Athletes Use of Exercise Imagery During Weight Training 2007

7/24/2019 Athletes Use of Exercise Imagery During Weight Training 2007

1/6

See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: http://www.researchgate.net/publication/5772799

Athletes' use of exercise imagery during weighttraining

ARTICLE in THE JOURNAL OF STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING RESEARCH DECEMBER 2007

Impact Factor: 1.86 DOI: 10.1519/R-20746.1 Source: PubMed

CITATIONS

4

DOWNLOADS

15

VIEWS

442

3 AUTHORS, INCLUDING:

Lindsay Ross-Stewart

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

7PUBLICATIONS 27CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE

Available from: Lindsay Ross-Stewart

Retrieved on: 19 August 2015
http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lindsay_Ross-Stewart?enrichId=rgreq-920dd411-88cb-4d3b-8ba9-2db4bcb5deed&enrichSource=Y292ZXJQYWdlOzU3NzI3OTk7QVM6MjI1NzY2Mjk5MTgxMDU2QDE0MzA4MzgyODgwMTc%3D&el=1_x_4http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lindsay_Ross-Stewart?enrichId=rgreq-920dd411-88cb-4d3b-8ba9-2db4bcb5deed&enrichSource=Y292ZXJQYWdlOzU3NzI3OTk7QVM6MjI1NzY2Mjk5MTgxMDU2QDE0MzA4MzgyODgwMTc%3D&el=1_x_5http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lindsay_Ross-Stewart?enrichId=rgreq-920dd411-88cb-4d3b-8ba9-2db4bcb5deed&enrichSource=Y292ZXJQYWdlOzU3NzI3OTk7QVM6MjI1NzY2Mjk5MTgxMDU2QDE0MzA4MzgyODgwMTc%3D&el=1_x_5http://www.researchgate.net/?enrichId=rgreq-920dd411-88cb-4d3b-8ba9-2db4bcb5deed&enrichSource=Y292ZXJQYWdlOzU3NzI3OTk7QVM6MjI1NzY2Mjk5MTgxMDU2QDE0MzA4MzgyODgwMTc%3D&el=1_x_1http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lindsay_Ross-Stewart?enrichId=rgreq-920dd411-88cb-4d3b-8ba9-2db4bcb5deed&enrichSource=Y292ZXJQYWdlOzU3NzI3OTk7QVM6MjI1NzY2Mjk5MTgxMDU2QDE0MzA4MzgyODgwMTc%3D&el=1_x_7http://www.researchgate.net/institution/Southern_Illinois_University_Edwardsville?enrichId=rgreq-920dd411-88cb-4d3b-8ba9-2db4bcb5deed&enrichSource=Y292ZXJQYWdlOzU3NzI3OTk7QVM6MjI1NzY2Mjk5MTgxMDU2QDE0MzA4MzgyODgwMTc%3D&el=1_x_6http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lindsay_Ross-Stewart?enrichId=rgreq-920dd411-88cb-4d3b-8ba9-2db4bcb5deed&enrichSource=Y292ZXJQYWdlOzU3NzI3OTk7QVM6MjI1NzY2Mjk5MTgxMDU2QDE0MzA4MzgyODgwMTc%3D&el=1_x_5http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lindsay_Ross-Stewart?enrichId=rgreq-920dd411-88cb-4d3b-8ba9-2db4bcb5deed&enrichSource=Y292ZXJQYWdlOzU3NzI3OTk7QVM6MjI1NzY2Mjk5MTgxMDU2QDE0MzA4MzgyODgwMTc%3D&el=1_x_4http://www.researchgate.net/?enrichId=rgreq-920dd411-88cb-4d3b-8ba9-2db4bcb5deed&enrichSource=Y292ZXJQYWdlOzU3NzI3OTk7QVM6MjI1NzY2Mjk5MTgxMDU2QDE0MzA4MzgyODgwMTc%3D&el=1_x_1http://www.researchgate.net/publication/5772799_Athletes%27_use_of_exercise_imagery_during_weight_training?enrichId=rgreq-920dd411-88cb-4d3b-8ba9-2db4bcb5deed&enrichSource=Y292ZXJQYWdlOzU3NzI3OTk7QVM6MjI1NzY2Mjk5MTgxMDU2QDE0MzA4MzgyODgwMTc%3D&el=1_x_3http://www.researchgate.net/publication/5772799_Athletes%27_use_of_exercise_imagery_during_weight_training?enrichId=rgreq-920dd411-88cb-4d3b-8ba9-2db4bcb5deed&enrichSource=Y292ZXJQYWdlOzU3NzI3OTk7QVM6MjI1NzY2Mjk5MTgxMDU2QDE0MzA4MzgyODgwMTc%3D&el=1_x_2


