ReviewBritish journal of sports medicine2006
Is fatigue all in your head? A critical review of the central governor model.
Review in British journal of sports medicine, 2006. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Acute Effects of Aerobic Exercise on Muscle Strength and Power in Trained Male Individuals: A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Effect of phototherapy (low-level laser therapy and light-emitting diode therapy) on exercise performance and markers of exercise recovery: a systematic review with meta-analysis.Lasers in medical science · 2015Pooled it
- Trial
- Pacing strategies during repeated maximal voluntary contractions.European journal of applied physiology · 2014Trial
- Red (660 nm) and infrared (830 nm) low-level laser therapy in skeletal muscle fatigue in humans: what is better?Lasers in medical science · 2012Trial
- Effect of ambient temperature on caffeine ergogenicity during endurance exercise.European journal of applied physiology · 2011Trial
- Effect of 830 nm low-level laser therapy in exercise-induced skeletal muscle fatigue in humans.Lasers in medical science · 2009Trial
- Effects of Meal Consumption on Isotonic Lingual Endurance in Healthy Adults: A Multi-Institutional Study.Journal of oral rehabilitation · 2026Article
- Perspective: thermo-sensation to thermoregulation: advancing the anticipation debate via transient receptor potential (TRP) channels.European journal of applied physiology · 2026Review
- The behaviour-performance continuum: how does individual variation in locomotor abilities relate to behaviour?Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2026Review
- Influence of deception of task duration on the sex-specific physiological responses to RPE-clamp cycle ergometry.European journal of applied physiology · 2025Article
- Does mental fatigue affect performance in racket sports? A systematic review.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2024Article
- Central and Peripheral Fatigue in Physical Exercise Explained: A Narrative Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Review
- Effects of Acute Normobaric Hypoxia on Non-linear Dynamics of Cardiac Autonomic Activity During Constant Workload Cycling Exercise.Frontiers in physiology · 2019Article
- Neuromuscular responses of recreationally active women during a sustained, submaximal isometric leg extension muscle action at a constant perception of effort.European journal of applied physiology · 2018Article
- Lessons from a broad view of science: a response to Dr Robergs' article.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2018Article
- The effect of prior knowledge of test endpoint on non-local muscle fatigue.European journal of applied physiology · 2017Article
- The Nature of Self-Regulatory Fatigue and "Ego Depletion": Lessons From Physical Fatigue.Personality and social psychology review : an official journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc · 2016Article
- Intensity-dependent EMG response for the biceps brachii during sustained maximal and submaximal isometric contractions.European journal of applied physiology · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The central governor model has recently been proposed as a general model to explain the phenomenon of fatigue. It proposes that the subconscious brain regulates power output (pacing strategy) by modulating motor unit recruitment to preserve whole body homoeostasis and prevent catastrophic physiological failure such as rigor. In this model, the word fatigue is redefined from a term that describes an exercise decline in the ability to produce force and power to one of sensation or emotion. The underpinnings of the central governor model are the refutation of what is described variously as peripheral fatigue, limitations models, and the cardiovascular/anaerobic/catastrophe model. This argument centres on the inability of lactic acid models of fatigue to adequately explain fatigue. In this review, it is argued that a variety of peripheral factors other than lactic acid are known to compromise muscle force and power and that these effects may protect against "catastrophe". Further, it is shown that a variety of studies indicate that fatigue induced decreases in performance cannot be adequately explained by the central governor model. Instead, it is suggested that the concept of task dependency, in which the mechanisms of fatigue vary depending on the specific exercise stressor, is a more comprehensive and defensible model of fatigue. This model includes aspects of both central and peripheral contributions to fatigue, and the relative importance of each probably varies with the type of exercise.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.