There’s something we all feel at least once while exercising. Time during these activities very slow It feels like it’s passing. For example, if you’re performing a challenging movement like a plank, a minute can feel like an hour. Or, when your body starts to get tired during a 10-minute exercise, you may think that those 10 minutes will never end.

We know this is something that is happening worldwide. This is indeed evident from a new study Our perception of time can change during exercise. reveals. The research results were recently published via Brain and Behavior.

First study showing that definitive time perception slows during exercise

With the experiments they conducted, scientists managed to confirm that seconds during exercise pass much slower than normal. The research was conducted by psychologists from Great Britain and the Netherlands. Researchers say that “First research convincingly showing that time perception slows down during exerciseHe also underlined that.

The team, led by Andrew Mark Edwards from Canterbury Christ Church University in the United Kingdom, 33 male and female adults conducted experiments with his participation. Participants, without the help of any clock 30 second period They tried to know when it was full.

The results showed that the participants did not perform any activity and while you are at rest 30 seconds pass too quickly It’s like you’re flying away they stated. However, when they got on the exercise bike and started exercising, they had difficulty judging time. According to them, half a minute of cycling is on average less than what the clock shows. 8% longer It felt like.

The findings are consistent with previous similar studies. Psychologists believe this is because physical arousal and awareness make us more aware of our bodies and what they experience. awareness raising He says it is. Therefore, feelings such as discomfort, fatigue, tension or pain slow down our perception of time. In previous studies; age, emotions, drugs, body temperature We have seen that many different factors, such as changes over time, can play with our perception of time.

They thought that time passed slowly even during the competition

However, it should be noted that something different was observed in this study. While participants were riding their bikes, they were confronted with a second avatar that was added to the screen in front of them. Such an competitive environment made. This avatar cycled, just like the participants, on a virtual cycling track. In one of the experiments, participants were asked to compete with this avatar.

In the results, time still flows slowly noticed. So even when they were competing, they thought it was slower than listening. This is actually a bit surprising. Because we can normally think that time passes faster for people who try to outdo others during an activity. But the results here don’t say that.

Of course, there could be some reasons behind this. The fact that the participants were racing with an avatar instead of a real person may have prevented them from taking the situation too seriously. Or these 33 people are enough to devote all their attention to the race. They’re not competitive, we don’t know. Since this is a small study, nothing can be said about this. Running larger experiments will yield better results.