Turns out swearing at the gym can improve your workout. What’s the most effective swear word to unleash?

Our writer Rex Huppke spoke with Nick Washmuth, an associate professor in Samford University 's Department of Physical Therapy. Nick recently published a study that found unleashing profanity might give you a performance boost while exercising.

Let’s start with this: Can swearing really help us with our workouts?

We did a review of all the published experiments looking at the impact of swearing on physical performance, and they all had the same conclusion that swearing improves physical performance on tasks that are short and intense. They looked at cycling for 30 seconds as fast as you can, grip strength, a wall sit to exhaustion, the number of push ups you can do, the amount of time you'd hold a plank. And the evidence is compelling. With all these studies saying the same thing, this is reliable evidence.?

What actually happens physiologically when we swear?

We tend to see an increase in heart rate, blood pressure and respiratory rate, which would indicate being in a fight-or-flight response. In other words, you're physiologically aroused.?

Aroused, you say?

Interestingly, adults who have been punished for swearing as a kid show an increased fight-or-flight response when they do swear compared to people who have not been punished for swearing. So that plays into why we see this physiological response. It's believed that when you do something that's taboo, there's a risk for punishment, a risk for social judgment, and it's that risky behavior that gets you physiologically aroused. So essentially, it's the taboo nature of swearing that gives it its power.

So there’s a societal dynamic at play.

Yes. Let’s say I speak two languages. If I swear in my native tongue, the taboo-ness of those words is ingrained. But if I swear in my second language, I don't see that same physiological response. It doesn’t have the same contextual societal influence, because I didn't grow up learning those words are taboo.?

One of the main studies you reviewed involved subjects picking the swear word they’d use if they accidentally hit their head on something. What did that study show?

That study needed a way to standardize how participants self-selected their swear word. So they asked the participants to select which swear word they would use so it would have the same power or intensity for each individual. Then they did a grip-strength test. They did this while repeating their swear word and while repeating a neutral word, and they found that when repeating a swear word, their grip strength was significantly more when they swore. They also had participants cycle as hard as they could for 30 seconds. They did this while swearing and while repeating their neutral word and found that participants, when they swore, could exert more power on the bike.?

What seems to be the most powerful or effective swear word?

In theory, the stronger the swear word the more powerful the effect. But that is very individual. So let's say somebody is from a conservative Christian workplace and home life. They may find “damn” is the most intense swear word they would use. But somebody else may choose “fuck.” So it's very individual to that person. But hands down across the literature, “fuck” would be the most intense swear word.?

Along with physical performance, what else does swearing improve?

Swearing can improve social connection between people.? If I swear in front of you, that suggests I trust you enough to engage in that risky behavior.? Swearing also decreases the formality of our exchange, which makes it more likely to be ourselves, more authentic, which tends to improve social connection.? It has also been suggested that swearing can improve your ability to recall information.? There is some evidence that information that is accompanied by a swear word is remembered more easily compared to information that is not accompanied by a swear word.? We are currently testing this hypothesis by investigating the impact of professor swearing on student learning.? Another current project in our lab involves participants sticking their hand in ice water, which is painful but won’t injure them, and have them hold it in for as long as they can. We have them repeat “fuck” or “damn” or a neutral word, and it appears there is an impact based on the intensity of the swear word. People can hold their hand in ice water longer when saying “fuck.”

I would say that if my hand was in ice water. What about the psychological part of this? Does swearing just get us jazzed up?

The theory we are currently working on is that swearing also increases psychological arousal and increases self confidence, humor and psychological flow. So it increases your ability to focus on a task. Our working theory is there's an increase in state disinhibition.

What’s that?

State disinhibition is a state where you're less likely to hold back. You're disinhibited. For example, when you swear, it’s risky, but you’ve already broken the taboo, so you care less about being judged after that. You've already done a risky behavior. There are really no other risks. So you're more likely to engage in a task. You're more confident in that task, more engaged in that task.

So how much swearing do we need to do for a good pump?

Based on the evidence, you need a swear word that is powerful for you. If nothing comes to mind, “fuck” and “shit” are known to be effective. You need to swear out loud, at a normal speech volume and at a steady pace, roughly once every couple of seconds.

I will be sure to do that. One last thing: What do we do about people who don’t like it when people swear?

If you do it in a real world setting with people around you who don't like swearing, it actually may be more beneficial for you in the physical performance arena. It would likely be more taboo around people who don't like it, more risky, and you may get a better physical performance response. We don't know that because it's never been done in a real-world setting.

Oh, trust me, I’ve done it.

Just Curious is sponsored by Provable, the science communication force of M. Harris & Co. and MG Strategy + Design.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity. Header image by DALL-E Open Ai. If you liked what you read today, here's more.