Fatigue as a subjective motivational state

Abstract

 

There is currently no consensus on the factors that determine the onset of fatigue. There are some factors that are derived exclusively from the physical effort, others that depend on the mental effort due to physical effort, and some others on the feedback provided by the task being performed. As a result, we have developed different explanatory models that seek to combine the different reasons for its occurrence.

Nevertheless, the current trend is to understand fatigue as a complex motivational state whose origin occurs in many physiological and psychological processes that serve to regulate the effort and protect the body from serious damage. The aims of this narrative review are to analyze the different existing approaches to the study and explanation of fatigue, establish the link with the concept of training load and justify the importance of evaluating the impact of mental load to achieve a proper planning and a training process control.