Does weight lifting improve visual acuity? A replication of Gonzalo-Fonrodona and Porras (2013)

OBJECTIVE: A physical effort such as lifting up a weight affects our perception and cognition. A previous study reported in two experiments that weight lifting improves visual acuity. In the previous study, participants’ visual acuity was higher while lifting weights than while resting. Moreover, via a case study, that study further showed that the heavier the weight, the better the visual acuity. These experiments, although interesting, lacked methodological details and thorough statistical analyses. We thus conducted experiments similar to these two previous ones that mitigated these issues. RESULTS: Although our results of Experiment 1 echoed those of the previous study, the results of Experiment 2 did not support the latter case report. Thus, our results suggest that the bodily experience of weights improves visual acuity, but a gradual increase in weight does not seem to lead to a gradual increase in visual acuity. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13104-017-2699-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.