placebo effect in nearly all situations associated with human
performance. It sounds very far-fetched at times, but I’ve
seen it work on very high-level athletes.”
When Beedie led a review of the early studies of theplacebo effect in sport, he found performance improvements
were generally in the one to five per cent range, so could you
harness its potential to help make you that much fitter, faster
or stronger? And if you could, would it be a good idea?
BELIEVE IN RECOVERY
The belief effect, as some advocates like to call it, doesn’t add
to your physical capabilities, but it does allow you to realise
more of your potential. The concept is thought to work
at the conscious and subconscious level in the brain, with
major factors including belief and the context in which the
treatment takes place, for example at a doctor’s surgery or on
the advice of a trusted coach.
Some people are more likely to respond than others,
and the way your brain is wired is probably key. It’s been
suggested personality traits play an important role, with
potential links to optimism, suggestibility, empathy, and
neuroticism for responders.
As you can probably tell, the scientists don’t have the
causes of the placebo effect fully worked out yet, but they
are confident it can have a powerful effect on pain, anxiety,
confidence and motivation – all of which can be critical to
sports performance.
If you’re thinking about taking advantage of the placebo
effect – or trying to work out if it’s at play in the things
you already do – one area to look at would be recovery, not
least because there are great gains to be had if you get this
component of training right. Hard physical efforts may
be where the work feels like it is being done, but it’s after
you’ve stressed your muscles, fibres and tissues that the body