A Study Reveals the Place Where Time Moves 9% Slower for Humans

A new study shows that cyclists felt time pass 8-9 percent less quickly during exercise.

Before and after exercise, there was no distortion. The participants also set their own pace.

Timing and pacing are key for competitive athletes in racing sports like swimming and cycling.

Finally, science has confirmed that time does slow way down when you’re inside the gym. But it’s not the boredom or the person on the next elliptical who won’t stop talking on the phone. In a small study, participants completed stationary bicycle trials and then measured 30 seconds to the best of their ability. The results show that participants were about 8-9 percent faster than the real-time, indicating that the clock would have appeared to move slowly to them.

And besides the joke about time slowing down, this effect raises a lot of interesting research questions about what’s going on. This study focuses on people’s perceptions and psychological explanations, but the human body goes through a multitude of physical changes during exercise. If athletes want to improve pacing, they may need to work on a handful or more of variables.

In the study, 33 participants completed a stationary bicycle course of 4000 meters. They were asked to estimate 30-second intervals at five points: before the course, after 500 meters, after 1500 meters, after 2500 meters, and then post-exercise. There were three runs through the course. One was solo, like setting a time trial in Mario Kart. The second had an opponent, like the ghost you can race in those time trials. And the third was an active race, where participants were asked to try to beat the opponent. Each bicyclist was asked to rate their perceived exertion, but they weren’t asked to hit specific speeds, except in the one trial with a competitive opponent.