We all tend to take on a strained grimace when we exercise.
But did you know this expression could be worsening the pain and your performance?
Or that replacing it with a smile can make you feel and perform even better?
Our exercise face
You might not be aware of it (unless you’re prone to check yourself out in the mirror at the gym) but there’s a good chance you have an “exercise face”.
It’s an unmistakable expression that reflects the effort of physical activity.
A furrowed brow, narrowed eye, wrinkled nose and clenched jaw. A blend of concentration and discomfort.
It’s an expression that’s as reliable and involuntarily as those that show our excitement or irritation.
A quick glance at a person’s face as they exercise can tell you how hard they’re working. It’s written all over their face.
And numerous studies have backed up what we know anecdotally.
They’ve found exercise workload and physiological strain (measured by things like the electrical activity in exercising muscles, heart rate, and perceived exertion) were associated with that exercise-induced frown
In other words, the strain of exercise causes us to take on typical frowning face.
A two-way street
So far, this makes perfect sense.
We know facial expressions to be an automatic reflection of how we’re feeling. They’re a way of communicating how we’re feeling to others. Emotions like joy and surprise, fear and anger burst into our facial expressions without us realising.
But we don’t tend to realise it’s not a one-way street. It’s not simple, unidirectional case of emotions affecting facial expressions.
It’s bidirectional. Facial expressions also affect how we feel.
Different expressions cause the sensory nerves in our face to send feedback to our brain. It’s really no different from the sensory feedback triggered by a cool breeze on our cheek or an itch on our nose.
And again, there’s plenty of research to support this idea.
In one of the early experiments in this area, participants had to read a bunch of cartoons and rate how funny they were. But there was a catch.
They had to read the cartoons in one of three different conditions:
- Frowning – some of them had to hold a pen in their mouth using only their lips, which created a serious expression
- Smiling – others had to hold a pen in their mouth using only their front teeth, which forced a smile
- Neutral – the remainder had to hold a pen in their non-dominant hand, which served as a control.
Despite being completely unaware of the experiment’s true purpose, those who read the cartoons while smiling found them the funniest. Whereas those who were forced to frown found them less funny than those who held the pen in their hand.
It not only demonstrated the effect of facial expression on perception but also showed the benefits of a smile and drawbacks of a frown.
I know this idea can seem a but of a stretch at first. But that’s largely because we’ve never considered it.
We don’t tend to manufacture facial expressions where they don’t fit (apart having to force a smile here and there to be polite).
However, a newfound awareness of this fact can allow us to manipulate our facial expressions to help control how we feel. A handy little trick in many areas of our life.
Tweaking our exercise expression
So as expected, our exercise frown is a natural consequence of pushing ourselves.
But as we now also realise, that frown isn’t just a consequence. It’s also causing an effect.
And it’s not a good one.
Research has found that running at 70% of our maximum felt more effortful when frowning compared with smiling or running normally. This is despite the workload being identical for each condition.
Fortunately, we also know this is only half of the story and we don’t have to suffer.
A frown can be countered. Not only can we not-frown and return things to an even-keel but we can add a smile and tip things in a positive direction.
We can turn a vicious cycle into a virtuous one by simply turning that frown upside down.
That same study discovered that smiling while running enabled that same workload to be completed using less oxygen compared with running normally or running while frowning.
In other words, the runners didn’t just perceive the workload as being easier when they smiled – it was easier. They didn’t have to work as hard. They effectively had a higher fitness level when they were smiling.
This evidence offers us an incredible opportunity to take greater control of our experience of exercise.
A simple smile (even if only an occasional one) is an effortless yet effective tool that can to improve exercise performance and make exercise more pleasurable (or at the least, less miserable).
But if you think a smile is a stretch, at least try to wipe away that pained grimace and you’ll still feel better for it.
Blocked by Botox
Ok so this has nothing to do with exercise. But it’s a kinda’ fun and interesting sideline to what we’ve been discussing. Especially if you’re still not entirely convinced on the ability of facial expressions to control emotions.
What better way to block facial expression than a shot of Botox – a chemical injected into a muscle to paralyse it.
We tend to know of Botox as the go-to when you want to prevent frowning – or more importantly the wrinkles it causes.
But with this newfound notion of facial expressions affecting emotions in mind, you have to wonder whether it’s more than skin deep.
And it is.
A study gave their subjects a shot of Botox in the muscles used for frowning and then asked them to frown.
Then, while those poor people attempted to make those paralysed muscles frown, the investigators measured the electrical activity in the area of the brain associated with emotional processing.
They found a significant reduction in activity.
When frowning was made impossible, there was less emotion.
This finding has paved the way for Botox to be used in a new therapeutic angle (keeping in mind that Botox was originally used for medical rather than cosmetic purposes).
When Botox has been used to prevent frowning among studies of clinically depressed patients, it has caused significant improvements in mood.
And adds further support to the use of facial expressions as a tool to manipulate our physiology, perceptions and performance.
A final note
So next time you’re exercising, be mindful of what your face is doing and give this a go. It doesn’t have to be an ear-to-ear kind of smile that just makes you look and feel weird. Just enough to turn off those frowning muscles and activate the smiling ones.
If you’re a bit embarrassed about the idea, put in your headphones and pretend you’re listening to something hilarious. Or better yet, actually listen to something hilarious.
A smile here and there has certainly helped me to more comfortably run up a steep hill and push out those last few reps of weight training – and just generally lighten the mood during exercise.
I hope you get a taste of the same.
