Who hasn't listened athletes or fitness freaks yell profanity (F word) like mads while frustrated on missing out a point? They are naturally aggressive breed and most of the times they escape with a warning for showing profanity.
I've also seen many athletes muttering while playing or taking God's name before entering into a match. This I believe isn't considered as profanity.
Anyways, in both the cases profanity doesn't seem to increase the performance. So this came as a surprise:
Profanity and Performance: Perfect Partners? .....swearing every three seconds while doing a Wingate anaerobic power test (a test of muscular power) can increase performance by 4.5%. Swearing for a full 10 seconds before doing a grip strength exercise can increase grip strength by 8%. And swearing every five seconds can increase pushup and plank time by 15% and 12%, respectively. That's some in-depth data, especially for a laboratory test with participants shouting "f--k" every few seconds. Source
So, it seems it’s an idea that, at least anecdotally, certainly holds up if you’ve watched any professional sporting events whatsoever. Swearing is so prevalent among athletes that Sports Illustrated posed this hypothetical question in 2022: Does the NBA Have a $@&!*% Problem?”
“Swearing is something that people do when they’re at the top of their game,” said Emma Byrne, author of Swearing Is Good for You: The Amazing Science of Bad Language. “In the U.K., if you watch football, you can quite often tell on the pitch from lip reading that that frustration is voiced through profanity. We know that it happens in airline cockpits. We know it happens in operating theatres. We know that swearing is quite often the way we deal with the stresses of trying to perform at our best.”
But What’s Going on Exactly? Is it physiological? Psychological? Or something else? Stephens’s own opinion has changed in recent years, when he noticed that some test subjects demonstrated swearing benefits for pain and strength without any changes whatsoever in their heart rates or blood pressure. “That indicates autonomous nervous system activity,” he said. “So the fight-or-flight response is clearly only half of the story.”
The Future Potential of the F Word Are we heading toward a future where doctors prescribe a daily dose of screaming obscenities along with painkillers? Will physical therapists coach patients to quicker recovery via well-timed profanity? Will personal trainers push their clients to be increasingly foul-mouthed to become their best physical selves?
First, I'd like to tell you that it's 'C Word' in Hindi, that would be translated for F word in English. It may be different in another language but thinking broadly, I don't believe that profanity in any language would be helpful to increase performance.
This is just my opinion.
I'm open to listen yours.
Thanks.
Anecdotally, my performance is better in the gym when I can get my adrenaline running. For instance, when I do hack squats, I used to pretend that my sister was going to get eaten by zombies unless I could keep the door shut. The hack squats was a battle against the horde trying to push the door open.
So I wonder if cursing triggers some fight or flight mechanism in our brains...
Thanks. It's wonderful that cursing or arousing some kind of fear triggers something in you. But I've another confusion now.
Does cursing count under profanity?
Cursing means swearing or using profanity where I'm from.
Ok. Here it means something else. Thanks. Sometimes linguistic differences are hard to digest.
What does it mean there?
It simply means the opposite of wishing someone wellbeing.
Ahh, that makes sense.
I would say that it probably does something useful or we wouldn't do it so automatically.
Most of our behaviors have some adaptive explanation, especially when there's no obvious rational explanation.
Have you ever used profanity personally while working out or playing? What are the results?
I'm more likely to grunt or growl when lifting something heavy than using profanity, but I may try it now
Especially when mating.... or so I'm told...
Sure, but I have nothing to compare it too, since I've never intentionally restrained myself from using profanity either.
Would you be comparing it now to see if it does improve your performance ir resolution for a task?
No, I seldom do anything strenuous enough to warrant swearing and I'm certainly not going to stop swearing at the cold wind when I'm outside.
It seems and it's quite common there. It's not so common here in Indian culture. We have our words but you risk losing all of your respect if you ever try one.
However India is still largely a masculine society and I've often listened man use profanity in conversations but not surely to increase performance. It's just common.
While I was in college ( I got my degree in psychology) one of the big things coming out at the time was that cursing was a sign of emotional intelligence and was also something that people would do to manage pain... Granted this is all within reason because there is a cliff of if you cuss to much but within a certain section which was above what people would have though cussing was actually really pretty good for people to do.
This is very true.
I once saw a social experiment where people experienced minor pain in two rounds. In the first round, they were subjected to the pain but were not allowed to use any profanity and were then asked to rate their pain from 1 to 10. In the second round, the same was done, but this time they could use profanity. When asked to rate their pain from 1 to 10, the ratings were noticeably lower than in the first round.
Anything profane you personally did while working out or playing a sport?
I casually use slang and profanity during workouts and while playing sports. Honestly, it feels pretty common as everyone does it. And when I’m weightlifting, it just flows out 😂
Yes, it's common. My observation says it's common under frustration, surprise or overjoyed. But to say it improves your performance confuses me.
The main thing is, it helps relieve a little bit of stress and pain tolerance.
This makes sense. You know we say "baap re" (means oh my father) when we are in pain, in awe or extreme joy. This is very common here but I think times are changing and new gen has started substituting it for slangs like f words.