Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2004, 18(1), 26-29

© 2004 National Strength & Conditioning Association

VERBAL MESSAGES STRENGTHEN BENCH

P R E S S EFFICACY
JAMES B . WISE, AMY E . POSNER, AND GRETCHEN L . WALKER

Department of Recreation, Parks, and Leisure Services, Minnesota State University, Mankato, Minnesota 56001.

ABSTRACT. Wise, J.B., A. Posner, and G. Walker. Verbal mes- subjects had little or no experience with strength train-
sages strengthen bench press efficacy. J. Strength Cond. Res. ing, and free weights and barbells were used. Bench press
18(l):26-29. 2004.—This study examined the effects of verbal lRM were determined during the first session and again
messages on bench press efficacy: the confidence to lift progres- in the second session. The manipulation occurred during
sively heavier weights for 1 repetition. Thirty-two women who
had not bench pressed within the previous 18 months were as- the third session. One group of subjects was deceived into
signed to 1 of 2 groups and exposed to 2 sources of efficacy in- believing they had bench-pressed their lRM weight,
formation. First, subjects in both groups performed 10 repeti- when in reality, the actual weight lifted was 10 pounds
tions on a fixed movement, vertical bench press machine and less (2 collars, each weighing 5 pounds, were discretely
completed the bench press efficacy scale. Next, each group re- left off of the barbell). Efficacy was measured immediate-
ceived 1 of 2 possible verbal messages. Both messages included ly after the manipulation and those who had lifted the
the speaker's strength training qualifications. In addition, one "lighter" lRM reported they had become more efficacious.
message conveyed specific performance feedback while the other During the fourth session, these same subjects achieved
contained more general information. Then efficacy was mea- significantly heavier lRM compared to values obtained in
sured again. Results indicated both messages strengthened ef- the first session.
ficacy. Strength professionals who work one-on-one with novice
women should: (a) make sure lifters are aware of their profes- Since raising self-efficacy has positive effects on phys-
sional qualifications, (b) provide specific feedback, and (c) pro-ical strength, how can perceptions of self-efficacy be ele-
vated? Efficacy beliefs are modified by 4 sources of infor-
fess their beliefs in the lifters' abilities to perform the exercises.
mation: performance of a task, observation of a model,
KEY WORDS, direct supervision, effort, feedback, sources of effi- receipt of verbal messages, and interpretation of physio-
cacy information logical signals (2, 3). Generally, efficacy is favorably in-
fluenced when one successfully performs a task, observes
INTRODUCTION a model who successfully performs a task, receives a pos-
itive verbal message from a credible, competent other,
trength training requires physical effort that and interprets physiological signals as indicators of phys-
is partially regulated hy psychological vari- ical readiness (2, 3).
ables such as self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is the One study (13) systematically evaluated the conse-
confidence people have in their capabilities to quences of supplying multiple sources of information
accomplish specified levels of achievement (2, upon bench press efficacy. Forty-eight undergraduate
3). Those who are more efficacious expend greater effort women (M = 23.6 years old, SD = 4.3), who had not
and achieve loftier physical attainments (2—5). This re- bench-pressed during the prior 18 months, received in-
lationship was clearly demonstrated in 2 studies where formation from 3 of the 4 sources (performance, model,
subjects performed 1 repetition maximums (lRM) in the verbal message). Immediately after each source, bench
bench press exercise (8, 12). press efficacy was measured so effects of the individual
In the first study (8), male undergraduate students, sources could be analyzed.
who had strength trained an average of 3 days a week for Eor the performance condition, subjects self-selected a
the previous 4 V2 years, determined their lRM on a fixed weight and completed 10 bench press repetitions with a
movement. Universal type bench press machine. This for- fixed movement, supine bench press machine. In the mod-
mat was replicated during 6 sessions that were conducted el condition, they observed a male demonstrator as he
on alternating days. The machine's weight stack was hid- performed 10 bench press repetitions with the same ma-
den from view so lifters were forced to rely on the re- chine. The verbal message, delivered by the model, con-
searchers for performance feedback. In the third session, tained his strength training qualifications and his belief
lifters in one group were told they had benched 7.5 to 12.5 that the subjects had the ability to perform the bench
more pounds than they actually had. At the next session, press exercise.
these lifters reported higher levels of efficacy and then Analyses revealed, consistent with previous research
lifted significantly heavier lRM. A second group of lifters (7, 11), that when the verbal message was delivered im-
received the same performance feedback manipulation mediately after subjects bench-pressed they became sig-
during session five. The lifters in this group reported nificantly more efficacious in their abilities to bench press
higher levels of efficacy and then lifted heavier lRM dur- progressively heavier weights for 1 repetition. What is
ing the sixth session. surprising about this result is that researchers have sug-
The second study (12) also involved multiple sessions gested the most effective way to raise perceptions of ef-
(4 sessions over 5 days), lRM, the bench press exercise, ficacy via verbal message is to include specific physical
feedback manipulation, and undergraduate students. performance feedback (3,10), but the message in the Wise
However, the sample included women as well as men, all and Trunnell study (13) lacked specific feedback. Thus, it