2/61077

Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2007, 21(4), 10771081 2007 National Strength & Conditioning Association

ATHLETES USE OF EXERCISE IMAGERYDURINGWEIGHT TRAINING

MICHAEL S. SILBERNAGEL, SANDRAE. SHORT, ANDLINDSAYC. ROSS-STEWART

Department of Physical Education and Exercise Science, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota58202.

ABSTRACT. Silbernagel, M.S., S.E. Short, and L.C. Ross-Stew-art. Athletes use of exercise imagery during weight training.J.Strength Cond. Res. 21(4):10771081. 2007.Imagery is a cog-nitive process during which people use their minds to create (orrecreate) experiences that are similar to real-life situations. Thisstudy examined how college athletes used imagery duringweight training. Subjects were 295 Division I (n 163) and Di-vision II (n 132) college student athletes (men: n 138, wom-en: n 157) who participated in a weight training program asa requirement of their sport. They completed a slightly modifiedversion of the Weight Lifting Imagery Questionnaire. Results

showed that appearance imagery (i.e., images related to the at-tainment of a fit-looking body) was used and considered the mosteffective followed by technique imagery (i.e., images related toperforming the skill and techniques correctly with good form)and energy imagery (i.e., images related to getting psyched upor feeling energized). Other variables that effected imagery usewere gender, age, time of season, and levels of motivation. Inaddition, gender, previous imagery training, and level of moti-vation had an effect on the perceptions of imagery effectiveness.Confidence in the ability to image was associated with both im-agery use and effectiveness, and imagery use and effectivenesswere associated with confidence in the weight room. The find-ings support previous research in exercise imagery that appear-ance imagery is most used followed by technique and energyimagery and extend them in such a way that strength coacheshave practical advice on how to use imagery in a positive way

with their athletes. Suggestions about how strength coaches canuse imagery with their clients are provided.

KEYWORDS. visualization, strength training, confidence

INTRODUCTION

In sport settings, imagery is regarded as one ofthe most popular and effective techniques toenhance the learning and performance of skillsand strategies, to regulate arousal and anxiety,and to modify cognitions (e.g., self-confidence)

(9, 15). Imagery mimics real experience, during whichpeople can be aware of seeing an image; feeling move-ments as an image; or experiencing an image of smell,

tastes, or sounds. It differs from dreams in that peopleare awake and conscious when using imagery (20). Hall(6) was the first to suggest that people may use imageryin exercise settings just as they do in sports. Since then,several studies have been conducted on how imagery isused in exercise settings or by exercisers (4, 5, 7, 8, 11,13, 14, 16, 21). In several of these studies, the samplesincluded subjects who were involved in various super-vised and recreational weight training programs.

One of the most recent and relevant studies that ex-amined imagery use in weight training was conductedwith 415 men from a recreational setting (11). They com-pleted the Weight Lifting Imagery Questionnaire(WLIQ), which is a 9-item measure that involves ratinghow often certain images are used on a 9-point Likert

scale of 1 (never) to 9 (always). Note that the authors ofthe questionnaire inappropriately named it the weightlifting questionnaire when they should have usedweight training, strength training, or resistancetraining because they were not referring to the Olympicsport of weight lifting. To be consistent, we also refer toit as the Weight Lifting Imagery Questionnaire. TheWLIQ has 3 subscales: appearance imagery that focuseson the attainment of a fit-looking body, energy imagerythat relates to getting psyched up or feeling energized

and technique imagery that relates to performing theskill and techniques correctly with good form. Resultsshowed that subjects reported using appearance imagerythe most followed by technique and energy imagerywhich supported previous research from other samples ofexercisers (4, 7).

