USA Cycling’s rulebook is clear: Foul language is an official offense. Bad words are bad sportsmanship, after all. But maybe the real reason is because using four letter words is essentially language doping.

That’s right, language doping—you can reap some serious performance benefits with a locomotive of colorful words. Here’s why science says to go ahead and let them fly the next time you go headfirst into the pain cave.

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Cyclists love to suffer, and if you want to own the suffering segment of the ride, a few curse words might earn you a crown. That’s because you pull those bad words out of a different, more primitive part of your brain—the same one that triggers the fight or flight response—than you use for normal language.

So when you start spouting those four-letter words, your heart rate climbs and your body produces stress-induced analgesia, or a natural form of pain relief.

Researchers at Keele University have demonstrated this effect with ice-cold water experiments, testing how long volunteers could tolerate having their hands immersed in a bucket of ice water. During the torture test, the participants could either repeat an expletive of their choice or recite a neutral word instead.

The swearers reported feeling less pain and could tolerate their burning, frigid fingers 40 seconds longer than those using innocuous language.

It’s worth noting that follow-up research found that folks who frequently swear in daily life seem to reap less pain-relieving benefits when they swear during such times of duress. So stockpile those f-bombs for when you need them most.



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Happiness watts are definitely real. So, says science, are &^%$! watts.

To prove it, researchers put a group of exercisers through two tests of power: a Wingate Anaerobic Power Test (a.k.a. a vomit-inducing, 30-second max power test on a special stationary bike) and a 10-second handheld grip strength test, once while repeating a neutral word and once while letting their favorite four letter word fly.

The participants produced nearly 25 more watts and increased their grip strength by an additional 4.5 pounds of crushing force when they were allowed to swear up a storm.

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Getting dropped hurts. Uttering swear words can be balm for the emotional sting, according to research published in the European Journal of Social Psychology.

In the study designed to examine swearing’s impact on social pain, volunteers were told to recount experiences where they felt painfully excluded. They were then told to either chant an innocuous word or repeat a swear word for two minutes. Those who broke out the bad words reported feeling less social pain about the episode than the non-swearers.

If nothing else, a few choice words can help soothe your searing quads as you try to bridge the gap or make it home on your own.



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Psychologists report that swearing can boost your sense of power and control when stuff’s not exactly going your way—say, like when you slip a pedal off the start line and 90 people pass you by before you even have a chance to get going. And a creative string of curse words can make you laugh, which always makes you feel better.

So let the four letter words fly. Just don’t let the USAC officials hear you.



Selene Yeager “The Fit Chick” Selene Yeager is a top-selling professional health and fitness writer who lives what she writes as a NASM certified personal trainer, USA Cycling certified coach, Pn1 certified nutrition coach, pro licensed off road racer, and All-American Ironman triathlete.

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