26

is reasonable to conclude that efficacy would be raised to
an even greater degree if the message following a set of
bench press repetitions contained specific feedback.
Therefore, the purpose of this study was to partially rep-
licate and extend previous research by comparing the ef-
fects on bench press efficacy, of a verbal message con-
taining specific performance feedback against one con-
taining general statements that has been shown to raise
bench press efficacy (13). It was hypothesized the group
that received the specific performance feedback would be
more confident in their abilities to bench press progres-
sively heavier weights for 1 repetition.
METHODS
Experimental Approach to the Problem
A 2-group, single factor design was used to test the hy-
pothesis. The independent variable was type of verbal
message and the dependent variable was bench press ef-
ficacy. Bench press efficacy was defined as the confidence
women have to bench press progressively heavier weights
for 1 repetition. Efficacy was measured after the women
bench pressed and then again after they had received 1
of the verbal messages. This procedure allowed research-
ers to discover the distinct effects of the verbal messages.
The groups' efficacy means, those collected after delivery
of the verbal messages, were compared with an indepen-
dent t-test.
Subjects
The 32 female subjects, mean age 21.37 years (SD =
1.50), were students at a public university in the Mid-
western United States. They were screened for contradic-
tory health conditions (e.g., high blood pressure, heart
disease) and bench press experience (could not have
bench pressed within the previous 18 months). Bench
press experience was a screening criterion because at-
tempts to infiuence self-efficacy are more successful when
people possess limited experience with a task (3).
Study Procedures. Individually, subjects completed
the experimental protocol which had been approved by
the institution's review board. First, each woman was
randomly assigned to 1 of the 2 experimental groups and
read a description of how to complete a vertical bench
press repetition (1). Second, the handles of a fixed move-
ment, vertical bench press machine were adjusted so that
they were level with the highest point of the subject's
chest. The subject then experimented with different
weights until she found a weight she thought she could
lift 10 times. Next, she performed 10 repetitions with that
weight. Immediately upon finishing the repetitions, the
subject completed the bench press efficacy measure for
the first time and subsequently, within a minute or two,
received 1 of the 2 verbal messages from the lead re-
searcher. Finally, as soon as a message was delivered, the
subject completed the bench press efficacy measure a sec-
ond time.
Verbal Messages. Both messages used in this study
were crafted in accordance with self-efficacy theory (2, 3).
The theory states that verbal messages are more effective
in altering perceptions of efficacy when delivered by mes-
sengers who are knowledgeable and competent in the
subject matter (i.e., strength training). As such, the first
portion of both messages contained the exact same infor-
mation: the speaker's professional credential and his ex-
VERBAL MESSAGES STRENGTHEN EFFICACY 27
perience with strength training. At this point, the con-
tents of the two messages diverge but still refiect princi-
ples set forth by the guiding theory. The second portion
of the general message communicated the speaker's belief
in the subject's ability to successfully perform the bench
press exercise. In contrast, the speaker, in the specific
message, stated how much weight the subject had lifted
(specific performance feedback), commented on the ease
with which the repetitions had been performed, and stat-
ed his belief that she could lift more weight.
To aid the reader, the differences between the mes-
sages have been placed in bold type. One-half of the sub-
jects received the following general message (13):
My name is "researcher's name" and I have been a certified
strength and conditioning specialist since 1990. I have taught
weight training since 1987 and I have also trained body builders
and power lifters during that same time. I have competed in
power lifting meets since the late 1980s. Based upon my expe-
rience and knowledge of weight training, I have no doubt that
you have the muscular strength and ahility to perform
the hench press exercise. The hench press exercise is easy
to learn and the machine will help you perform the ex-
ercise correctly.
The other half of the subjects received the specific
message:
My name is "researcher's name" and I have been a certified
strength and conditioning specialist since 1990. I have taught
weight training since 1987 and I have also trained body builders
and power lifters during that same time. I have competed in
power lifting meets since the late 1980s. Based upon my expe-
rience and knowledge of weight training, those 10 repetitions
you just performed with (the amount of weight each lifter
used was placed here) looked easy. You looked strong and
did not appear to have any problems lifting the weight. I
het you could lift more weight.
Measurement. The bench press efficacy scale, used in
a previous study (13), contained 14 items. The first item
was, "I can bench press 20 pounds 1 time." The remaining
13 items were worded exactly the same except that the
weight was increased by 20 pounds on each consecutive
item. Therefore, item 14 was, "I can bench press 280
pounds 1 time." The scale asked respondents to indicate
how confident they felt in their ability to perform each
task after taking a 5-minute rest. Confidence was mea-
sured with a 100-point range organized into increments
of 10 points. Zero (certainly cannot) and 100 (certainly
can) were the end points. Bench press efficacy was the
mean of the 14 efficacy values. Cronbach's alpha values
of 0.89 and 0.92 for the first and second administrations,
respectively, provided evidence of the scale's reliability.
Statistical Analyses
First, internal consistency of the bench press efficacy
scale was assessed with Cronbach's alphas. Then, group
