Mind and Muscle, The Supplement Placebo Effect

Mind and Muscle, The Placebo Effect The Placebo Effect is a sneaky mental technique that's been used since at least World War II. When the medics and field hospitals ran out of painkillers, they would give the wounded soldier the best pain killer known to man.

This medicine was something other than the traditional treatments with active ingredients. The would give the individual a healthy dose of peace of mind, by telling them they were getting shot with morphine, when they would actually be getting shot with saline solution. The amazing part is that in most patients, this "morphine" would actually ease most soldiers' pain.

The Placebo Effect The medics weren't exactly tricking the soldiers; they were activating a placebo effect. The placebo effect is basically a series of reactions in the brain that can change its psychological or physiological functioning. Like in the example of the soldiers, they thought they were getting morphine, which they know dulls the pain immediately, but they were given saltwater. The reaction was the same; it cancelled out the pain, at least temporarily. The reason for this is because your brain controls your body, and your mind can subconsciously control your brain.

Building Muscle With The Placebo Effect The placebo effect is used generously in the supplement industry. The fact is, most supplements don't really have any real active ingredients, or don't have very much, that would help you build muscle. Some supplements are like the soldiers' "morphine," it's just a shot of something else that gets carried straight out of the body. Some supplements actually contain some active ingredient, but not enough to really take credit for your muscle growth.

Most people buying supplements do so after they get "educated" on the subject. They usually get expert advice from their friends or supplement, I mean Bodybuilding, magazines. In all cases, someone takes a supplement because it supposedly worked for someone else and they genuinely believe that it will work for them.

The belief is key here. When you believe something completely, and back it with emotion, you can accomplish things that once seemed impossible. This includes physiological changes, or changes to the body. By thinking and believing that the supplement that was just consumed will cause muscle growth, the brain takes it as instructions. Basically, because of the individual's strong conviction, the person's brain will actually get to work and start the muscle building process. It will do this because it was told to do it.

The belief that the supplement will build muscle, with all else staying the same, is enough to spark muscle growth, but the thing is, how many people get on a supplement and do the same things? Stay with me here, the answer is, not very many. Most folks drink "Miracle 2000" and kick their training up a clicks. Most people will improve their training and their nutrition and recovery.

Give Yourself Some Credit As stated above, most people get on a supplement and completely improve their training and all other aspects of muscle growth. So, even without the supplement, with these changes, you would build muscle anyway. So, too many people just give all of the credit to the supplement. That should stop now; people need to start taking more credit for their gains. People lift the weight, supplements don't. There is a high probability that the supplement really didn't do anything, what worked was your new emphasis on training, and the placebo effect. Keep in mind, some supplements are actually a good thing, but none of them will help unless you have a solid foundation in the fundamentals of building muscle. So, if supplements don't help you build muscle with poor fundamentals, will they help you if you have good fundamentals? They might a little, but you are doing the work and making the gains, not the supplement.

These are a few examples of what you can do to start easing off of the supplements:

1. Reduce your dosage slowly and finally quit the supplement. Stay positive that your results will improve and not fall off.

2. Remember that you are lifting the weight and doing the work, not the supplement. You need to take the credit.

3. Believe in yourself and your muscle building abilities. A belief in your supplements to build muscle does it, believing in yourself will work even better.

Now you can use the placebo effect to your advantage and use your mind and muscle connection to build muscle.

It's time to use your head, learn how to build muscle with your mind. Check out Mental Edge Muscle Building and get your free copy of the 7 Part Muscle Building Guide

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 17th, 2009 at 11:02 pm and is filed under Supplements. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.