The Placebo Effect in Performance: How Beliefs Shape Your Results

How much of your response to training, nutrition, and recovery interventions might actually be due to your beliefs and expectations?

One approach to addressing this issue is to look to medical science where we can estimate the magnitude of the placebo response on treatment efficacy. 

A meta-analysis of 186 peer reviewed clinical trials involving nearly 17,000 people estimates that on average 54% of the effect of drugs, psychological, and physical interventions across a wide range of conditions fall into the “placebo response” category (1). Far from “fake,” these responses are grounded in brain physiology.

Should we expect performance-related interventions to be any different? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Regardless of the actual percentages, data like these make a compelling case that harnessing the brain more effectively holds the potential for gains in performance that are likely greater than marginal.

_{1. Hafliðadóttir SH, Juhl CB, Nielsen SM, Henriksen M, Harris IA, Bliddal H, Christensen R. Placebo response and effect in randomized clinical trials: meta-research with focus on contextual effects. Trials. 2021 Jul 26;22(1):493. doi: 10.1186/s13063-021-05454-8. PMID: 34311793; PMCID: PMC8314506.}