Informative as it may be, this study (11) was limitedin several ways. That is, the researchers used only menwho were involved in recreational weight training. Whatabout the use of exercise imagery by athletes who arerequired to train? Furthermore, what about women? Inaddition, the study was primarily descriptive in that itshowed that subjects used exercise imagery, but it did notaddress the effectiveness of the images. As has beenshown in sport imagery research, some athletes use images that are actually debilitative or harmful, and theseimages have a negative effect on their performances (1517).

The present study examined the frequency of imageryuse among collegiate athletes who were required to liftas well as their perceptions of the effectiveness of the im-ages. A number of other variables (e.g., gender, age, timeof season, imagery training, level of motivation) that mayaffect use and effectiveness were also considered. As hasbeen done in sports (10, 18), the relationship between confidence in ability to use imagery and imagery use andeffectiveness and the relationship between imagery useand effectiveness and confidence in the weight room werealso considered. Confidence is one of the key psychological

states thought to affect performance in many differensettings, including sports and exercise (3).

Although this was the first time that athletes use ofexercise imagery was examined in a required workoutsetting, there was no basis for hypothesizing that theseathletes would use exercise imagery differently than theother samples, like the recreational weight trainers. However, given that the workouts were required, we felt thatmotivation level would be important to consider andtherefore hypothesized that those who were more motivated in the weight room would use more imagery andperceive it as more effective. The other key variable ointerest was confidence. It was expected that those whowere more confident in their ability to image would useimagery more and perceive it as more effective. Imagery


3/6

1078 SILBERNAGEL, SHORT, ANDROSS-STEWART

use was also expected to be positively related to confi-dence.

METHODS

Experimental Approach to the Problem

A quantitative research design was used in which sub-jects completed a modified WLIQ and a background in-formation-type sheet after one of their required workouts.

Subjects

Approval to conduct this study was obtained by the In-stitutional Review Board of the University of North Da-kota. Once the subjects agreed to participate, they wereasked to sign a consent form. Subjects were 295 DivisionI (n 163) and Division II (n 132) college student ath-letes (men: n 138, women: n 157) who participatedin a strength training program as a requirement of theirsport. They were between 18 and 26 years of age (mean 20.10 1.39). They participated in a variety of sports:baseball (n 1), basketball (n 39), cheer and dance (n 25), football (n 72), golf (n 18), hockey (n 13),soccer (n 13), softball (n 14), swimming and diving

(n 26), track and field (n 68), and volleyball (n 6).They had been playing their sports for an average of 9.08years (SD 3.85, range 119). These athletes werecompleting either in-season (n 105) or out-of-season (n 190) strength training programs. The number of daysspent in the weight room ranged from 2 to 5 days perweek (mean 2.60 0.58) for the in-season athletes andfrom 2 to 6 days per week (mean 3.50 0.69) for theout-of-season athletes. Subjects also reported spending 115 hours per week in the weight room (mean 3.20 1.36) during in-season training and 1.512 hours perweek (mean 4.70 1.9) during the off season. The sub-jects had spent 15 years (mean 2.10 1.16) in astrength training program. All athletes, regardless ofwhether they were in or out of season, were supervised

by a strength and conditioning coach during their work-outs. All of the strength and conditioning coaches whosupervised the athletes used in this study were CertifiedStrength and Conditioning Specialists (through the Na-tional Strength and Conditioning Association) and hadUSA Weightlifting Club Coach certification. The pro-grams were all ground based and Olympic in nature, withboth linear and nonlinear periodization being used. Com-ponents of strength, speed, power, flexibility, and agilitywere addressed in the programs, primarily in accordancewith the sport coaches specific needs. Even though theathletes were from Divisions I and II and participated indifferent sports, the strength and conditioning profession-als involved had similar philosophies and coaching strat-

egies. Overall, the programs varied more in the type ofsport played rather than the division in which the partic-ipants played.

