Supercharge your performance with brain endurance training
Can Brain Endurance Training make you faster?
While Cartesian dualism would have us believe that the mind and body are two separate entities, when it comes to endurance sport it is increasingly evident that the two cannot be separated. They are absolutely intertwined, and if we only train the physical body we are missing out on massive performance gains.
Don’t mistake this for psychology (which is also extremely important!) this is about creating physical adaptations in the brain so that you can perform better, for longer.
That weird heavy legged feeling, that odd lack of coordination, that clunkiness and elevated perception of effort? That’s all rooted in the brain. When I talk about resisting mental fatigue, I don’t mean Dave Goggins style mental strength - be hard! - I mean train the brain itself to function better in a fatigued state. Literally restructure your brain so that mile 22 of the marathon, or mile 85 of a 100-miler feel different.
That's the idea behind Brain Endurance Training, or BET.
The science of perceived effort
Research has shown that athletes can produce a strong effort immediately after a “test to exhaustion,” and this is something you’ve probably experienced yourself on seeing a finish line and “finding an extra gear.”
What limits endurance performance is mental fatigue. And mental fatigue increases perception of effort. The brain constantly monitors how you feel versus how far it is to the finish line. The more cognitively tired you are, the harder the same pace feels, and the sooner your brain instructs you to slow down or stop.
How does BET work?
Brain Endurance Training works by increasing the load on the brain during endurance performance, inducing adaptations in specific cortical areas (particularly the anterior cingulate cortex) to build resistance to mental fatigue.
In practice, this means performing demanding cognitive tasks such as the Stroop task, n-back memory tests, or task switching exercises during or immediately after physical training. All three are available here (includes free tier).
Research has found that not only do faster runners perform better in these kinds of cognitive tasks, but that doing them before, during or after running can improve running performance. Cool huh?
How to intergrate BET into your workouts
You can do several minutes of brain training before or after easy runs.
If you’re using an elliptical or indoor bike you can do them during the session, without stopping.
Between intervals: e.g. 800m fast, 90s rest with 1 minute brain training during the rest.
The brain training games on this website:
The Stroop test
This test shows you words of colours, in different colours (e.g. it say “yellow” but the ink is blue). You have to ignore the word and select “blue”. It measures and trains selective attention, cognitive flexibility, and processing speed.
N-back test
This test asks you whether the current letter and location match the one you saw n steps ago (e.g. 1 back would be the letter you just saw and it’s location, 2-back would be the letter you saw 2 letters ago…). It measures and trains working memory capacity and executive function.
Task Switching
This test alternates rules such as is the number odd or even, or is it low or high. By switching rules at random intervals it measures and improves your cognitive flexibility.
Test yourself!
Together these games help you delay mental fatigue, maintain focus and perform better for longer.
Try them here → Brain Endurance Training
Basic level, 1-minute games are free, the paid tier gives you access to all the games on all your devices (save your code!).