A revealing experience
To explore this phenomenon, Dutch and British researchers conducted a study on 33 participants. Their mission: pedaling on a stationary bicycle for a sustained effort of 4,000 meters. Nothing very original so far. Except that at different stages of the exercise – before, during, and after the effort – they were asked to estimate the duration of 30 seconds without watching a watch or any other time landmark.
The results are clear: during the effort, the volunteers believed on average that the 30 seconds had passed when it had only happened 27, even 26 seconds. This small gap of 8 to 9 % may seem trivial, but it reveals a real alteration of our internal clock. At the level of a training or a background, this distorted perception can radically change our feelings, our strategy, even our performance.
Why does our brain deform time under effort?
The explanation lies in what neuroscientists call cognitive overload. When the body is in intense activity, the brain is requested on several levels: it must manage breathing, pain, coordination, balance, muscle signals … This permanent multitasking consumes a large part of its attentional resources.
Result: he has less energy left to measure the passage of time with precision. This phenomenon is known in other contexts, such as in situations of stress or imminent danger, where time seems to expand. When bombed with sensory or emotional information, each second becomes more “rich”, more striking – which gives the impression that it lasts longer.
And the competition, in all of this?
The researchers also wanted to know if the presence of an opponent or a challenge – as in a race – could modify this temporal perception. For this, they have set up several versions of the exercise: solo, against a virtual avatar, or in front of a real opponent.
Against all expectations, time distortion remained the same in all cases. Neither the additional motivation nor the stress of the confrontation seemed to influence the way in which the participants estimated the time. This indicates that it is physical activity itself, and not the emotional or competitive context, which alters our internal clock.
Doing sports would slow down our perception of time.
What consequences for athletes?
This discovery, as curious as it is, has concrete implications for the world of sport. In many disciplines, managing your pace is a key performance factor. Running too fast at the start of the race can exhaust you, just like slowing down without realizing it can cost you the victory.
But if our perception of time is distorted as soon as the effort intensifies, then how to know if we are going too fast, or not enough? This is where external stimuli come into play: sound, visual or kinesthetic signals, connected watches … All these tools can help recalibrate our tempo and compensate for the distortion induced by effort.
Elite athletes also use advanced mental visualization and breathing control techniques to stay in tune with their cadence, despite fatigue or stress.
A window on our relationship to time
Beyond sport, this study questions our broader relationship with time. Because this phenomenon of deformation is not limited to the sports halls: any situation intensely soliciting our cognitive capacities could affect our temporal perception. An emergency surgical operation, a moment of panic, a situation with high stake in a plane cockpit or a military command center … All could be affected.
Understanding this mechanism could therefore make it possible to better train professionals exposed to these environments, by integrating these biases into decision -making, stress management or security protocols.
In summary
The next time you feel that your bicycle session seems endless, remember that it is not (just) in your head. Your brain, overloaded by effort, literally perceives time as slower. This discrepancy between the time felt and real time can have consequences in sport, but also in many other demanding activities.
And if time seems to stretch in the gym, maybe it's just because your body and brain work harder than you think.
With an unwavering passion for local news, Christopher leads our editorial team with integrity and dedication. With over 20 years’ experience, he is the backbone of Wouldsayso, ensuring that we stay true to our mission to inform.
