There have probably been at least a few times where working out has led to you curse up a storm. Maybe you weren’t proud of it, but a new study shows that it may have helped you a lot more than you know.
Researchers gathered together a group of people and had them perform two tests. One was cycling on a stationary bicycle and another was a handgrip test. They had the subjects perform both tasks, once while saying either a random word or a curse word, their personal favorite curse word.
And in both of the tests, when they cursed they performed better — either going faster or gripping harder.
So why? The researchers aren’t sure, but here is one theory, according to this article:
But we also consider whether it could be what psychologists call generalized inhibition. In other words, when you swear, you just don't care as much. You're just not as self-conscious. It could be that. That would be interesting because that would suggest swearing might help beyond physical tasks.
So there is still a lot of mystery, but who cares if it works, right? Just make sure that if you do try and give yourself a boost with a few swear words, that you’re not working out too close to any grandmas or little kids.
