Are funny faces a vector of poor performance?

Have you ever observed how your mind can influence your performance? What if negative thoughts were just the result of the physical appearance of your pain on your face during exertion? And yes, it seems that grimaces play a role and influence your resistance to effort and create muscle tension …

The influence of grimaces on sports performance

Christophe Carrio explains what it is and why you should try to smile during your sports sessions!

The muscles of the face are connected to the emotional centers. Grimacing during the effort is putting tension in the muscles of the face : the brain perceives these tensions and understands that the activity you are performing is unpleasant, difficult or even dangerous for you. Your resistance becomes weaker and you have difficulty finishing the session. In addition, the brain remembers these negative emotions and you may dread your next sessions.

Conversely, if you manage to keep a neutral face during an intense effort, the brain will perceive your effort as a pleasant activity . And the more you exercise, the more resilient you will be , the less energy you will expend, the more efficient your movements and your sessions will be more enjoyable.

The importance of the amygdala during a workout:

The brain’s amygdala (or tonsil complex) is the emotional center of fear in the brain. It functions as an alert center in the face of stimuli that generate anxiety, stress or fear. Grimaces, however harmless they seem, generate negative stimulation of the amygdala and create muscle tension in the face.

By stimulating the amygdala, which is already very stimulated by our lifestyles, your workout becomes a source of additional stress and you have even more difficulty in relaxing.

As a result, cortisol and stress hormones take over. Except during a workout, it is absolutely necessary to avoid the production of cortisol and catabolic hormones to avoid the degradation of muscle tissue.

It is therefore very important to work on your relationship between body and mind during exercise.

Our advice to improve your performance

Let’s recap the video! To improve performance and for the body to quickly get used to the effort, just follow the following tips during training, no matter how difficult:

1 – We do the exercise correctly, even if we have to force a little (without hurting ourselves).
2 – We adopt diaphragmatic breathing .
3 – No grimaces! Or very little and at the end of the session.
4 – We keep a positive spirit : we encourage ourselves and if we can, we smile. Body and mind are connected
5 – At the end, we congratulate ourselves because the next training will be more pleasant and therefore your performance better !

The team Nutripure challenges you not to wince during your next sports session! Are you going to get there?