Has anyone got any knowledge or experience of this. I get the idea that our mind will subconsciously stop our body from "maxing out", so to speak, to protect itself. Is there a way to "overide" this, could this benefit us or would that be dangerous?

thanks

I believe in this theory. That is just based on my own perceptions.
But, of course, my "belief" does not carry much weight.

I think it is "dangerous", but I also think most of us have a huuuuuuge safety factor, so that it is not too dangerous for the typical person.
In fact, I think that a big part of "training" is just convincing yourself that you won't really die and you really can "go there" (to some excruciating pain level) and come back with no permanent damage.

Yes, the brain prevents the body from going too hard. Recent research (think I saw it on sportsscientists.com ) indicates that body temperature might play an important role in this. But it's not just for endurance efforts, also in extreme (e.g. life threatening) cases, you can mobilise some of that "protected capacity", which is not available during a conscious effort.

As regards overriding, I would venture a wild guess that might be happening when doping with stimulant drugs. Dangerous? -- Yes, indeed.

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look at some of the older pro cyclists who were legally taking anything they could get there hands on and suffered the consiquences i.e. Tom Simpson , the body has a limit.

but if you can train yourself to push past this limit in training and racing safely, even only a little, it can have huge benefits, no?

isn`t that what training is all about.

depends of how fit the individual is. a lot of thing have to be taken into account. one of the limiting factors as stated before is heat management and other byproducts of any effort made. the faster you go (harder you push) the less efficient our bodies become. training make us get closer to this point. one time while reading a book by running guru in the u.s. he stated that a vo2 max over 75 does not make you a better runner, he said that other factors such as pain tolerance and the body's ability to cope with the toxins and free radicals that are the product of burning fat and protein.

The central governor theory is an interesting one. There is as much evidence suggesting it's existence as there is to refute it. Tim Noakes is a well spoken advocate of the theory. Some of the strong evidence for existence was mentioned above - thermal stress and management.

I haven't seen the sportscientists take on it - they usually offer a well researched and balanced view on existing evidence. Link for that piece? My google-fu is weak today.

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Maybe hypnosis could be effective in getting at a bit more effort, or at least get you to your true physical limit, but you'd have to know how to recognise that limit.

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Tape, here's the link to the Sportsscientists series of articles http://www.sportsscientists.com/2008/01 ... mined.html . Have to admit I didn't read all of it.

And one more comment to the OP, the "maxing out" is certainly not a clear line. You can obviously work out so hard that you do more harm than good.

An old track and field training book I had said that, the better you are trained, the (relatively) smaller the "protected capacity" would be, in comparison to what you can mobilise. Anyway, in the "all out" phase of a competition it's not just physiology, motivation and tactics are needed for success just as well.

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roughly related to this and the linked article regarding the heat and how this affects the mind and pacing:

(start at 11.30)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AZIXGVkse8&feature=related

I also subscribe to the belief that such natural fail-safes exist within our system, and I am a believer that majority of it is something our body does in relation to the heat generated from working out. Interesting set of articles though, a couple of bathroom reads should cover it.

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