A Comparative Study Of Motivational Self-talk And The PETTLEP Phenotype Model On Biceps Strength Gains

STUDY BACKGROUND: Research has found that there may be no substitute for greater muscle strength to promote athletic performance.Promoting strength development has been an important topic in the field of sports.How to improve strength without increasing physical exercise.Sport psychology has given us some new ways to do so.Self-talk and representational training are common interventions in sports psychology,and studies have shown that representational training and self-talk are helpful in enhancing strength performance,but there is no conclusive evidence as to which of these interventions is more beneficial to strength development.STUDY OBJECTIVE: To discuss and analyze the effects of two different psychological interventions for eight weeks on biceps strength improvement and to test the differences between two different psychological interventions,motivational self-talk and PETTLEP representational training,for improving strength quality.RESEARCH METHODS: This paper used the literature method,experimental method and mathematical and statistical method.Fifty-one people were tested in an elective course at Wuhan Sports College and randomly divided into motivational self-talk,PETTLEP representational model group and traditional exercise group,17 people in each group.An eight-week experimental intervention was conducted,with exercises twice a week.Motivational self-talk group: one set of physical exercises was completed after the motivational self-talk,PETTLEP representational model group: one set of physical exercises was completed after the PETTLEP representational training.Traditional exercise group: two sets of physical exercises were completed.Baseline assessments were performed before the experiment and 1RM tests were performed every two weeks after the formal experiment.The1 RM test scores and the 1RM growth scores of the two adjacent sessions were analyzed.RESULTS: Two-factor repeated measures of variance showed(1)comparisons of 1RM scores between groups.In all four tests at T1,T2,T3,and T4,the traditional practice group outperformed the PETTLEP phenotype model group but there was no significant difference(p>0.05);the PETTLEP phenotype model group outperformed the motivational self-talk group but there was no significant difference(p>0.05);the traditional practice group outperformed the motivational self-talk group but there was no significant(p>0.05).When comparing the 1RM growth between groups,the 1RM growth in the T0-T1 and T1-T2 PETTLEP phenotype model groups was significantly better than that in the motivational talk group(p < 0.05);the 1RM growth in the T2-T3 and T3-T4 motivational talk groups was better than that in the PETTLEP phenotype model group but there was no significant difference(p > 0.05).(2)Motivational self-talk: when comparing 1RM within groups,1RM in the motivational self-talk group increased sequentially at T0,T1,T2,T3,and T4,all reaching significant levels(p < 0.05).Within-group 1RM growth,1RM growth in the motivational self-talk group increased sequentially at T0-T1,T1-T2,T2-T3,and T3-T4,but none reached a significant level(p > 0.05).(3)PETTLEP phenotype model: within-group comparison of1 RM,subjects increased sequentially at T0,T1,T2,T3,and T4 1RM,respectively,all reaching significant levels(p < 0.05).For the within-group comparison of 1RM increases,subjects had significantly higher 1RM increases in T0-T1 and T1-T2 than in T2-T3 and T3-T4(p < 0.05);subjects had higher 1RM increases in T1-T2 than in T0-T1,but did not reach a significant level(p > 0.05);subjects had higher 1RM increases in T2-T3 than in T3-T4,but did not reach a significant level(p > 0.05).Conclusions:(1)Both the motivational self-talk and PETTLEP models promoted biceps strength gains,with the PETTLEP phenotype model outperforming the motivational self-talk group in terms of strength performance.(2)In the second four weeks of the experiment,the motivational self-talk group had a better lifting effect than the PETTLEP model group.This reminds us of the superior performance of motivated self-talk in the later stages of movement learning.(3)In terms of the overall training effect,the PETTLEP representational model performed the best,but the performance of motivational self-talk in the middle and late stages of the experiment was also surprising.Thus the primary stage of motor skill formation can include PETTLEP representational exercises to enhance the efficiency of learned skills.At the end of the primary stage,motivational self-talk exercises can be added to promote further improvement of strength level.