#34 - The psychobiology of endurance performance with Dr Samuele Marcora

Feb 11, 2023

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Dr Glenn McConell chats with Professor Samuele Marcora from the University of Bologna in Italy. He is an expert on the psychobiology of endurance performance and fatigue. We discussed the importance of the perception of effort/rating of perceived exertion on exercise performance and fatigue. Pros and cons of zoning in vs zoning out. How the perception of effort can be modified by factors such as exercise training, mental fatigue and caffeine. 0:00. Introduction and Samuele’s research journey 8:33. Feeling of fatigue when at rest vs fatigue during exercise 11:03. “Central fatigue” 12:09. Fatigue and perception of effort 15:33. Doesn’t agree with the Central governor model 20:54. Motivation and exercise in the heat 23:08. RED-S, expectancy of perception of effort 24:46. Aspects making up the psychobiological model 29:55. Time trials and pacing 32:34. Mass start races 34:25. Pros and cons of zoning in vs zoning out 39:06. Amnesia and pacing 41:00. Caffeine reduces perception of effort 46:45. Physical fitness reduces perception of effort 50:40. In a marathon the perception of effort is similar for everyone 51:35. How do some push through pain vs mere mortals 55:58. Motivation and exercise performance 57:36. Experience and the ability to push oneself 59:50. SAS type training is essentially psychological training 1:01:19. Contribution of genetic components 1:02:36. Going too fast at the start of races 1:05:22. Central command vs feedback (afferent) signals 1:14:03. Respiratory frequency and perception of effort 1:15:58. Brain training/mental fatigue 1:20:35. Psychological load affects overall training load 1:25:03. Why fatigue when ingest carbohydrate 1:29:45. Dopamine /serotonin and fatigue 1:33:24. Capsaicin and perception of effort 1:35:05. Panadol (Paracetamol) and perception of effort 1:36:58. Pacemakers help partly due to cognitive drafting 1:38:32. Takeaway messages 1:40:25. What about efforts under 30 seconds? 1:45:02. Outro (9 secs) Inside Exercise brings to you the who's who of research in exercise metabolism, exercise physiology and exercise’s effects on health. With scientific rigor, these researchers discuss popular exercise topics while providing practical strategies for all. The interviewer, Emeritus Professor Glenn McConell, has an international research profile following 30 years of Exercise Metabolism research experience while at The University of Melbourne, Ball State University, Monash University, the University of Copenhagen and Victoria University. He has published over 120 peer reviewed journal articles and recently edited an Exercise Metabolism eBook written by world experts on 17 different topics (https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-94305-9). Connect with Inside Exercise and Glenn McConell at: Twitter: @Inside_exercise and @GlennMcConell1 Instagram: insideexercise Facebook: Glenn McConell LinkedIn: Glenn McConell https://www.linkedin.com/in/glenn-mcconell-83475460 ResearchGate: Glenn McConell Email: glenn.mcconell@gmail.com