With respect to the subjects previous experience withimagery, subjects were asked whether or not they hadany training in imagery (i.e., had anyone ever taughtthem how to image?). Only 44.7% (n 132) answeredaffirmatively.

Procedures

Subjects were given a modified version of the WLIQ (11).The appearance items used were I imagine a more stron-ger/more explosive me from lifting weights, I imagine amore athletic me from lifting weights, and I imagine amore powerful me from lifting weights. The original

items for the appearance subscale are: I imagine a moremuscularly proportionate/balanced me from liftingweights, I imagine a more defined me from liftingweights, and I imagine a bigger me from liftingweights. These items were changed to give the subjectsappearance questions that were more closely related tothe terminology used by them and their coaches. Theitems for the other subscales were not changed. Cron-bachs alpha values for the imagery subscales were ac-ceptable: energy ( 0.88), technique ( 0.83), andappearance subscales ( 0.91).

The effectiveness of imagery was assessed by askingeach subject How does this image affect your perfor-mance in the weight room? Ratings were made on a 3(negative/hinders) to 0 (neutral) to 3 (positive/helps)scale. Like the imagery use ratings, effectiveness ratingswere completed for each item and computed separatelyfor each subscale. The alpha values for appearance, en-ergy, and technique effectiveness subscales were 0.90,0.72, and 0.78, respectively.

To assess the level of motivation for strength training,2 questions were used. The first question asked subjectsto rate their level of motivation in the weight room on a

scale of 0 to 9 (0 low and 9 high). The second questionwas a more indirect measure of motivation in which sub-jects were asked how much time they would spend in theweight room if they were not required to be there. Choiceswere less, the same, and more. The correlation be-tween these 2 questions was statistically significant (r 0.40, p 0.00). An analysis of variance using the Howmuch time would you spend in the weight room? variableas the independent variable and the level of motivationratings as the dependent variable was statistically sig-nificant (F[2, 292] 25.06, p 0.00). Posthoc testsshowed that those athletes who indicated that they wouldspend less time in the weight room reported the lowestmotivation scores (mean 5.81 1.97), followed by thesame group (mean 7.07 1.47), with the highest

scores reported by the more group (mean 7.80 1.11). The less, same, and more groups were rela-beled as representing low, moderate, and high motiva-tion.

The confidence measures used in this study were con-structed in accordance with Banduras (1) recommenda-tions. Confidence in the weight room was assessed by 2items: How confident are you in your ability to liftweights using the correct form/technique? and How con-fident are you in your ability to perform the lifts requiredin a workout? These items were significantly correlatedwith each other (r 0.66,p 0.00). For this reason, thescores for the items were averaged for each subject, cre-ating 1 confidence in the weight room variable. The al-

pha value for these 2 items was 0.80. Confidence in abilityto use imagery was assessed by asking the subjects thefollowing question: How confident are you in your abilityto use imagery in the weight room? Subjects respondedto the question using the same 0 (low) to 9 (high) Likert-type scale.

Statistical Analyses

Descriptive statistics were computed for all variables.Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used toevaluate differences according to gender, time of season,previous imagery training, and level of motivation on theWLIQ subscales. Correlations were computed betweenage and the WLIQ subscales, and well as for those anal-yses using the confidence variables. The p level for all


4/6

IMAGERY DURING WEIGHT TRAINING 1079

TABLE 1. Descriptive statistics for imagery use.

Appearance

Mean SD

Energy

Mean SD

Technique

Mean SD

Full sample 6.03 1.88 2.31 1.63 4.96 2.06

Gender

Men 6.37 1.98 2.78 1.87 5.36 2.09Women 5.74 1.74 1.91 1.26 4.61 1.97

Time of seasonIn season 6.27 1.69 2.34 1.60 5.40 2.11Off season 5.90 1.97 2.30 1.65 4.72 1.99

Imagery training

Yes 5.98 1.85 2.34 1.63 5.19 2.03No 6.08 1.91 2.29 1.63 4.78 2.07

Motivation

Low 5.39 1.79 1.58 0.88 4.26 1.94Moderate 6.06 1.87 2.35 1.59 5.10 2.08High 7.10 1.59 3.53 2.06 5.73 1.84

TABLE 3. Descriptive statistics for imagery effectiveness.

