Audience Presence Prolongs Maintenance Of Peak Power In Maximal Anaerobic Activity

Abstract

Sport participation commonly occurs in front of an audience. It is important to know if the presence of that audience influences the force profile of the performer. PURPOSE: To examine the influence of spectator presence on power output in a short-duration, high-intensity activity. METHODS: We tested 15 men and 28 women, ages 18-25, on a 30-second Wingate cycle ergometer test. All subjects were tested twice, separated by 72 hours. During one trial, performance took place in front of the test administrator; during the other trial, the administrator was accompanied by an audience. Spectators observed but did not interact with the subjects. Testing conditions (e.g., time of day, instructions provided, and verbal encouragement) were identical in the two trials. The order of tests was assigned in a counter-balanced design. Mixed ANOVA with repeated measures was used to compare peak power (PP), duration of peak power (DPP), and mean power (MP) between the two trials overall and by sex. RESULTS: Subjects were 20.4 ± 1.4 years of age; across all testing, PP 1.7 ± 1.3 w/kg, DPP was 2.6 ± 3.5 seconds, and mean power was 1.2 ± 0.3 w/kg. There was no effect of test order on performance (p=0.199). Similarly, there was no effect of audience presence on PP (p=0.348) or an interaction effect with sex (p=0.406). There was an increase in MP in the audience trial; subjects were 0.1 w/kg higher, corresponding to a 6.5% increase (p=0.003; 95% CI: 0.03 to 0.13 w/kg). There was no interaction effect with sex (p=0.416). The increase in MP was the result of an increase in DPP, which was 1.6 seconds longer in the audience trial, corresponding to a 91.6% increase (p=0.002; 95% CI: 0.61 to 2.49 seconds). There was no interaction effect with sex (p=0.418). CONCLUSIONS: The presence of an audience influenced power output on the Wingate test. Although peak power was unaffected, the duration peak power was maintained nearly doubled, indicating endurance at peak performance may be sensitive to arousal.