ANZCTR - Registration

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Trial registered on ANZCTR

Registration number

ACTRN12626000124336

Ethics application status

Approved

Date submitted

13/01/2026

Date registered

30/01/2026

Date last updated

30/01/2026

Date data sharing statement initially provided

30/01/2026

Type of registration

Retrospectively registered

Titles & IDs

Public title

Does the use of mental skills and strategies improve training quality duirng high intensity interval training or time to exhaustion performance in trained cyclists. A mixed methods randomised controlled trial.

Scientific title

Does the use of mental skills and strategies improve high-intensity interval training quality or time to exhaustion in trained cyclists? A mixed method randomised control trial

Additional trial identifiers [1]

Nil Known

Universal Trial Number (UTN)

Trial acronym

Related trial records

Health condition

Health condition(s) studied:

Psychological responses to exercise

Physical responses to exercise

Perceptual responses to exercise

Condition category

Condition code

Cardiovascular

Normal development and function of the cardiovascular system

Mental Health

Studies of normal psychology, cognitive function and behaviour

Intervention/exposure

Study type

Interventional

Description of the intervention or exposure

This study follows a parallel two arm design. Participants will be categorised as high or low mental skill use based on the results of the Athletic Coping Skills inventory Questionnaire. From the categorisation participants will be stratified into the High Mental Load or Low Mental Load group.

The intervention group (high mental load) will complete 4 high-intensity interval sessions with each session separated by 48 hours. Training sessions will take place on Day 5, 7, 9 and 11. The intensity, design, monotony and lack of autonomy in the sessions will increase the mental load of these sessions.

Sessions for the intervention group will consist of 4 intervals of 5 minutes prescribed at 77% of Peak power output (PPO). Recovery intervals are prescribed at 37% of PPO. Resulting of 20 minutes of work and 20 minutes of rest. The participants will complete a standardised 10 minute warm-up and a 5 minute cool down.

Regression of intensity: During the study participants are permitted to reduce the exercise intensity, if it cannot be maintained. The priority is for participants to complete all intervals prescribed and work for the prescribed time.

All training sessions will be prescribed using the Intervals.icu training software and will be completed on Zwift online training software. Participants will complete all sessions in their own home in their own training environment. Heart rate and Power data are connected to Zwift, and provide real time feedback to participants and allow the research team to track and monitor exercise adherence after the session is complete. Participants will also complete a post-trainig survey to collect their rating of perceived exertion to further monitor training intensity.
Example Training prescription:
Warmup

2m 37% PPO (150w)
2m 45% PPO (180w)
2m 52% PPO (210w)
1m 60% PPO (240w)
1m 90% PPO (270w)
1m 67% PPO (150w)
40s 75% PPO (300w)
1m 20s 37% PPO (150w)
20s 82.5% PPO (330w)
40s 37% PPO (150w)
20s 86% PPO (345w)
40s 37% PPO (150w)
2m easy riding

Main set 4x
5m 77% PPO (307w)
5m 37% PPO (150w)

Cool down
5m easy riding

Training sessions are prescribed by qualified exercise and sports scientists.

Intervention code [1]

Treatment: Other

Description of the comparator or control

This study follows a parallel two arm design. Participants will be categorised as high or low mental skill use based on the results of the Athletic Coping Skills inventory Questionnaire, and the Test of Performance Strategies. From the categorisation participants will be stratified into the High Mental load or Low mental load group.

The comparator group (Low Mental Load) will complete 4 high-intensity interval sessions with each session separated by 48 hours. Training sessions will take place on Day 5, 7, 9 and 11. Participants will select the workout they want to complete each day. Self-selected exercise intensity is associated with more positive affect duirng exercise, and should result in lower mental load for the participants.

Sessions for the comparator group will consist of self-selected interval sessions exercise sessions workload matched to the intervention group. Participants will be able to choose a 20 x 1 minute, 10 x 2 minute, 8 x 2.5 minute, 5 x 4 minute, and 4 x 5 minute interval sessions, each prescribed at 77% of PPO. Recovery intervals are prescribed at 37% of PPO. Each session totals 20 minutes of work and 20 minutes of rest. The participants will complete a standardised 10 minute warm-up and a 5 minute cool down.

Regression of intensity: During the study participants are permitted to reduce the exercise intensity, if it cannot be maintained. The priority is for participants to complete all intervals prescribed and work for the prescribed time.

All training sessions will be prescribed using the Intervals.icu training software and will be completed on Zwift online training software. Participants will complete all sessions in their own home in their own training environment. HR and Power data are connected to Zwift, and provide real time feedback to participants and allow the research team to track and monitor exercise adherence after the session is complete. Participants will also complete a post-trainig survey to collect their rating of perceived exertion to further monitor training intensity.

Example training prescription:
An example of a session
Warmup

2m 37% PPO (150w)
2m 45% PPO (180w)
2m 52% PPO (210w)
1m 60% PPO (240w)
1m 90% PPO (270w)
1m 67% PPO (150w)
40s 75% PPO (300w)
1m 20s 37% PPO (150w)
20s 82.5% PPO (330w)
40s 37% PPO (150w)
20s 86% PPO (345w)
40s 37% PPO (150w)
2m easy riding

Main set 4x
5m 77% PPO (307w)
5m 37% PPO (150w)

Cool down
5m easy riding

Training sessions are prescribed by qualified exercise and sports scientists.

Control group

Active

Outcomes

Primary outcome [1]

Time to Exhaustion

Timepoint [1]

Baseline (Day 1) and end of intervention Day 13

Secondary outcome [1]

Subjective training quality

Timepoint [1]

Collected after each training session.

Secondary outcome [2]

Affect Valence

Timepoint [2]

Collected after each training session.

