Matter Over Matter

Yet another interesting post by The Science of Sport blog. It is always fun to read Ross and Jonathon's well written, and thought provoking blog posts.

Ever since I read Timothy Noakes' "Lore of Running" (almost twenty years ago) that presented the "central governor" theory, I have been interested in what exactly causes fatigue in endurance athletes. Ross and Jonathon have built upon Noakes' "central governor" theory with their "anticipatory regulation" theory. They covered this topic in length over a year ago. It is a very worthwhile read and you can start from the first post here.

In the last couple of days, they have resurrected their fatigue series, much to my delight, and I am interested in the posts to come.

"Yesterday's discussion on mind vs. matter, and the role of mental aspects to performance, left off with the short recap of a fatigue series that I wrote almost a year ago. It reminded us that the brain is ultimately in control of exercise, and that fatigue, or the decision to slow down during exercise is not taken because the muscles are failing, but rather because the brain is regulating the degree of muscle activation so that we are protected from physiological harm.This was of course an extension of the somewhat philosophical argument of whether physiology or psychological is the key separator or differentiator between good and great athletes. The question "How important is the mind to elite performance?" forms the basis of this series, and specifically, I'm interested in understanding the integration, and overcoming the rampant over-simplification of this very complex argument that tends to infiltrate it."