Mirror, mirror on the wall-who is the fittest of them all?

Can looking in a mirror while running on a treadmill affect your sporting performance?

This issue has been explored in a research project by Daniel Eaves, Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader for Sports Psychology at Teesside University, and two colleagues, Nicola Hodges, from The University of British Columbia, Canada and Mark Williams from Liverpool John Moores University.

Highly regarded journal Daniel, 29, was the lead researcher and main author of the study, which has been published in the highly-regarded journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

Daniel said: 'What we see influences how we coordinate our limbs. When two people walk or run alongside each other they are often drawn towards doing the same thing at the same time. Their step patterns become spontaneously synchronised. We wanted to look at the effects this may have on performance, specifically when people are running in front of a mirror on a treadmill.'

The research sample was ten physically fit males with an average age of 22. They each took part in three 20 minute treadmill runs, separated by a day’s rest between each run.

Participants faced a different life-size image of themself while running under each condition. The images were: a normal mirror; a normal mirror where left and right sides were reversed, and a static image.

Various performance factors were measured, such as oxygen consumption, heart rate, biomechanical running patterns (such as how the body moved) and reaction time.

Daniel said: 'Our results showed that seeing a dynamic mirror image of yourself while running is less energetically demanding than seeing a static image. The reversed image placed more demands on the runners’ thought processes. The majority of gyms in the Western world have mirrors in front of treadmills and our research suggests mirrors help to stabilise your movement allowing you to focus on running more smoothly.

'However, looking at yourself in the mirror can make your work rate less energetically demanding.

'If you are just getting into running then mirrors may be ideal for developing your style and performing a less demanding run. Experienced runners, however, who want to train harder, may benefit from not looking in the mirror.'

Daniel is continuing with research into interpersonal co-ordination.

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