Eligibility

Key inclusion criteria

Participants need to:
- be a trained cyclist e.g., train 3 times per week and meet other tier two requirements from McKay et al. (2024).
- have their own road bike
- own a smart trainer
- own a heart rate monitor
- Minimum VO2max of 48 ml/kg/min

Minimum age

18 Years

Maximum age

65 Years

Sex

Both males and females

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Key exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria
- Current illness or injury that may be exacerbated by high intensity exercise
- Have a known disease, and/or signs or symptoms of disease, that places them a higher risk of an adverse event due to exercise

Study design

Purpose of the study

Treatment

Allocation to intervention

Randomised controlled trial

Procedure for enrolling a subject and allocating the treatment (allocation concealment procedures)

Allocation is not concealed

Methods used to generate the sequence in which subjects will be randomised (sequence generation)

Following baseline testing, participants will be stratified by mental skills usage (high or low) and sex. They will then be individually randomized, using a computerized random number generator, at a 1:1 ratio into either the intervention group or the comparator group.

Masking / blinding

Open (masking not used)

Who is / are masked / blinded?

Intervention assignment

Parallel

Other design features

Phase

Not Applicable

Type of endpoint/s

Efficacy

Statistical methods / analysis

A priori sample size calculation was performed using G*Power software (Version 3.1). Power calculations were based on the primary outcome of time trial to exhaustion performance (alpha level = 0.05, power = 0.85, effect size 0.4 (Cohen’s f ). The effect size (0.144) has been observed in previous research comparing examining the affective valence between different time trial to exhaustion test. Sample size calculated to be total n = 59, n = 30 per group to detect a medium effect size for the primary outcome measure (time trial to exhaustion performance). Assuming a drop out of ~10%, 33 participants per group was estimated, total n = 66.

All statistical analysis will be conducted in R (v4.4.3, R Core Team, Vienna, Austria) in RStudio (v2024.9.1.394, Posit Team, Boston, MA). Linear mixed models will be used to determine the relationships between the following research question:

(1) assess whether psychological skills can if prior high or low mental load training impacts time to exhaustion performance and if there are mediating effects of psychological skill use.

Recruitment

Recruitment status

Recruiting

Date of first participant enrolment

Anticipated

Actual

9/01/2026

Date of last participant enrolment

Anticipated

5/11/2026

Actual

Date of last data collection

Anticipated

18/11/2026

Actual

Sample size

Target

Accrual to date

Final

Recruitment in Australia

Recruitment state(s)

NSW

Funding & Sponsors

Funding source category [1]

University

Name [1]

University of Technology Sydney

Address [1]

Country [1]

Australia

Primary sponsor type

University

Name

University of Technology Sydney

Address

Country

Australia

Secondary sponsor category [1]

None

Name [1]

Address [1]

Country [1]

Ethics approval

Ethics application status

Approved

Ethics committee name [1]

UTS Human Research Ethics Committee

Ethics committee address [1]

https://www.uts.edu.au/research-and-teaching/research/our-approach/ethics-and-integrity/human-research-ethics

Ethics committee country [1]

Australia

Date submitted for ethics approval [1]

15/09/2025

Approval date [1]

08/12/2025

Ethics approval number [1]

ETH25-11264

Summary

Brief summary

The psychological aspect of sport performance is widely acknowledged but has received less research attention compared to technical, tactical, and physical domains. While mental factors such as psychological skill use and resilience are often attributed to an athletes success, and have a significant contribution to sports performance,  their integration within training settings is under-explored. This study aims to determine whether the mental domain can serve as a prescriptive variable in training design. Participants will complete sessions intentionally designed to be mentally challenging,  to assess the impact of such training on training quality and examine how athletes use psychological skills to cope the the demands of hard training. This study will also follow a mixed methods design. After completing the training, participants will be invited to take part in a short interview with the lead investigator to further explore their responses to the training intervention.

Trial website

Trial related presentations / publications

Public notes

Contacts

Principal investigator

Name

Dr Katie Slattery

Address

University of Technology Sydney, Cnr Moore Park Road and Driver Avenue, Moore Park, NSW 2021

Country

Australia

Phone

+61 412352843

Fax

[email protected]

Contact person for public queries

Name

Katie Slattery

Address

University of Technology Sydney, Cnr Moore Park Road and Driver Avenue, Moore Park, NSW 2021

Country

Australia

Phone

+61 412352843

Fax

[email protected]

Contact person for scientific queries

Name

Katie Slattery

Address

University of Technology Sydney, Cnr Moore Park Road and Driver Avenue, Moore Park, NSW 2021

Country

Australia

Phone

+61 412352843

Fax

[email protected]

Data sharing statement

Will the study consider sharing individual participant data?

Yes

Will there be any conditions when requesting access to individual participant data?

Persons/groups eligible to request access:
• Researchers
Conditions for requesting access:
• Yes, conditions apply:
• Requires review on a case-by-case basis by the trial custodian, sponsor or data sharing committee

What individual participant data might be shared?

• De-identified individual participant data:
• Published results
• Primary outcome(s)

What types of analyses could be done with individual participant data?

• Systematic reviews and meta-analyses
• Studies exploring new research questions
• Studies testing whether findings can be repeated or confirmed

When can requests for individual participant data be made (start and end dates)?

From:
At the end of the study
To:
12/12/2028

Where can requests to access individual participant data be made, or data be obtained directly?

• Email requests can be sent to the Principle investigator Katie Slattery ([email protected]) or Hugh Sixsmith ([email protected])

Are there extra considerations when requesting access to individual participant data?

What supporting documents are/will be available?

No Supporting Document Provided

Results publications and other study-related documents

Documents added manually

No documents have been uploaded by study researchers.

Documents added automatically

No additional documents have been identified.

Trial Review

Documents added manually

Documents added automatically