Analysis of the acute effects of mental fatigue on learning rope maneuvers in beginners of nature and adventure sports

Abstract

The increase in the number of practitioners has led to a rise in the number of accidents in Nature and Adventure Sports (NAS). To mitigate risk factors, it is essential that the teaching-learning process is effective and adapted to new practitioners, considering the risks associated with rope maneuvers. The objective of the present study was to understand the effects of mental fatigue on learning rope maneuvers in NAS. The design used in this study was a crossover. The study sample had a mean age of 21.9±2.51 years, totaling 16 beginner individuals in NAS, divided equally and randomly into two groups. Group 1 received instruction for CAT maneuver 1, followed by 30 minutes of mental fatigue induction through the Stroop task, and subsequently performed the maneuver test. On the same day, a second group (Group B, n=8) underwent the same procedure, using CAT maneuver 2 and changing the mental fatigue condition to the control task, resting for 30 minutes. After exactly 7 days, a new data collection was performed, crossing the groups. The results indicate that execution time was longer in the mental fatigue condition than in the initial condition (+1.1% and p=0.737), while without mental fatigue it decreased (-21.3% and P<0.001). Execution quality was lower by about -1.6% in the initial condition than in the mental fatigue condition (p=0.571), but increased by +2.6% without mental fatigue (p=0.279). Finally, the Final Score was higher in the mental fatigue condition than in the initial condition (+6.3% and p=0.469), but significantly higher without mental fatigue (+30.8% and P<0.001). In summary, the results of this study suggest that mental fatigue had negative impacts on the learning of rope maneuvers in NAS, considering that beginners did not improve under this condition. However, when comparing the initial condition with the condition without mental fatigue, a significant improvement in execution time and Final Score was observed.