Appearance

Mean SD

Energy

Mean SD

Technique

Mean SD

Full sample 1.40 0.96 0.21 0.73 0.95 0.97

Gender

Men 1.70 0.93 0.34 0.81 1.16 0.98Women 1.14 0.91 0.10 0.63 0.77 0.94

Time of seasonIn season 1.57 0.82 0.26 0.75 1.22 0.94Off season 1.31 1.02 0.19 0.72 0.81 0.97

Imagery training

Yes 1.34 0.91 0.23 0.69 1.06 0.93No 1.46 1.00 0.20 0.76 0.86 1.01

Motivation

Low 0.95 0.93 0.04 0.55 0.56 0.92Moderate 1.45 0.86 0.21 0.70 1.05 0.97High 2.07 0.93 0.54 0.97 1.33 0.87

TABLE 2. Correlations between imagery use and confidence.

(1) (2) (3) (4)

(1) Appearance 1.00(2) Energy 0.49* 1.00(3) Technique 0.67* 0.51* 1.00(4) Confidence in the weight room 0.28* 0.10 0.29* 1.00(5) Confidence in ability to use imagery 0.43* 0.37* 0.50* 0.45*

* Correlations significant at 0.05 level.

analyses was set at 0.05; only significant results are re-ported below.

RESULTS

Descriptive results reported in Table 1 show that appear-ance imagery was used the most. From this subscale, theitem I imagine a more athletic me from lifting weightswas used the most (mean 6.55 2.16). Next was tech-nique imagery, and the item When I think about liftingweights, I imagine doing the required lifts (e.g. squat,power clean, bench) was used the most (mean 5.46 2.48). Energy imagery was used least often, but the itemTo get me energized, I imagine lifting weights was themost frequently used (mean 2.61 1.95).

The MANOVA for gender on imagery use was statis-tically significant (Wilks lambda 0.93,F[4, 290] 5.89,

p 0.05), and tests of between subjects effects showedthat men scored higher than women on all subscales: ap-pearance (F[1, 293] 8.41, p 0.05); energy (F[1, 293] 22.27, p 0.05); and technique (F[1, 293] 10.33, p 0.05). The MANOVA for time of season was also sta-tistically significant (Wilks lambda 0.96, F[4, 290] 2.75, p 0.05) but only for technique imagery(F[1, 293] 7.61, p 0.05). In all cases, the means forin season were higher compared with out of season. Theanalysis was statistically significant for motivation(Wilks lambda 0.83, F[8, 578] 7.21,p 0.05). Testsof between subject effects were statistically significant forall subscales: appearance (F[2, 292]) 13.38, p 0.05),technique (F[2, 292] 8.91, p 0.05), and energy(F[2, 292] 24.69, p 0.05). Subjects who were highlymotivated used imagery more than those who were mod-erately motivated, who, in turn, used imagery more thanthose who were low in motivation. Pearson correlation co-efficients for the relationship between subjects age and

imagery use were only significant for energy (r[293] 0.15,p 0.05), showing that the older athletes used moreenergy imagery. The correlations in Table 2 show thatthose who were more confident in their ability to use im-agery used imagery more. Furthermore, the imagery usesubscales were positively associated with confidence inthe weight room, except for energy.

Imagery Effectiveness

Descriptive statistics for the variables effecting imageryeffectiveness are shown in Table 3. Appearance imagerywas considered to be the most helpful, and the most ef-fective appearance image was I imagine a more athleticme from lifting weights (mean 1.68 1.12). Technique imagery was the second most effective, with itsmost effective image being When I think about lifting

weights, I imagine my form and body position (mean 1.10 1.15). Overall, energy imagery was the least effective, but the image perceived as most effective was Toget me energized, I imagine lifting weights (mean 0.28 1.02).

