Abstract
Money has frequently been used as an extrinsic motivator since it is assumed that humans are willing to invest more effort for financial reward. However, the influence of a monetary reward on pacing and performance in trained athletes is not well-understood. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyse the influence of a monetary reward in well-trained cyclists on their pacing and performance during short and long cycling time trials (TT). Twentythree cyclists (6 ♀, 17 ♂) completed 4 self-paced time trials (TTs, 2 short: 4 km and 6 min; 2 long: 20 km and 30 min); in a randomized order. Participants were separated into parallel, non-randomized “rewarded” and “non-rewarded” groups. Cyclists in the rewarded group received a monetary reward based on highest mean power output across all TTs. Cyclists in the non-rewarded group did not receive a monetary reward. Overall performance was not significantly different between groups in short or long TTs (p > 0.48). Power output showed moderatly lower effect sizes at comencement of the short TTs (Pmeandiff = 36.6 W; d > 0.44) and the 20 km TT (Pmeandiff = 22.6 W; d = 0.44) in the rewarded group. No difference was observed in pacing during the 30 min TT (p = 0.95). An external reward seems to have influenced pacing at the commencement of time trials. Participants in the non-rewarded group adopted a typical parabolic shaped pattern, whereas participants in the rewarded group started trials more conservatively. Results raise the possibility that using money as an extrinsic reward may interfere with regulatory processes required for effective pacing.
Highlights
In order to finish a race in the fastest possible time, athletes need to appropriately distribute their energy expenditure in a way that all available energetic resources are used but not so early as to experience premature fatigue prior to the finish line
Marcora (2010) and Pageaux (2014) recently proposed the Psychobiological Model to predict self-paced endurance performance. This Model is based on the “Motivational Intensity Theory” published by Brehm and Self (1989) and theorizes that the regulation of speed and/or power output is determined by five cognitive/motivational factors (Pageaux, 2014): “(i) perception of effort, (ii) potential motivation, (iii) knowledge of the distance/time to cover, (iv) knowledge of the distance/time remaining and (v) previous experience” (Brehm and Self, 1989)
Even though pacing is considered as a stable pattern (Mauger et al, 2009; Thomas et al, 2011) it has been observed that during very important competitions some athletes start their race with an ambitious strategy as they are very motivated to compete with medalists, even though based on previous performances they would not be anticipated to finish near a medal (Hulleman et al, 2007)
Summary
In order to finish a race in the fastest possible time, athletes need to appropriately distribute their energy expenditure in a way that all available energetic resources are used but not so early as to experience premature fatigue prior to the finish line Marcora (2010) and Pageaux (2014) recently proposed the Psychobiological Model to predict self-paced endurance performance This Model is based on the “Motivational Intensity Theory” published by Brehm and Self (1989) and theorizes that the regulation of speed and/or power output is determined by five cognitive/motivational factors (Pageaux, 2014): “(i) perception of effort, (ii) potential motivation, (iii) knowledge of the distance/time to cover, (iv) knowledge of the distance/time remaining and (v) previous experience (memory of perception of effort during exercise of varying intensity and duration)” (Brehm and Self, 1989). The presence of a competitor can improve performance in head-to-head competitions, possibly due to increased extrinsic motivation (Corbett et al, 2012; Williams et al, 2015)
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