Fatigue Induced by Physical and Mental Exertion Increases Perception of Effort and Impairs Subsequent Endurance Performance

Benjamin Pageaux, Romuald Lepers

Endurance performance involves the prolonged maintenance of constant or self-regulated power/velocity or torque/force. While the impact of numerous determinants of endurance performance has been previously reviewed, the impact of fatigue on subsequent endurance performance still needs to be documented. This review aims to present the impact of fatigue induced by physical or mental exertion on subsequent endurance performance. For the purpose of this review, endurance performance refers to performance during whole-body or single-joint endurance exercise soliciting mainly the aerobic energy system. First, the impact of physical and mental exertion on force production capacity is presented, with specific emphasize on the fact that solely physical exertion and not mental exertion induces a decrease in force production capacity of the working muscles. Then, the negative impact of fatigue induced by physical exertion and mental exertion on subsequent endurance performance is highlighted based on experimental data. Perception of effort being identified as the variable altered by both prior physical exertion and mental exertion, future studies should investigate the underlying mechanisms increasing perception of effort overtime and in presence of fatigue during endurance exercise. Perception of effort should be considered not only as marker of exercise intensity, but also as a factor limiting endurance performance. Therefore, using a psychophysiological approach to explain the regulation of endurance performance would allow a better understanding of the interaction between physiological and psychological phenomena known to impact endurance performance.