A team of researchers at the Auckland Institute of Technology, New Zealand, recently put the effects of 'verbal encouragement' under the microscope ('Verbal encouragement: effects on maximum effort isometric muscle action', PJ MacNair et al, Br J Sports Medicine 1996, vol 30, pp 243-245).

Twenty people were recruited. For the experiment, they sat down in the lab with their arms wired up to a 'dynamometer', a machine capable of measuring peak muscle force. After a warm-up, subjects were asked to perform two sets of three maximal- effort contractions of the elbow flexor muscle. While doing one set, they were verbally encouraged; while doing the other, there was a stony silence.

The mean peak force recorded was 5 per cent higher when the subjects were egged on. Other researchers have found similar effects in the past, and on analysis of results, it seems that there may be independent effects from the stimulus of a noise per se, how loud it is, and whether something encouraging is said.

Back in the 1960s, researchers discovered that hypnotic suggestions for being stronger or weaker could influence an individual's maximum strength by as much as 20-30 per cent. Another study found that speaking louder had more effect.

This may not have much of a practical application for competitive situations where all participants are surrounded by the same clamour. But for training, the message is that speaking up with plenty of encouragement will be received loud and clear - by the muscles as well as the brain.

Janet Stansfeld