Navigating the Maze of Deception in Endurance Sports
A Systematic Review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51224/SRXIV.453Keywords:
Endurance exercise, pacing, deception, quanitative performanceAbstract
Endurance exercise bouts require prolonged exertion and the precise regulation of energy expenditure. Without accurate knowledge of the task demands and performance metrics (e.g., speed, distance), individuals may struggle to establish or maintain effective pacing strategies. Providing deceptive information about the task can be a useful experimental tool for exploring the phenomenon of pacing and endurance performance. The purpose of this systematic review was to synthesize existing research on the effect of deception on performance outcomes in endurance tasks. An electronic search was performed across 4 databases and 27 studies met the inclusion criteria for the review. Studies investigated deception of time, split pace, power output, anticipated difficulty, speed, previous performance, and competitors’ knowledge within cycling, running, and/or triathlon tasks. Various methodologies, including different types and percentages of deception, were utilized across studies in review. Time deception of ≤ 5% does not appear to influence endurance performance across cycling and running trials, but 10% can influence pacing strategy. Competitor deception appears to improve endurance performance, however the effects of split pace and speed deception had conflicting findings within the literature. Due to the discrepancies across studies and most studies being on cyclists, future research should consider the effects of deceptive feedback in various endurance tasks beyond cycling, as well as in more diverse samples.
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