Placebo effect of an inert gel on experimentally induced leg muscle pain.

Purpose: This study examined the therapeutic effects of an inert placebo gel on experimentally induced muscle pain in a sports therapy setting. It aimed to investigate the degree to which conditioned analgesia, coupled with an expectation of intervention, was a factor in subsequent analgesia.

Methods: Participants were sixteen male and eight female sports therapy students at a UK University.

The placebo effect in sports performance: a brief review.

The placebo effect, with its central role in clinical trials, is acknowledged as a factor in sports medicine, although until recently little has been known about the likely magnitude and extent of the effect in any specific research setting. Even less is known about the prevalence of the effect in competitive sport. The present paper reviews 12 intervention studies in sports performance.

Identification of placebo responsive participants in 40km laboratory cycling performance.

The placebo effect, a positive outcome resulting from the belief that a beneficial treatment has been received, is widely acknowledged but little understood. It has been suggested that placebo responsiveness, the degree to which an individual will respond to a placebo, might vary in the population. The study aimed to identify placebo-responsive participants from a previously published paper that examined the effects of caffeine and placebos on cycling performance.

Pharmacological and psychological effects of caffeine ingestion in 40-km cycling performance.

Unlabelled: The ergogenic effects of caffeine are well documented. Research has yet to examine any psychological contribution to this effect.

Aim: To explore the psychological and pharmacological effects of caffeine in laboratory cycling performance.

Positive and negative placebo effects resulting from the deceptive administration of an ergogenic aid.

The article describes a study examining placebo effects associated with the administration of a hypothetical ergogenic aid in sport. Forty-two team-sport athletes were randomly assigned to 2 groups. All subjects completed 3 x 30-m baseline sprint trials after which they were administered what was described to them as an ergogenic aid but was in fact 200 mg of cornstarch in a gelatin capsule.

Placebo effects of caffeine on cycling performance.

Purpose: The placebo effect-a change attributable only to an individual's belief in the efficacy of a treatment-might provide a worthwhile improvement in physical performance. Although sports scientists account for placebo effects by blinding subjects to treatments, little research has sought to quantify and explain the effect itself. The present study explored the placebo effect in laboratory cycling performance using quantitative and qualitative methods.