Can a placebo effect make me faster? Evidence for placebo effects as performance enhancers in sport

Over the past three decades, the understanding and conceptualisation of placebo effects has shifted in emphasis from a nuisance that needs to be controlled for in clinical trials, to a psychological variable of potential interest, to a legitimate neurobiological process that can significantly improve health status. This same period has also witnessed the emergence of researchers and teams examining placebo effects in sport and exercise, and emergent data suggest that placebo effects can have a similarly positive effect on sports performance and exercise outcomes. The aim of this chapter is to provide a brief summary of the key studies published to date in sport, describing how placebo effects induced by different interventions affect performance. We examine placebo effects by type of placebo treatment, for example nutritional, mechanical, and equipment-based, and by type of sport, for example sprint, endurance, and strength performance. Copyright © 2024 selection and editorial matter, Philip Hurst and Chris Beedie; individual chapters, the contributors.