Influence of mental training on performance in militaries of the Brazilian army during the physical fitness test
Abstract
The success of a military combat and the security of the proper life depend of physical capacities. However, the performance of the military in combat situations can be limited by psychological aspects and the learning of techniques, such as the Mental Training, can assist the performance. In such a way, this study it had as objective to evaluate the influence of the practical of the Mental Training in the performance of military of the Brazilian Army during the Physical Fitness Test. It were studied 50 male militaries, physically active and integrants of the 20º Grupo de Artilharia de Campanha Leve (GAC L). The militaries were divided in two groups: submitted or not to the Mental Training. Mental Training consisted on the psychological visualization method. All the volunteers had regularly participated of the military physical training. During the Physical Fitness Test the perceived exertion was measured using the Borg rating of perceived exertion scale. After 4 weeks of Mental Training it has been observed a significant increase of performance in the tests of 12-minute walk/run test and in the Sit-ups test only in the group submitted of Mental Training. It was not observe significant improvement in the Pull-ups test and in the Push-ups test in both groups. The Mental Training was still able to increase the perception of fatigue in all the tests applied in the Physical Fitness Test, with exception to the Push-ups test. Therefore, the practice of the Mental Training could be used by militaries with the objective to improve the performance.
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