A Systematic Review of Attentional Focus Strategies in Weightlifting

Abstract

The way an athlete focuses their attention when lifting a weight has the potential to influence strength development during training and performance outcomes during competition. The effects of attentional focus strategies during weightlifting tasks was investigated through a systematic review. Major databases (SportDISCUS, PsycINFO, Scopus) were searched using key terms relevant to attentional focus and weightlifting and reference lists of identified articles were also searched. Following screening, 16 articles were retained for analysis. The review showed that researchers have recruited experienced and novice weightlifters of both genders in their studies, although male experienced weightlifters are the most commonly studied demographic. Weightlifting tasks have varied from bench press, biceps curls, squats, and leg extensions with some studies using measures of force production against a force plate. The predominant manipulations have been between internal-associative and external-associative foci. An external attentional focus has shown to be beneficial in terms of movement economy as reflected in a variety of outcome measures. The results are interpreted within the framework provided by the Constrained Action Hypothesis and more generally the advantages of an external attentional focus for motor skill learning. An external focus of attention promotes automatic control of actions, thus preventing the motor system being constrained by conscious cognitive control. Implications for informing training programs for athletes and for advising athletes to maximize performance during competition are discussed.

Motor performance in violin bowing: Effects of attentional focus on acoustical, physiological and physical parameters of a sound-producing action

“…Results widely show that an external focus produces superior performance for many types of gross motor skill (e.g. Neumann, 2019;Wulf, 2013). This phenomenon is explained by the constrained action hypothesis (CAH, McNevin et al, 2002;Wulf, McNevin, & Shea, 2001) which states that attention to the movements of an automatised skill brings implicit processes into conscious awareness, disrupting automaticity and leading to impaired performance.…”

Superiority of external attentional focus for motor performance and learning: Systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

“…To date, the evidence synthesis of attentional focus effects has largely focused on the use of narrative (e.g., Lohse et al, 2012;Wulf, 2007aWulf, , 2007bWulf, , 2013Wulf & Lewthwaite, 2010, 2016Wulf & Prinz, 2001) or systematic (e.g., Neumann, 2019;Piccoli et al, 2018;Sturmberg et al, 2013) reviews without data aggregation, or meta-analyses limited to the analysis of single categories of motor tasks in either motor performance studies (Makaruk et al, 2020) or motor learning studies (Kim et al, 2017). We aimed to not only systematically find and select research studies from extant scientific literature comprised of experimental studies that compared the effects of different types of attentional focus using various outcome measures, but also comprehensively synthesize available empirical data, which have accumulated for over two decades, from this large pool of research studies across various design, sample, and task characteristics.…”

Exercise in virtual reality with a muscular avatar influences performance on a weightlifting exercise

“…It is possible that VR modality shifted participants' focus away from their body sensations and toward performing the movement. Such shift in attentional focus was shown to improve performance in weightlifting exercises (Neumann, 2019).…”