In many sport and exercise situations, cognitive performance is required under conditions of high physiological load and high cognitive anxiety. However, few studies have assessed all these components in situ. The current study sought to address this issue. Fourteen adults (9 males, 5 females) completed 2 incremental exercise trials (perceived competition or perceived practice) in a counterbalanced order. Cognitive performance, via a test of visual discrimination, rating of perceived exertion (RPE), heart rate (HR), blood lactate (Bla), and anxiety scores, was recorded at rest, 70% VO2max and 90% VO2max. Visual discrimination response times were faster at rest compared to 70% VO2max (P = 0.001) and 90% VO2max (P = 0.002) and at 70% VO2max compared to 90% VO2max (P = 0.04) in the competitive condition. HR post-instructions (P = 0.0001), at 70% VO2max (P = 0.001) and 90% (P = 0.0001), was significantly higher in competition compared to practice. RPE was higher in the competitive condition compared to the practice condition (P = 0.023). Cognitive anxiety intensity was significantly higher in the competitive condition, at 70% VO2max and 90% VO2max (P = 0.001). This study suggests that cognitive performance is more negatively affected when physiological arousal and cognitive anxiety are at their highest. Coaches and athletes should be mindful of such effects and seek to develop skills to offset such responses or to structure training to better represent competition.
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