The MANOVA for effectiveness of imagery using gender as an independent variable was statistically signifi-cant (Wilks lambda 0.80, F[4, 290] 8.23, p 0.05)Men scored higher than women on appearance (F[1, 293 27.33, p 0.05), technique (F[1, 293] 11.85, p 0.05), and energy (F[1, 295] 7.79, p 0.05). Time oseason was also statistically significant (Wilks lambda 0.95,F[4, 290] 3.90,p 0.05), where mean ratings forin-season athletes were higher compared with out-of-season athletes for technique (F[1, 293] 12.38, p 0.05and appearance (F[1, 293] 4.80, p 0.05). Those whowere more motivated found imagery to be more effective(Wilks lambda 0.84, F[8, 578] 6.69, p 0.05), andthis was for all subscales: appearance (F[2, 292] 23.39


5/6

1080 SILBERNAGEL, SHORT, ANDROSS-STEWART

TABLE 4. Correlations between imagery effectiveness and confidence in the weight room.

(1) (2) (3) (4)

(1) Appearance 1.00(2) Energy 0.45* 1.00(3) Technique 0.60* 0.54* 1.00(4) Confidence in ability to use imagery 0.40* 0.27* 0.41* 1.00(5) Confidence in weight room 0.26* 0.10 0.23* 0.45*


TABLE 5. Correlations between imagery use and imagery ef-fectiveness.

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

Imagery use

(1) Appearance 1.00(2) Energy 0.49* 1.00(3) Technique 0.67* 0.51* 1.00

Imagery effectiveness

(4) Appearance 0.66* 0.36* 0.52* 1.00(5) Energy 0.28* 0.55* 0.33* 0.27*(6) Technique 0.44* 0.38* 0.71* 0.44* 0.38*


p 0.05); energy (F[2, 292] 7.22, p 0.05), and tech-nique (F[2, 292] 11.95, p 0.05).). Those who weremore confident in their ability to use imagery found im-agery to be more effective for energy, technique, and ap-pearance (Table 4). In addition, those who were more con-fident in the weight room felt that imagery was most ef-fective (with the exception of energy imagery).

The final analysis looked at the correlations betweenimagery use and effectiveness. As shown in Table 5, thosewho used imagery more often reported it to be more ef-fective.

DISCUSSION

Collegiate athletes who were required to participate inweight training programs used appearance imagery themost followed by technique imagery and energy imagery.These findings support the previous studies that lookedat imagery use by exercisers (e.g., aerobics performers,recreational weightlifters, runners, cardiovascular ma-chine users) other than athletes (4, 7, 11). One findingthat was slightly different than that of previous studieswas that men in this study scored higher on all of thesubscales than women. In previous studies (4, 7), womenscored higher on appearance imagery, and men scoredhigher on both technique and energy imagery. A reasonfor this difference may be that in previous studies, thesample sizes were uneven in that the majority of the sub-

jects were women. In this study there was close to a 50/50 split for gender. If the previous studies had closer men-to-women ratios, they may have shown that men usedappearance imagery more frequently as well. Overall, theresult makes sense because being stronger, more power-ful, and more athletic are common participation motivesfor these athletes.

Athletes who were in season had higher use of imag-ery than those who were out of season at the time of thestudy. No study in exercise imagery has looked at thisvariable because recreational exercisers were used, sotime of season was not an issue. This result shows thatathletes may use imagery to help keep them focused dur-ing in-season training. A strength coach can take advan-tage of this finding by implementing more imagery cues

during this time of season to keep the athletes focused.That out-of-season athletes used imagery less indicatesthat this is probably a good time to implement some for-mal imagery training; then when the season comesaround, the athletes can benefit the most from it. Resultsshowed that those who had imagery training found im-agery to be more effective.

Athletes who were more motivated were found to useimagery more frequently and also found it to be most ef-fective. Imagery has commonly been believed to have amotivational function (4, 7, 9, 11, 12). Although low levelsof motivation could be attributed to a variety of reasons,maybe imagery could be used to increase them. Future

research could explore this relationship. Interestingly, re-sults showed that the older the athlete was, the more en-ergy imagery he or she used. Maybe athletes used thisimagery to motivate themselves? It is also possible thatbecause older athletes have spent more time training,they may be less concerned with appearance and tech-nique imagery, therefore using energy imagery to getthrough the workouts.

