Most of us think of physical training as existing only in the, well, physical realm. That is, when engaged in training sessions we are most likely to push or bodies hard while we put in the ear buds, blast some tunes, yak with friends, or any other low-level cognitive function that allows us to be "someplace else" in our heads while we do what we must do.

Check out this intriguing study conducted by the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence (MOD).

The MOD gathered 35 soldiers as test subjects and put them on stationary bikes three times per week. Each subject pedaled for the same duration and the same intensity relative to their baseline of fitness. The only difference was one half of the soldiers were allowed to, well, pedal and zone out if they chose and the other half had the fun task of watching random combinations of letters appear on a screen before them, and then must click a tab when an assigned combination appeared.

This experiment went on for 12 weeks, at the end of the 12 weeks: All 35 soldiers exhibited similar increases in VO2 max, as one would expect, but when it came to a "time to exhaustion test" things were quite different.

A Time to Exhaustion Test had all 35 subjects ride at a constant effort of 80% of their VO2 max. They were all instructed to ride at this pace until failure and this stopping point would be their time to exhaustion measure.

The non-letter clicking solders improved their time to exhaustion score by an average of 42%. That ain't bad at all.

Our letter-clicking soldiers, though-a 126% improvement. That's a whopping 3 times better than the control group.

Now why might this level of improvement be the case?

It is surmised (and surmising is the best we've got in most areas of the human mind) that the letter clickers, the folks who had the additional non-veg-out task perceived each training session as more difficult than the zone-out crew. The Time to Exhaustion Tests were given to both groups at the beginning and end of the 12-week testing cycle and both times the test was administered the letter clickers were not assigned to perform this additional task, that is they could zone-out and pedal with no cognitive load.

Here's the surmise, remove the additional effort and the task becomes easier. This is a no-brainer if we are simply discussing physical training.

For example, conduct this easy thought experiment.

Take two groups of folks, give one group 30 pound weight vests, have both groups run a fast mile. Allow both groups to rest 5 minutes and have them both run again, but the weight vest group gets to lose the vest.

Next, ask them which mile was harder- the first or second? Chances ae the non-vesters will report the second one as harder or at least the same, whereas the former weight-vesters will find the second mile much more enjoyable.

The thought experiment outcome is basic to us, what the MOD study surprises us with is the idea that mental "work" can be perceived as just as stressful as the weight vest.

The idea that mental work can stress or bollix up the physical is nothing new, Special Forces training uses it all the time to add stress, as a matter of fact we use an entire raft of Cognitive Overload Drills in our Outer Limits Program. The new idea is that the removal of the cognitive stress not being just a reduced mental burden, but a boon to our physical training as well.

Moving from the MOD study to an anecdotal observation or two.

I have now run a few of the Outer Limits Cognitive Overload Drills while performing a set-physical task, rested for 5 minutes and repeated sans cognitive overload and noticed a marked improvement. Could be the observer effect in that I (the amateur researcher) knew what I was looking for and hoping to find and "unknowingly" sandbagged my first run-throughs to skew the results.

In a less "rigged" but still un-scientific anecdote, I have encountered the following. I am in the process of learning the Comanche language from historical resources circa 1865. Often when I run or am working a long stamina workout I mentally run my vocabulary and construct new phrases. I was doing this for the same reason some don ear buds, to veg out. But have noticed the odd effect that on days where I initially forget to work this fascinating language I am moving pretty damn well, as soon as I recall the vocabulary work there is a perceived increase in load.

Again, take nothing to heart from my anecdotes but it might be wise to pursue a piece of that 126% improvement from the MOD study. Perhaps use some of the Cognitive Drills from the Outer Limits or your own contextualized version of Comanche-multiplication tables, language vocab, mentally list every item in your place of work, etc. If we desire improvement, this seems like an easy free way to give it a shot and see what happens.

T'zat ucuma y upiab!

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