Increasing effort without noticing: A randomized controlled pilot study about the ergogenic placebo effect in endurance athletes and the role of supplement salience.

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Copper (Supplement) in this randomized controlled trial publication.

Previous research shows that endurance performance can be enhanced by placebo ergogenic aids.

The primary objective of this study is to explore the role of supplement salience in the ergogenic placebo response, while the secondary aim is to assess whether believing to have taken an inactive placebo supplement attenuates the desired ergogenic effect.

At both time trials, power output (objective effort), blood lactate (physiological effort) and the rating of perceived exertion (subjective effort) were measured.

Who Took Part

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were adults, men only.

The researchers employed a double-blind placebo-controlled study design and compared a high salience (pudding) to a low salience (capsules) ergogenic placebo supplement and to a no treatment control group.

Thirty-four male athletes (30.0 ± 5.7 years) performed two self-regulated time trials on an isokinetic cycling ergometer, one without intervention serving as a baseline and one with intervention according to group assignment.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled and pilot.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Copper (Supplement) and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

As a double-blind Copper (Supplement) study, the assignments were hidden from both participants and investigators until the end.

Some participants received a placebo instead of Copper (Supplement), giving a reference point.

It is described as a pilot, a small early test of whether a larger Copper (Supplement) study would be practical.

What Was Measured

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Athletes, Bicycling, Capsules, Dietary Supplements, Lactic Acid, Performance-Enhancing Substances and Physical Exertion.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Copper (Supplement).

Its findings take up roughly 4 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 2018 (PloS one), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Copper (Supplement) compound page, all human trials.