed an experimental protocol on a cycle ergometer 15 .…”