Athletes who used imagery more often were more con-fident. This finding is another reason that strength coach-es should implement imagery training into their program.Although this was the first study to examine this rela-tionship in weight training, the relationship between im-agery use and confidence in sport is well established (9).

Like previous research, it was also shown that athleteswho were more confident in their ability to image used itmore often (18).

To date, no one has looked at the effectiveness of ex-ercise imagery. Asking the athletes to indicate their per-ceptions of the effectiveness of the images allows us to seewhich types of imagery and which images were most ef-fective. Results showed appearance imagery to be themost effective, followed by technique imagery and energy.This means that a strength coach would want to focus onappearance imagery and technique imagery while insert-ing some energy imagery cues now and then, becausethey are still used and considered to be beneficial. Suchcues as See yourself being explosive for appearance im-

agery, Feel yourself bringing your hips through and get-ting tall for technique imagery, and Lock yourself inand lets get things done today for energy imagery aresuggestions that can help an athlete use exercise imag-ery, probably without their even realizing they are usingit.

However, choosing the right image to give to an ath-lete is probably more complex. There were gender differ-ences in imagery effectiveness. Men perceived the exer-cise imagery subscales to be more effective than women,and for all items men thought the images were more pos-itive or helpful to their performance in the weight roomcompared with women. There were only a couple of im-ages that men and women did not differ significantly onwith respect to effectiveness (I imagine a more muscular


6/6

IMAGERY DURING WEIGHT TRAINING 1081

proportionate/balanced me from lifting weights, To takemy mind off work/class, I imagine lifting weights, and Iimagine a more defined me from lifting weights). Theseimages appear to be the safest to use with both menand women. However, the taking-my-mind-off-work/classimage was not considered to be very effective. Actually,for athletes who are low in motivation, any type of im-agery (appearance, energy, technique) was not consideredvery effective.

The time of the season also played a role in how ef-fective imagery was. In-season athletes not only usedmore imagery but also found it to be more effective thanthe out-of-season athletes, with statistically significantresults for technique and appearance imagery. This find-ing could be explained by the fact that in-season athletesare focusing more on fine-tuning their technique. Duringthis time, strength coaches should concentrate on cuesthat use technique imagery and also appearance imagerythat is specifically worded towards the subjects athleticgoals.

Athletes found imagery to be more effective if theyhad previous training in imagery. This finding was notfound for imagery use, though. This means that athletes

use imagery whether they have had formal training ornot. However, it is considered to be more effective bythose who have some experience with it. Strength coachesshould not only give cues to the athletes but also spenda few minutes teaching the athletes to image. Imagerytraining programs are not very time consuming. Some (2)have recommended an overall training period of approx-imately 20 minutes a day, and others have suggested ittakes far less time to teach such psychological techniquesas imagery (e.g., 5 minutes a day, 35 times per week)(19).

Finally, those athletes who were more confident intheir ability to use imagery not only used more imagerybut also found it to be more effective. There was also apositive relationship between imagery use and imageryeffectiveness and confidence in the weight room. Thus, itseems as though imagery is a source of confidence in theweight room, just as it is a source of confidence in sportsand other domains (1, 3). Future researchers could ex-plore these relationships more thoroughly to see if thereare mediating relationships between these variables, aswould be expected according to the model of imagery use(9) and previous research with athletes in sports (3, 18).

PRACTICALAPPLICATIONS

This study shows that athletes use imagery in the weightroom and find it to be effective. The findings from thisstudy extended previous research by showing that imag-

ery and confidence are related. The applications of thisstudy are that the findings shed light on how strengthcoaches should be using imagery with their athletes in

the weight room and which particular images are considered to be the most effective under different circumstances (both of which are discussed in more detail in the dis-cussion section of this paper), thereby allowing strengthcoaches to use imagery in a positive way with their athletes.

