It was while watching a basketball game during the test that runners performed the best. They consumed less oxygen, had lower blood lactate and a lower rating of perceived exertion compared with when they focused on themselves – all signs of working less hard for the same outcome. “The findings of this study demonstrate that running economy is improved and feelings of fatigue are lowest when using a combination of a dissociative-external focus of attention,” suggest the researchers.

It’s not the first study to suggest that the less you think about running, the easier it gets. A 2009 paper from the Journal of Sports Science on endurance sport also found that runners performed better when focusing on their external environment than when they focused on their breathing or movement. Researchers concluded that “for running… it is possible that conscious concentration on the movement impairs automatic control, thus leading to a less economic running style accompanied by a higher oxygen consumption.”

Why distraction might be better than mindfulness when it comes to running