To Experience Time Slowing Down, Try the “Plank” Exercise.
Whether it’s yoga, running, or High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), most people feel quite optimistic before trying a new workout.
When you do the Plank exercise, you’ll feel how time slows down.
We often think these exercises are relatively straightforward, especially during the initial phase:
For instance, a beginner yoga session typically lasts only 30 minutes. A beginner’s running session is similar, where you just run for 2 minutes, walk for 2 minutes, and repeat.
HIIT requires even less time. The entire workout only takes 10 minutes, with each exercise lasting a mere 30 seconds.
But what is the reality? Most beginners struggle to maintain the necessary duration for their workouts.
You find yourself counting down the last moments of 30 minutes of yoga, 2 minutes of running, and 30 seconds of HIIT in desperation. All you wish for at that moment is for the second hand on the wall clock, the treadmill, or your wristwatch to move faster.
Ironically, it tends to slow down, by at least 8% – according to a scientific article published in the journal Brain and Behavior.
This research is the first to “convincingly demonstrate that human perception of time slows down during exercise“, says Professor Andrew Mark Edwards, a sports scientist from Canterbury Christ Church University in the UK.
To validate his hypothesis, Professor Edwards and colleagues invited 33 adults to participate in an experiment for the study.
They were asked to estimate and count down a period of 30 seconds without using a clock – meaning participants only counted down based on how they felt time passing in their brains.
The test was conducted in two scenarios: while sitting at rest and during exercise, specifically pedaling a stationary bike over a 4-kilometer test distance.
The results showed that when the volunteers were resting, they counted down 30 seconds slower than the clock. This means that their perception of time was contracting, making real time feel like it was passing more quickly.
In contrast, all those pedaling reported counting faster, indicating that they felt real time was passing too slowly. Scientists calculated this discrepancy to be as much as 8%. This means that for every minute of exercise, it feels as though it stretches out by an additional 4.8 seconds.
Human perception of time slows down during exercise. (Illustrative image).
“Einstein’s theory of relativity acknowledged the similarity between the relativity of physical and psychological time over a century ago: ‘When a man sits with a beautiful girl for an hour, it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute – and it feels longer than any hour. That’s relativity,” scientists wrote in the study.
“Previous studies have shown that exercise distorts the perception of time (subjective time), creating the feeling that time is slowing down, leading to an underestimation of the actual time that has passed. This observation may have implications for athletes competing when racing against the clock or rivals.”
However, in this study, Professor Edwards and colleagues demonstrated that the effect of time slowing down occurs even when exercising alone.
Specifically, when those on the stationary bike were asked to repeat the exercise while competing against a virtual opponent, or without any competition, the 30 seconds they estimated still felt stretched by a constant amount, approximately 8%, corresponding to 2.4 seconds.
This means the effect of time slowing down in our brains during exercise occurs independently of intensity or competition.
In all trials and at all intensity levels, participants felt that time passed at the same rate but slower than when at rest, Professor Edwards noted.
Explaining this effect, he wrote:
“Subjective perception of time can be distorted in either direction; for instance, time seems to fly when we are not paying attention to how much has passed. Conversely, it slows down when we increase our focus on that duration.
In a sports context, when negative pain signals from exercise reach the brain, heightening attention levels, individuals achieve a high state of cognitive alignment and focus more on the passage of time, leading them to perceive time as moving more slowly.”
The sensation of pain while exercising can also draw our attention to time and make it feel like it passes more slowly. (Illustrative image).
The new study aligns with previous findings indicating that human perception of time can change based on age, emotions, the use of stimulants, drugs, and now exercise.
Some psychologists suggest that exercise can create a distortion of time perception due to the excitement from hormones released during workouts.
Additionally, the sensation of pain during exercise may also make us more aware of time and feel it passing more slowly. Earlier studies have shown that cancer patients experiencing pain during chemotherapy feel like their infusions last nearly forever.
Whatever the cause, Professor Edwards and colleagues suggest that their research has significant implications for athletes, who calculate strategies down to the last second on the track or in competition.
Being aware that their perception of time is skewed by about 8% will allow them to adjust their racing strategies accurately. Furthermore, the study also illustrates that the effect of time perception can vary depending on the circumstances.
Sometimes you feel time flies by too quickly; other times, it drags on too slowly. This is entirely normal and can be explained by “Einstein’s theory of relativity” in psychology.
For someone in the gym, you now have a reason to stand up and ask your trainer to let you leave 5 minutes early. Because an hour in the gym actually feels like 4.8 minutes longer in your brain compared to real life.
