Struggling to open that jam jar? You might need to be less polite about it

SWEARING really does help people to get a grip, a study suggests.

Muscle strength and stamina can be boosted by turning the air blue, and researchers say cursing could help a cyclist find the pedal power to climb a hill, or a tennis player hit the ball a little harder. Getting angry and swearing at a stubborn jar lid could even help to loosen it, according to the findings.

Psychologists conducted tests in which volunteers had to swear before intense sessions on an exercise bike, or squeezing a device that measures hand grip strength. In both experiments, swearing rudely led to significant improvements in performance compared with uttering “neutral” words.

The study followed up earlier work that showed how cursing increases pain tolerance, helping to explain the common reaction to hitting one’s thumb with a hammer.

Dr Richard Stephens, from the Uni- versity of Keele, Staffs, who led both teams, said: “We know from our earlier research that swearing makes people more able to tolerate pain.

“A possible reason for this is that it stimulates the body’s sympathetic nervous system. That’s the system that makes your heart pound when you are in danger.” He added: “If that is the rea- son, we would expect swearing to make people stronger too, and that is what we found in these experiments.”

Surprisingly, rises in heart rate and other expected changes linked to the “fight or flight” response were not seen. The findings were presented at the British Psychological Society’s annual meeting in Brighton.