Mitchell Finlay , David Marchant , Christina Langley , Thomas Simpson
{"title":"注意焦点和动作动词对卧推性能的影响","authors":"Mitchell Finlay , David Marchant , Christina Langley , Thomas Simpson","doi":"10.1016/j.humov.2025.103385","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Verbal instructions that direct an individual's attention are crucial for optimising movement and performance. While previous research has consistently demonstrated that an external focus of attention enhances motor performance more effectively than an internal focus of attention, the role of action verbs embedded within attentional focus instructions remains unexplored. This study aimed to assess how different action verbs (push vs. punch) and attentional focus (external vs. internal) influence bench press velocity. Twenty-six physically active participants familiar with the bench press technique completed four conditions: EF-push, EF-punch, IF-push, and IF-punch. Each condition involved performing bench press repetitions with specific verbal instructions. Results indicated that both external focus conditions led to significantly greater bar velocities compared to internal focus conditions, supporting the constrained action hypothesis. Additionally, the action verb “punch” resulted in higher bar velocities than “push,” suggesting that action words influence motor performance in maximal effort tasks. No significant interaction effects were found between attentional focus and action verbs, indicating that their effects on performance are independent. These findings highlight the importance of using externally focused instructions and carefully chosen action words to enhance performance in strength and conditioning tasks. The study contributes to our understanding of how instructional cues can optimise resistance exercise performance and suggests practical applications for coaches and practitioners in designing effective training interventions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55046,"journal":{"name":"Human Movement Science","volume":"102 ","pages":"Article 103385"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Impact of attentional focus and action verbs on bench press performance\",\"authors\":\"Mitchell Finlay , David Marchant , Christina Langley , Thomas Simpson\",\"doi\":\"10.1016/j.humov.2025.103385\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<div><div>Verbal instructions that direct an individual's attention are crucial for optimising movement and performance. While previous research has consistently demonstrated that an external focus of attention enhances motor performance more effectively than an internal focus of attention, the role of action verbs embedded within attentional focus instructions remains unexplored. This study aimed to assess how different action verbs (push vs. punch) and attentional focus (external vs. internal) influence bench press velocity. Twenty-six physically active participants familiar with the bench press technique completed four conditions: EF-push, EF-punch, IF-push, and IF-punch. Each condition involved performing bench press repetitions with specific verbal instructions. Results indicated that both external focus conditions led to significantly greater bar velocities compared to internal focus conditions, supporting the constrained action hypothesis. Additionally, the action verb “punch” resulted in higher bar velocities than “push,” suggesting that action words influence motor performance in maximal effort tasks. No significant interaction effects were found between attentional focus and action verbs, indicating that their effects on performance are independent. These findings highlight the importance of using externally focused instructions and carefully chosen action words to enhance performance in strength and conditioning tasks. The study contributes to our understanding of how instructional cues can optimise resistance exercise performance and suggests practical applications for coaches and practitioners in designing effective training interventions.</div></div>\",\"PeriodicalId\":55046,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Human Movement Science\",\"volume\":\"102 \",\"pages\":\"Article 103385\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":1.9000,\"publicationDate\":\"2025-07-01\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Human Movement Science\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"102\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167945725000673\",\"RegionNum\":3,\"RegionCategory\":\"心理学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q4\",\"JCRName\":\"NEUROSCIENCES\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Human Movement Science","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167945725000673","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"NEUROSCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
Impact of attentional focus and action verbs on bench press performance
Verbal instructions that direct an individual's attention are crucial for optimising movement and performance. While previous research has consistently demonstrated that an external focus of attention enhances motor performance more effectively than an internal focus of attention, the role of action verbs embedded within attentional focus instructions remains unexplored. This study aimed to assess how different action verbs (push vs. punch) and attentional focus (external vs. internal) influence bench press velocity. Twenty-six physically active participants familiar with the bench press technique completed four conditions: EF-push, EF-punch, IF-push, and IF-punch. Each condition involved performing bench press repetitions with specific verbal instructions. Results indicated that both external focus conditions led to significantly greater bar velocities compared to internal focus conditions, supporting the constrained action hypothesis. Additionally, the action verb “punch” resulted in higher bar velocities than “push,” suggesting that action words influence motor performance in maximal effort tasks. No significant interaction effects were found between attentional focus and action verbs, indicating that their effects on performance are independent. These findings highlight the importance of using externally focused instructions and carefully chosen action words to enhance performance in strength and conditioning tasks. The study contributes to our understanding of how instructional cues can optimise resistance exercise performance and suggests practical applications for coaches and practitioners in designing effective training interventions.
期刊介绍:
Human Movement Science provides a medium for publishing disciplinary and multidisciplinary studies on human movement. It brings together psychological, biomechanical and neurophysiological research on the control, organization and learning of human movement, including the perceptual support of movement. The overarching goal of the journal is to publish articles that help advance theoretical understanding of the control and organization of human movement, as well as changes therein as a function of development, learning and rehabilitation. The nature of the research reported may vary from fundamental theoretical or empirical studies to more applied studies in the fields of, for example, sport, dance and rehabilitation with the proviso that all studies have a distinct theoretical bearing. Also, reviews and meta-studies advancing the understanding of human movement are welcome.
These aims and scope imply that purely descriptive studies are not acceptable, while methodological articles are only acceptable if the methodology in question opens up new vistas in understanding the control and organization of human movement. The same holds for articles on exercise physiology, which in general are not supported, unless they speak to the control and organization of human movement. In general, it is required that the theoretical message of articles published in Human Movement Science is, to a certain extent, innovative and not dismissible as just "more of the same."