Max Chadwick-Waldford
Walk into any gym and you’ll see people chasing an edge: some drinking protein shakes, others swearing by their pre-workout, a few entranced by the latest recovery gadget. But here’s something most of us don’t think about: what if some of your progress doesn’t come from any of that? What if part of your strength actually comes from what you believe?
That might sound abstract, but it’s tied to something very real: the placebo effect. You typically hear about this in medicine, like when someone feels better after taking a sugar pill they think is a real treatment. But the same idea can be applied to the gym; when you expect something to work, your brain and nervous system can tweak how your body performs. You might feel less pain, push a bit harder, or just show up more focused.
It mostly comes down to expectation. When you expect improvement, you often act in ways that make that improvement happen. In strength training, where progress adds up gradually, that mindset can have a surprisingly large advantage.
In 2023, scientists ran a study with 40 athletes doing identical training programs. In 2023, scientists ran a study with 40 athletes doing identical training programs. The only difference was that one group were told their plan was custom-made just for them, while the other thought they were following a standard routine. In truth, both programs were identical, but the “custom” group made greater progress. Their squat numbers improved more, and they even built slightly more muscle.1
The takeaway is simple: simply believing your plan is advantageous might make it more efficient.
You see this with caffeine, too. Plenty of gym-goers swear they can’t lift without it. In one study, participants were given a drink without caffeine but told it was caffeinated and they still performed better. They felt more alert and powerful just because they expected to. Interestingly, that effect was strongest in people who don’t usually consume caffeine, most likely because their brains haven’t gotten used to it.2
Beyond caffeine, you can see the power of belief demonstrated in elite sports as well. In 2016, Eddie Hall broke the world record deadlift with his 500kg lift. While this may seem inhuman, what he did differently from his predecessors who had failed was that he had worked with both a psychiatrist and a hypnotherapist to trick his mind into truly believing he “was lifting a car off of (his) children.” A testament to how the mind can override the body’s limitations.3
Recovery tools tell a similar story. Ice baths, massage guns, compression sleeves. Sure, some of these have real physiological benefits, but often the biggest difference comes from what you think they’re doing. If an athlete believes their recovery routine works, they’re likely to feel less sore, come back more confident, and train harder. Even if the physical effect is minor, that mental boost can move the needle.4
So, should we just start tricking ourselves? Not exactly. The point isn’t to fake it or ignore pain and risk the chance of worsening injury. It’s to realise that belief is part of the training process, another improvement you can make, just like nutrition or sleep.
Here are a few ways to build that kind of mindset:
• Train with intent. Expect your workouts to go well — it subtly pushes your effort higher.
• Keep things fresh. Small changes make your routine feel more meaningful.
• Build confidence like a skill. Remind yourself, “I’ve got one more rep” and mean it to enable yourself to get that little bit more out of the workout.
• Stick to the basics. Good form, rest, nutrition, and consistency still come first. Belief just amplifies them.
In school sports, club teams, or personal training, this matters more than most people realise. Mindset isn’t just hype; it’s measurable. Science shows that what you expect can influence what your body delivers. If you believe your training is working, you’ll train harder, stay more consistent, and see better results.
1 Lindberg K., Solberg P.A., et al. (2023). The effects of being told you are in the intervention group on training results: a pilot study. Scientific Reports.
2. Vega-Muñoz A., et al. (2024). Caffeine Placebo Effect in Sport and Exercise. Nutrients.
3. O’Reilly A. (2023). Eddie Hall Reveals Behind-the-Scenes Details of His 500kg Deadlift. Muscle & Fitness.
4. Maganaris C.N. (2000). Expectancy Effects and Strength Training: Do Steroids… The Sport Psychologist. The Power of Expectation – Psychology Today (2023)
