Autonomy support and restriction both enhance effort and performance in virtual cycling, but restriction also undermines positive experience

Effort is central to health-related exercise and athletic performance, yet individuals often struggle to sustain effort due to its aversive nature. Drawing on Self-Determination Theory and OPTIMAL theory, this study examined the role of effort by experimentally manipulating autonomy-supportive and autonomy-restrictive coaching in a within-subjects virtual cycling paradigm (N = 57). Performance (power output, heart rate), effort intensity, value of effort, and participants’ momentary feeling were assessed. Both autonomy support and restriction increased perceived effort and, via this pathway, improved performance relative to a no-coach control condition. However, autonomy restriction undermined positive experiences: participants reported lower valuation of effort and felt less good than under autonomy support. Mediation analyses showed that effort intensity, but not value of effort or feeling, explained performance gains. Thus, controlling strategies may elicit short-term benefits through heightened effort, but at the cost of undermining the quality of exercise experiences essential for performance and long-term adherence.