REFERENCES1. BANDURA, A. Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control. New York: Freeman

& Company, 1997.2. DRISKELL, J.E., C. COPPER, AND A. MORAN. Does mental practice enhanc

performance? J. Appl. Psychol. 79:481491. 1994.3. FELTZ, D.L., S.E. SHORT, AND P.J. SULLIVAN. Self-Efficacy in Sport

Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2008.

4. GAMMAGE, K., C.R. HALL, AND W. RODGERS. More about exercise imagery.Sport Psychol. 14:348359. 2000.

5. GIACOBBI, P.R., H.A. HAUSENBLAS, E.A. FALLON, AND C.R. HALL. Even

more about exercise imagery: A grounded theory of exercise imagery. J

Appl. Sport Psychol. 15:160175. 2003.

6. HALL, C.R. The motivational function of exercise imagery for participation in sport and exercise. In: Exercise Addiction: Motivation for Partici

pation in Sport and Exercise.J. Annett, B. Cripps, and H. Steinberg, eds

Leicester, UK: British Psychological Society, 1995. pp. 1521.7. HAUSENBLAS, H., C.R. HALL, W. RODGERS, AND K. MUNROE. Exercise

imagery: Its nature and measurement. J. Appl. Sport Psychol. 11:171

180. 1999.8. HAUSENBLAS, H.A., AND D. SYMONS-DOWNS. Relationship among sex, im

agery, and exercise dependence symptoms. Psychol. Addict. Behav. 16169172. 2002.

9. MARTIN, K.A., S.E. MORITZ, AND C.R. HALL. Imagery use in sport: A

literature review and applied model. Sport Psychol. 13:245268. 1999.

10. MORITZ, S.E., C.R. HALL, K.A. MARTIN, AND E.A. VADOCZ. What are confident athletes imaging? An examination of image content. Sport Psychol

10:171179. 1996.11. MUNROE-CHANDLER, K. J., A. KIM, AND K. GAMMAGE. Using imagery to

predict weightlifting dependency in men. Int. J. Mens Health 3:129139

2004.12. PAIVIO, A. Cognitive motivational functions of imagery in human perfor

mance. Can. J. Appl. Sport Sci. 10:2228. 1985.

13. RODGERS, W.M., C.R. HALL, C.M. BLANCHARD, AND K.J. MUNROE. Prediction of obligatory exercise by exercise-related imagery. Psychol. Ad

dict. Behav. 15:152154. 2001.

14. RODGERS, W.M., K. MUNROE, AND C. HALL. Relations among exerciseimagery, self-efficacy, exercise behavior, and intentions. Imagination

Cogn. Pers. 21:5565. 2001.

15. SHORT, S.E., J.M. BRUGGEMAN, S.G. ENGEL, T.L. MARBACK, L.J. WANGA. WILLADSEN, AND M.W. SHORT. The effect of imagery function and im

agery direction on self-efficacy and performance on a golf-putting taskSport Psychol. 16:4867. 2002.

16. SHORT, S.E., C.R. HALL, S.R. ENGEL, AND C.R. NIGG. Exercise imageryand the stages of change. J. Ment. Imagery 28:6178. 2004.

17. SHORT, S.E., E.V. MONSMA, AND M.W. SHORT. Imagery direction of theSport Imagery Questionnaire. J. Mental Imagery (In press).

18. SHORT, S.E., A. TENUTE, AND D.L. FELTZ. Imagery use in sport: Mediational effects for self-efficacy. J. Sport Sci. 23:951960. 2005.

19. WEINBERG, R., AND D. GOULD. Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology (3rd ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2005.

20. WHITE, A., AND L. HARDY. An in-depth analysis of the uses of imageryby high-level slalom canoeists and artistic gymnasts. Sport Psychol. 12387403. 1998.

21. WILSON, P.M., W.M. RODGERS, C.R. HALL, AND K.L. GAMMAGE. Do autonomous exercise regulations underpin different types of exercise imagery?J. Appl. Sport Psychol. 15:294306. 2003.

Address correspondence to Dr. Sandra E. Short, [email protected].

Athletes Use of Exercise Imagery During Weight Training 2007

Documents

Transcript of Athletes Use of Exercise Imagery During Weight Training 2007