bench press efficacy means and standard deviations were
calculated. Third, the within-group effect of each message
was determined through a dependent t-test and compu-
tation of an effect size (eta squared). Finally, to test the
hypothesis, the groups' bench press efficacy means, which
were collected after delivery of the verbal messages, were
compared with an independent ^-test, significance level
set at p < 0.05.
28 WISE, POSNER, AND WALKER
TABLE 1. Group means, standard deviations, and effect sizes for bench press efficacy.
After bench pressing After verbal message
M ±SD M ±SD
Groups
General message 32.20 11.44 38.35
Specific message 33.08 12.53 39.97
Note, rf values of 0.01, 0.06, and 0.14 correspond with small, medium, and large effect sizes respectively (6).
TABLE 2. Independent i-test of final bench press efficacy
means (after receiving verbal message).
t df p related studies, generalizability is enhanced. For exam-
General message vs. specific message -0.30 30 0.38
RESULTS
Within-group analyses revealed that both verbal messag-
es significantly raised bench press efficacy (Table 1).
These increases, according to effect size values (Table 1),
were very large. However, contrary to what was expected,
the efficacy means of the 2 groups were not significantly
different (Table 2). Thus, women who received a verbal
message containing either general statements or specific
performance feedback, following the execution of 10
bench press repetitions, became more confident in their
capabilities to bench press heavier weights.
DISCUSSION
The within-group results of this study, consistent with
earlier studies, show that verbal messages, relatively
weak when the sole source of efficacy information, are
very influential when they function as adjuncts to more
powerful agents, specifically, physical achievements (7,
11, 13). Accomplishing a task provides direct evidence of
one's abilities and verbal messages validate these percep-
tions of personal capability (3, 13).
Unexpectedly, the hypothesis was not supported. It
was believed those who received a message containing
specific performance feedback would report larger effica-
cy values than those who heard a message containing
general statements. However, both messages were equal-
ly effective in strengthening efficacy. This outcome may
have been due to the similarity of the messages' contents.
The first portion of both messages was identical and fo-
cused on the speaker's strength training qualifications.
While it is important that recipients of messages view the
speaker as knowledgeable and competent in the activity
of interest (2, 3), it is possible the women considered the
speaker's qualifications to be the most important infor-
mation and, accordingly, focused exclusively on it, ignor-
ing the remaining content. If this was the case, then both
messages are exactly the same and equivalent results
would be expected. This hypothesis could be tested by cal-
culating and comparing the impact each segment of a
message has upon efficacy beliefs. For example, a study
could look at the effects of 3 messages: one with only the
speaker's strength training qualifications, a second with
only specific feedback, and a third with both pieces of in-
formation.
If one considers the findings of this study in isolation,
it is difficult to generalize beyond a 1:1 (strength profes-
sional:lifter) setting involving inexperienced women
Within group
t P
13.42 -3.95 0.001 0.51
16.99 -4.10 0.001 0.53
bench pressing on a fixed movement exercise machine.
However, if one views the findings in conjunction with
ple, while the link between self-efficacy and physical
strength was not directly tested in this study, a substan-
tial body of research (3-5, 8, 12) has shown that raising
efficacy leads to increased effort and improved perfor-
mance in a wide array of physical activities including
bench pressing (8, 12). Furthermore, the last 2 studies
involved men (8, 12), experienced lifters (8), and free
weights (12). Finally, a growing amount of data (7, 11,
13) indicates that verbal messages should immediately
follow physical performances (e.g., a set of repetitions).
To demonstrate generalizability, let's consider why di-
rect supervision of strength training workouts is benefi-
cial. Moderately trained men (i.e., 1—2 years of strength
training experience) who were supervised one-on-one by
a personal trainer used heavier training loads and dem-
onstrated greater strength gains than those who did not
receive direct supervision (9). The significant differences
may have been due to the personal trainer's verbal mes-
sages as illustrated in the following hypothetical, though
very likely, scenario. A lifter completes a set. The person-
al trainer, who is amply qualified (i.e., possesses 3 years
of experience training lifters and 2 professional certifi-
cations), verbally supplies performance feedback (e.g.,
"That set of 10 repetitions looked easy. I think you need
to use more weight") and confirms the lifter's personal
ability (e.g., "You are a natural for this"). As a result of
the message, the lifter becomes more efficacious, expends
greater effort, uses a heavier training load, and improves
his performance.
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
There are a couple of techniques a strength professional
(i.e., personal trainer) who supervises novice, college-aged
women in a one-on-one setting can utilize to create more
efficacious lifters. First, the supervising professional is
encouraged to inform lifters of his or her strength train-
ing qualifications (e.g., type and extent of personal ex-
periences with strength training, professional certifica-
tions). Second, immediately after a lifter completes a set,
the professional should verbally convey specific feedback
(e.g., amount of weight and number of repetitions, the
ease with which the set was completed) and his or her
beliefs in the lifter's abilities to perform the exercise (e.g.,
"You have the strength and ability to perform this exer-
cise").
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Address correspondence to James B. Wise, james.wise®
mnsu.edu.