Can We Test For Injury With Marshmallows?! No, But They Can Be Useful

Marshmallows. Generally considered yummy (sorry vegetarians). So yummy in fact, that they were used, back in 1970 led my social scientist Walter Mischel in one of the most famous studies on human behaviour of the twentieth century: the Stanford Marshmallow Experiment.

We’ll come on to the details of the experiment, suffice it to say that the intention was to investigate ‘delayed gratification’ in children by offering one treat now or two treats later. Could the children wait and receive the bigger reward? Or would they plump for the quick hit now while it was available?

The results have been hotly debated ever since (we’ll come on to that too) but regardless, how can offering sweet treats to children help us as adult climbers? The answer comes with our approach to recovering from injury.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Prowess Climbing Coaching (@prowess.coaching)

The Marshmallow Test

Mischel et al’s study has come to be know simply as The Marshmallow Test and it, roughly, goes something like this:

1. Sit a child at a table and place a marshmallow in front of them
2. Tell the child they are free to eat the marshmallow at any time they choose
3. BUT if they can refrain from eating the single marshmallow for x number of minutes, they will receive two instead!
4. Sit back and watch to see what the child does

Much has been made of the results – some simple, some too simple and we’ll come back to this later – but either which way, some kids ate the marshmallow, others were able to wait and claim the bigger reward.

Context for Us as Climbers

So what has this got to do with us? After all, we’re not pre-school children, we’re adults that are (supposed to at least) have a greater control over our emotions. Only, do we actually have that much control?

This is where the experiment becomes an analogy. Because instead of waiting for a marshmallow, imagine we’re waiting for a body part to recover from injury.

Many of us climbers carry with us small, niggling injuries on a regular basis. We know we should really rest them but that often involves either doing rehab exercises, booking a session with a physio or stopping climbing; none of which may be options we like the sound of.

And this is where the marshmallow test comes in. Imagine that, by not addressing that niggle, we are able to climb 7a. That’s equivalent to eating the one marshmallow now.

OR we could rest and rehab that injury meaning we might be able to push that grade up to where we used to be or even push it harder, up to 7c for example.

To be clear, it doesn’t necessarily carry that by rehabbing that we will definitely climb harder but our chances certainly improve. Likewise, the numbers used here are for demonstration purposes only, not intended to be taken literally

So Rest Up for Small Injuries?

Well, yes and no. Sadly it’s not quite that simple. Essentially it is a decision that needs to be made consciously.

Assuming we are discussing small, niggly injuries, there are many reasons we may choose to have one marshmallow now rather than wait. Often, it is when there may not be two marshmallows to collect later.

End of season comp? Yeah, I have no choice but to power through or wait until next year. A once a year trip to a mega destination? I’d rather drop the grade and take my one now rather than not go. If I know I’ve got a long period away from climbing coming up? Perhaps I might simply delay my recovery/rehab for a short while, knowing I have a good opportunity to recover in a short while.

As above, sadly, there are no hard and fast answers to follow. Crucially, if you’re unsure about your injury, consult a professional (see here for some of my collaborations with experts in their field). But assuming you are happy to self-diagnose, whether you take one or two marshmallows needs to be a choice.

The point of this article is to ensure that the choice you make is an informed one.

Some Additional Context for Coaches

Let’s go back to those initial results from the original experiment. At first, analysis suggested that delayed gratification came from the child’s personality; that is to say, it was fixed and couldn’t be changed.

But as the experiment was replicated, different factors emerged.

It soon became apparent that social factors played a part in the behaviour of the children. So, participants from a stable, supportive environment were more trusting that they would indeed receive the bigger reward being promised.

However children from less-advantaged backgrounds, those who didn’t trust those around them, or those who regularly had to take what they could when they could get it would snatch at the chance while it was available.

It appears that the relationships become incredibly important; it comes down to trust.

This, too, works for our analogy. If you are a coach and you have a client that gets injured, might they feel that they need to continue to perform in order to continue being coached by you? Might they feel pressured (rightly or wrongly) to power through to keep their place in your squad/academy?

For us, as coaches, it is important to remind those that they have our support; with or without injuries. Remind them that we not only support them when they are performing to their max but when they’re in a slump as well. And if they’re injured, well, we’ll help them to rehab, recover and come back stronger.

Remember: our role as coaches is to support athletes to strive to achieve their potential. If that means helping them learn to wait for the second marshmallow, maybe we should make sure they know that too.

Summary

So, much like the toddler waiting to double up their reward, us as climbers may need to hold back for a while – perhaps doing something we don’t necessarily want to do, like rehab exercises – in order to receive the greater reward later on.

For us as coaches, we may need to remind our clients that we are not simply going to forget them just because they can’t climb at their peak right now. Indeed, it may be that we need to help support them through this tricky period in order to help them raise that peak later.

It is always a difficult decision to know when to come back after injury but if we play it just right, we can push things even further in the future. And eat marshmallows along the way.