If you’ve been looking for an excuse to swear like a sailor, this is it.
New research suggests that letting loose with a string of expletives can give your body a surprising edge, helping you tap into hidden reserves of strength and endurance when the pressure is on.
“Swearing is literally a calorie neutral, drug free, low cost, readily available tool at our disposal for when we need a boost in performance,” Dr. Richard Stephens, the study’s lead author, said in a statement.
In the study, Stephens and his colleagues ran two experiments involving 192 participants.
In each experiment, the participants performed a chair pushup — supporting their body weight on their arms — while repeating either a swear word or a neutral word every two seconds.
After completing the pushup challenges, participants answered a series of questions about their mental state during the task. The questions measured things like how much positive emotion they felt, how funny they found the situation, how distracted they were and how confident they felt in themselves.
The researchers were particularly interested in variables linked to disinhibition, a psychological state in which people are less likely to hold themselves back.
They also measured psychological “flow,” the state in which people become fully absorbed in an activity in a focused and enjoyable way, often described as being “in the zone.”
The results were loud and clear.
Those who swore while doing the chair pushup were able to support their body weight significantly longer than those who repeated a neutral word in both experiments.
The findings add to a growing body of research that shows swearing can enhance physical performance.
Stephens has been studying this phenomenon for years. In a 2018 study, he found that cyclists who repeated a swear word saw an 8% increase in grip strength and a 4.5% boost in power output compared with those repeating a neutral word.
Other researchers have found similar performance gains from cursing during exercises such as wall sits, traditional pushups and plank holds.
“That is now a well replicated, reliable finding,” Stephens said. “But the question is — how is swearing helping us? What’s the psychological mechanism?”
To investigate, Stephens and his team combined the data from the two latest experiments with results from an earlier study.
The answer, it seems, lies in the mind. The researchers found that swearing appeared to improve performance by increasing distraction, self-confidence and psychological flow.
“In many situations, people hold themselves back — consciously or unconsciously — from using their full strength,” Stephens said.
For example, previous studies have shown that women in gyms sometimes dial back their effort to avoid appearing unfeminine.
Athletes returning from injury, meanwhile, often hesitate, lacking confidence and second-guessing their movements, which can sabotage performance.
“Swearing is an easily available way to help yourself feel focused, confident and less distracted, and ‘go for it’ a little more,” Stephens said.
That’s good news for Americans, most of whom swear before 11 a.m.
An added benefit: letting a few curse words fly may also help you power through pain.
In a 2009 study, Stephens and his colleagues asked participants to hold their hands in ice water for as long as possible while repeating either a swear word or a neutral word.
They found that swearing was linked not only to increased pain tolerance but also to reduced perceptions of pain.
Other research has shown that swearing can strengthen social bonds, boost memory and even ease the emotional sting of exclusion or rejection.
Looking ahead, Stephens and his colleagues plan to investigate whether swearing delivers the same confidence-boosting benefits in situations beyond physical exertion.
“Our labs are now studying how swearing influences public speaking and romantic approach behaviors, two situations where people tend to hesitate or second-guess themselves,” Nicholas Washmuth, an associate professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at Samford University and the study’s co-author, said in a statement.
