Looking ahead can help you run better, new study finds
The factors that go into optimizing athletic performance have long been of interest to trainers, scientists and, of course, athletes themselves. These include workout regimens, nutrition and technique. A team of psychology researchers at Creighton, New York University and Rutgers University has now uncovered a more basic influence on success: visual attention.
In an investigation of nearly 1,600 runners, scientists found that narrowing visual attention—zooming in on the finish rather than taking in the surroundings—serves as a powerful self-regulation strategy that can boost both effort and performance.
“Running is an activity that confers several health benefits, but it’s hard – it requires considerable effort, and being quick-to-fatigue is one reason why many people don’t enjoy it,” said Corey Guenther, a professor of psychological science at Creighton University and one of the authors of the study, which appears in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. “However, our findings offer a simple, free intervention that anyone can employ to improve running efficiency, especially when you’re tired—narrowing visual attention on objects up ahead as you move from earlier to later in a run can significantly bolster your effort.”
The researchers refer to the technique as “attentional narrowing.” In surveys, runners reported increasingly narrowing their attention as they neared a goal, such as a finish line. That pattern was even more common among faster, more experienced runners, including those who regularly compete.
Researchers then tested the strategy in a series of controlled experiments. Runners were asked to either narrow or widen their attention while running set distances—either 400 meters or one mile. In some cases, they were told to narrow their attention during the entire run; in others, just toward the end. Heart rate data was used to track effort during the runs.
“Looking at one spot ahead of you—rather than around you—can help you keep going,” explains Emily Balcetis, an associate professor of psychology at New York University and the lead author of the paper. “By increasingly narrowing attention as a runner moves from earlier to later stages of a run or race—like locking in on a target, then finding another after you pass the first, and eventually the finish line—they run faster, raise their heart rate, and perform better.”
Across all experiments, runners who narrowed their focus—especially later in their run—performed better and showed higher heart rates, signaling more sustained effort.
“The findings offer a low-cost and simple way to improve running performance—merely by adjusting how we direct our attention,” concludes Shana Cole, an associate professor of psychology in the Rutgers University School of Arts and Sciences and one of the study’s authors.
