Wave a red flag at your muscles so they see red

The matadors ALWAYS waved a red flag in front of the bulls – ever wondered why it’s red ?

If you think it is just tradition, think again.

The red effect is not just in the head, it reaches deep into the muscles, generating speed and power.

Raging red

Our brain’s are wired to respond to red.

If your boss appears before you looking a little red, you may be able to appear cool as a cucumber on the outside, but inside your body will be reacting. His trembling lip and wiggling red ears – give you a heads up, that the situation is potentially dangerous.

Biologically speaking, when mother nature uses red, it’s because she has something DANGEROUS to say.

NOTE : We are assuming your boss has not just spent an hour or two sun tanning burning or if he is a little overweight and unfit, exercising. Context is important.

Responding to red

The sight of red evokes a stress response.

Part A of any stress response is to get physical – the so called, flight and fright response. Whether you’re staying or getting the hell out of there, your muscles need to be supercharged.

Unfortunately, part B of a stress response often also kicks in and this side of the response, is all in your head. The brain scrambles to interpret the danger and put it in context – anxiety levels rise, you can feel distracted, even a little pre-occupied with self. If you’re ruminating, you end up wasting precious resources on head trash.

Seeing red a two-edge sword

So seeing red can

supercharge muscles and mess with your head.

PS. This is all happening under the radar i.e. you’re really not aware of the red effect. It is deeply wired into your head.

So can you use the red effect to your advantage ?

The red advantage

Psychologists from the University of Rochester have demonstrated that muscles work best, when they see red.

The team enlisted the help of 46 undergrad students. The students were required to “squeeze” on a handgrip, with their dominant hand, when a computer issued the command. The computer was able to record just how hard they squeezed each time.

The computer manipulated the instruction to “squeeze” a little, it fiddled with the colour of the writing which appeared on the screen. “Squeeze” appeared in either red, blue or grey.

When the students saw the instruction in red. The squeeze was herculean. Blue and grey squeezes were wimpy and weak.

The red disadvantage

So seeing red, is good when you need a brief burst of strength and speed – good for weightlifting

So should you find ways to see red when you’re writing an exam or doing something else that requires your head, to be in the game ?

REMEMBER the stress response messes with your head.

Researchers have found red is not a good colour to choose when you need to do skilled motor or mental tasks.

The ins and outs of red

So if you want to keep your head in the game – don’t expose yourself to too much red. Lose the red pencil box, ruler etc.

But gentlemen – if you want to catch the ATTENTION of a lady, you should definitely wear red.

Perception of the color red enhances the force and velocity of motor output. Emotion (2011) 11(2):445-449 Elliot, Andrew J.; Aarts, Henk.

Interested in learning more about the chemistry behind peak performance ?

Subcribe to E-spoons, to get e-mail updates once a month to learn how to keep your body chemistry balanced so you can peform at your best.

NOTE : Privacy & spam policy. Spoonful of Science will not rent, trade or sell the e-mail list to anyone. You can unsubscribe at any time by following the unsubscribe link.

Know someone who will find this post useful ? Share it on facebook, linkedi n, twitter