Dynamic distortions of time during exercise and performance

Most athletes recognize that some points in a race, time seems to fly by (the gun has sounded and you are away, you can keep this up forever), while at other points the exercise seems to go on forever (your heart is pounding in your ears and your legs are getting heavy, how long is left to go). Although the dynamic nature of time perception during exercise is a common experience, scientific enquire into this phenomenon has only sparked recently. This is surprising as athletic competitions are often won by the smallest of margins. A well-timed decision could be detrimental in securing success.
The dynamic relation between time perception and exercise intensity will be investigated by comparing the subjective experience of time in a fixed-intensity research design. We will explore whether it can be empirically proven that we experience time to drag when we are asked to perform maximally. Continuing on, we must acknowledge that during real-life competition, athletes do not perform in a vacuum at a set exertion rates. Instead, athletes self-regulate their efforts reacting to both internal signals of fatigue, as well as the behaviour of competitors. In this context, the subjective perception of time seems to be distorted in either direction. The negative pains signals associated with high intensity physical activity lead to a perceived slowing of time through an increase of the attentional focus (i.e. in the moment). Alternatively, the external signals originating from environmental cues, such as opponents, could result in time being perceived as running faster by facilitating a dissociative state (i.e. distracted from the moment). These concepts will be explored by studying subjective time perception of exercisers performing self-regulated time trials, either with or without an opponent present.
The practical potential of external stimuli to impact time perception during exercise has been The presentation will conclude by bringing this theory to practice, as we explore how a deeper understanding of the dynamic nature of time perception and the influence of the environment could present a new frontier in optimizing performance. We discuss how a visual pace-setting system utilizing a series of illuminated LED lights on the inside of an athletics track has helped athletes to break several long-standing track running world records.


The dynamic relation between time perception and exercise intensity will be investigated by comparing the subjective experience of time in a fixed-intensity research design. We will explore whether it can be empirically proven that we experience time to drag when we are asked to perform maximally. Continuing on, we must acknowledge that during real-life competition, athletes do not perform in a vacuum at a set exertion rates. Instead, athletes self-regulate their efforts reacting to both internal signals of fatigue, as well as the behaviour of competitors. In this context, the subjective perception of time seems to be distorted in either direction. The negative pains signals associated with high intensity physical activity lead to a perceived slowing of time through an increase of the attentional focus (i.e. in the moment). Alternatively, the external signals originating from environmental cues, such as opponents, could result in time being perceived as running faster by facilitating a dissociative state (i.e. distracted from the moment). These concepts will be explored by studying subjective time perception of exercisers performing self-regulated time trials, either with or without an opponent present.

The practical potential of external stimuli to impact time perception during exercise has been The presentation will conclude by bringing this theory to practice, as we explore how a deeper understanding of the dynamic nature of time perception and the influence of the environment could present a new frontier in optimizing performance. We discuss how a visual pace-setting system utilizing a series of illuminated LED lights on the inside of an athletics track has helped athletes to break several long-standing track running world records.