Focused Attention Meditation as a Pre-Exercise Strategy for Reducing Anxiety in Speed Skaters.

A single session of focused attention meditation before high-intensity interval training reduces state anxiety in university-level speed skaters more than random thinking does. In a randomized crossover study, twenty-six athletes completed three pre-exercise conditions—focused attention meditation, controlled breathing, and random thinking—before performing eight 20-second maximal cycling sprints. State anxiety dropped by 5.0 points after meditation versus 1.0 point after random thinking, a statistically significant difference with a moderate effect size. Controlled breathing improved heart rate variability but did not affect anxiety. Neither meditation nor breathing altered average power output or fatigue during the sprints. The results suggest that focused attention meditation offers a practical, immediate anxiety reduction without harming high-intensity performance.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Anxiety is a common psychological challenge among athletes, particularly in response to intense training sessions. This randomized crossover study investigated the immediate effects of a single session of focused attention meditation on anxiety, autonomic responses, and performance during high-intensity intermittent training (HIIT) in twenty-six university-level speed skaters. Participants completed three pre-exercise interventions (focused attention meditation, controlled breathing, and random thinking) on separate occasions in a randomized order. Following each intervention, participants performed a leg cycling-based HIIT protocol consisting of 20 s of maximal effort work followed by 10 s of passive rest, repeated for 8 sets using a cycling ergometer. State anxiety was assessed using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and mood disturbance was evaluated using the Profile of Mood States. Autonomic and physiological responses were assessed via heart rate variability (coefficient of variation), oxygen uptake, and power output, measured before and after the intervention and the HIIT bout. Focused attention meditation significantly reduced state anxiety compared with random thinking (ΔSTAI: -5.0 [6.0] vs. -1.0 [4.3]; p < 0.05, effect size = 0.527), whereas controlled breathing primarily influenced heart rate variability (CV: 0.10 [0.11] vs. 0.07 [0.03]; p = 0.041, effect size = 0.736). No significant differences were observed among conditions in mean power output or fatigue index during HIIT. These findings suggest that single-session focused attention meditation may serve as a practical pre-exercise strategy for an immediate reduction in state anxiety, without compromising subsequent high-intensity exercise performance.