Cardioventilatory changes induced by mentally imaged rowing

Mentally imaged but unexecuted physical activity has been reported to induce a cardiorespiratory change. In order to test whether the previous experience of the performed exercise was a prerequisite to observe these changes, ventilation and heart rate were recorded during mental imagination of a rowing race in four groups of volunteers: 12 competitive rowers, 10 non-rower athletes, 12 students (22–30 years old) and 12 senior subjects (50–60 years old). Recordings were performed at rest, during the viewing of a rowing race and during mental imagination of this race. Analysis of variance revealed significant condition effect for all cardiorespiratory variables. All subjects increased their breathing rate (mean increase: 16 breaths·min⁻¹ in rowers, 8 breaths·min⁻¹ in athletes, 8 breaths·min⁻¹ in students, and 6 breaths·min⁻¹ in seniors), 29 decreased their tidal volume (mean decrease: 100 ml in rowers, 102 ml in athletes, 120 ml in students and 26 ml in seniors), with an increase in the resulting ventilation in 38 subjects (mean increase: 14 l·min⁻¹ in rowers, 3.6 l·min⁻¹ in athletes, 2.8 l·min⁻¹ in students, 2.6 l·min⁻¹ in seniors). Heart rate was increased in 34 subjects (mean increase: 12 beats·min⁻¹ in rowers, 5 beats·min⁻¹ in athletes, 6 beats·min⁻¹ in students and 5 beats·min⁻¹ in seniors). The number of subjects who exhibited changes was evenly distributed among the four groups. However, mean values of the changes were higher in rowers than in the three other groups, mainly due to three rowers who exhibited extremely large increases in cardioventilatory variables. Analysis of variance showed no significant group effect for heart rate and breathing rate. These results suggest that rowing experience may not be necessary for changes in heart rate and ventilation to be elicited by mentally imagining a rowing race.