It Makes You Stronger

Yup, that's the first point made in this little study by the International Journal of Exercise Science. The study was done back in 2014 and it states that there is a specific adrenaline rush that your body gets that helps you endure more than what you thought you previously could. In fact it can make you up to 25% stronger in that particular situation by activating the body's “fight or flight” response.

“Basically, grunting increases your adrenaline, which gives your muscles a momentary boost in power,” says Daniel Heller, a physician at Blue Ridge Orthopaedic and Spine Center in Warrenton, Virginia. “Simply exhaling won’t give you the same jolt.”

Here' s another great point in that swearing can help you achieve the same increased strength as well.

In a 2017 study that’s currently under peer review, researchers at Keele University in Staffordshire, England, had volunteers cycle on stationary bikes for two 30-second periods—once while cussing and once while chanting a neutral word. When allowed to curse, the participants pedaled 4 percent harder for the first five seconds and 2 percent harder throughout the whole half-minute. They also tested 52 peoples’ grip strengths using the same parameters. When swearing, the volunteers squeezed eight percent harder, on average.

It Helps You Block Pain

Just as it helps you increase your strength in some situations it can also help you block out the pain. I have personally experienced this when I sprained my ankle this past Christmas Eve. Needless to say I had a few choice words for the step that was hiding there in the dark and when I hit the ground and felt that all too familiar pop in my ankle I let out a few choice words and it helped me get through it as my ankle swelled up like a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Balloon.

In 2015, two researchers at the National University of Singapore published a paper in theJournal of Pain noting that their volunteers—29 women and 26 men—were able to keep their hands submerged in a tub of icy water for seven seconds longer when allowed to yell during the ordeal versus staying silent. The authors suspect that shouting helps ease discomfort by preventing pain signals from reaching one’s brain. In fact, they suggest that “vocalizing responses” should be a “first line of defense when individuals get hurt.”

So as you can see grunting and cursing while it may not have a place everywhere, it does have its place. Just use caution.

Source:  Outside Magazine: