Swearing and Physical Performance

A study published in 2024 looked into the existing research on how swearing can influence physical performance, and found that using such words has been consistently shown to improve the profanity-user’s performance in activities that require short, intense bursts of effort.

It would seem that cursing while lifting a heavy weight or engaging in box-jumps might measurably elevate one’s capacity to accomplish the desired outcome (successfully lifting that weight, landing atop that box), and that this effect is most pronounced with power- and strength-focused exertions (as opposed to those that are more reliant on cardiovascular health or stamina).

There’s reason to believe, from earlier research, that cursing can make pain more tolerable, and there’s a chance that by stimulating our sympathetic nervous system with a taboo muttering or shout, we’re basically priming our bodies to take a hit, which in turn allows us to (somewhat) defy the pain and pain-adjacent bodily indicators that keep us from fully committing to an exertion that would otherwise be right on the line of what we can accomplish.

Other research has suggested that overusing curse words might dampen their pain-killing effect, with time. Researchers looking into the exertion-oriented impacts of using profanity haven’t directly addressed the possibility of a similar deterioration of effectiveness with taboo-word overuse, but there’s a chance the same will eventually be noted, especially if it turns out the strength and power component is connected to the same internal systems as the pain component.

There are some other important and interesting caveats to this body of research, as well.

Among them is that essentially all of the studies in this space have been conducted in clinical settings, so there’s a chance these results are colored by a lack of confounding environmental factors (like birds chirping and dogs barking, or other gym-goers or athletes doing their own sweating and swearing), and wouldn’t replicate if conducted at a real-world track or in an uncontrolled gym setting.

We also haven’t tested how these impacts might differ between people in various cultures (where profanities are more or less taboo, for instance).

We know the act of cursing triggers a cascade of physiological and cognitive effects, but we don’t know where all the levers are, or which components of our bodies and brains they influence (and to what degree).

There’s also a dearth of research into whether the “dosage” of swearing—many f-bombs in a row compared to just one, for instance—makes a difference, whether the specific word matters (an f-bomb versus some other less or more offensive profane word), and whether and to what degree a shouted profanity might be different from one that’s mumbled under one’s breath.

Can someone who’s “worn out” a specific curse word, no longer benefiting from it in the same way (in terms of pain dampening, but also possibly its strength and power utility) set it aside for a while and reintroduce it (with renewed impact) later?

And to what degree might swearing help with post-exertion recovery? Some small amount of research has shown it has potential in this space, as well, but we don’t know why, and we haven’t tested the aforementioned variables related to this outcome, either.

Beyond its social applications, then, swearing would seem to have a lot of potential utility when it comes to physical exertion and performance, and there’s a chance that by learning more about this sub-field, we might be able to more intentionally tap into whatever it is that makes cursing powerful (in some contexts, at least), and with more consistent and beneficial outcomes.