Swearing whilst exercising is actually good for you, science says so

There comes a time in life when you say to hell with defending your right to cuss.

Words by Kenya Foy

From the editors of HelloGiggles

Potty mouth proponents know all too well the glares of judgment that come whenever you dare utter an expletive, but here’s a reason to rejoice, dammit.

Swearing actually gives you more strength and stamina during a workouts. According to a recent study conducted by a team of psychologists at the UK’s University of Keele, using strong language while exercising boosts performance.

Listen, if there was ever a reason to not be afraid of swearing, working on your fitness is definitely one of them - so feel free to let those F-bombs fly in the middle of that horrendous set of perfect squats (when you can catch your breath, that is).

The study involved putting subjects through a series of physically challenging experiments. A group of 29 participants around the age of 21 rode an exercise bike, along with 52 people with the average age of 19 who performed a hand-grip test. While working out, they repeated either a neutral word or an expletive.

Researchers said those who cursed during the bike ride showed an increase in their peak power by an average of 24 watts, while the swearing hand grip participants upped their strength by an equivalent of 2.1 kg.

According to Richard Stephens, a psychologist who presented the study results and whose research has previously established a link between swearing and a tolerance for pain, the cursing was repeated throughout each test and 'repeated in an even tone.'

'A possible reason for this is that it stimulates the body’s sympathetic nervous system – that’s the system that makes your heart pound when you are in danger,' Stephens explained. 'If that is the reason, we would expect swearing to make people stronger too, and that is just what we found in these experiments.'

This is the second time in recent months where science declared swearing as a sign of a good quality in human beings, so in case you didn’t read between the lines, this is basically a big eff you from science to anyone who refuses to acknowledge the benefits of cursing.

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