The Placebo Effect

[chriscarr_78]

After reading the following interesting thread (which by the way I myself am guilty of):

BIGOREXIA - do you have it?

I thought I'd ask you all what you thought of, "The Placebo Effect" in regards to steroids.

Huh? Yea, hold on and let me explain. A friend of mine had explained to me that when people start taking steroids they tend to also start increasing the intensity of their workouts whether conciously or sub-conciously.

He stated it was as if people thought to themselves, "I'm going to get huge" and gave more commitment/effort towards their workouts as a result of their steroid use as opposed to when they weren't using.

Besides the obvious effects of steroids on the body (increased muscle mass/size etc) I found it an interesting statement.

The Placebo Effect.

[POWERJIM]

Great subject chris! There have been many tests carried out over the years regarding Steroids, mostly in eastern bloc countries, when these tests are carried out they usually have 3 groups of test subjects. 1 group are given steroids, a good diet and training routine, another group are given no steroids but the same diet and training routine as the other Steroid group, the last group are given injections of water and are told that they are on Steroids, they also have the same diet and routines as the other groups. Now when it comes to seeing how much muscle the groups have gained over say a period of 8 weeks, the natural group would have gained around 1.5lb of lean muscle mass, the placebo group may have gained slightly more than the natural group, maybe 2lb of lean muscle mass, the steroid groups would have gained something like upto 9lb of lean muscle mass in some cases, thats upto 6 times as more muscle mass as the natural guys. The power of the mind is not to be underestimated, the right attitude to your training will always bring that extra percentage to your gains.

[lee thompson]

indeed,a great piece of info!

[chriscarr_78]

Thanks Guys,

Like you said Jim, the power of the mind is not to be under-estimated. When I was training I hit a plateau of 90kg which my bench press and I just couldn't beat it and it was really neginning to annoy me.

My friend (yep, the same one who told me about the placebo effect) suggested I should visualize my goal.

Sorry, the above explanation doesn't do it justice. He said to me something along the lines of:

"Relax yourself, deep breaths in through the nose and out, slowly, from the mouth. Picture yourself running through the whole movement of the exercise, KNOW that you can lift the weight, the weight is easy, the weight is light, you've done this many times before, your only lifting 50kg. You can do this."

No bull****, I lifted 100kg with this technique. I admit, I only managed 1 lift the first time I applied this but that's not important.

THE FACT THAT I'D LIFTED IT AND BROKE THE MENTAL BARRIER WAS.

[ambientdeath]

I think this can be said about many supplements. I'm sure there are kids who bought new fancy whey and really focus on workingout and say to themselves "Im gonna get JACKED now!" Then mentally, they give that extra effort because they think this new whey will revolutionize their muscle gains.

[POWERJIM]

Originally Posted by ambientdeath

I think this can be said about many supplements. I'm sure there are kids who bought new fancy whey and really focus on workingout and say to themselves "Im gonna get JACKED now!" Then mentally, they give that extra effort because they think this new whey will revolutionize their muscle gains.

Yeah but it can also work against them, they start thinking that they dont have to workout as hard now as they are taking magic muscle beans, when you give up the supplements you tend to work harder on diet and in training.

[chriscarr_78]

Again, I agree with you Jim.

I've also known quite a few guys who think that just by taking steroids they can make gains WITHOUT needing to workout...

Sure, they grow, but not in the way they'd hoped.

[Noir]

Damn, I read that article and realized i don't have three...I have all of them except for the sex drive one.

[ambientdeath]

Originally Posted by POWERJIM

Yeah but it can also work against them, they start thinking that they dont have to workout as hard now as they are taking magic muscle beans, when you give up the supplements you tend to work harder on diet and in training.

That is true as well. It can go the either way.

But dont knock magic muscle beans, I thank them for all my gains !