Sometimes you need extra kick – for a workout, a race, to fight embezzlement charges – and you might be tempted to try a performance-enhancing product. A new study suggests that you save your money; if anything, order a shot of self-deception instead.
The study, led by Jennifer Otto, a clinical exercise phys-
iology graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, showed that runners clocked faster 5K times after drinking what they thought was super-oxygenated water but in fact was tap water.
Thirty-two healthy volunteers, ages 18 to 55, each ran three nonpaced 5Ks: the first to get familiar with the indoor track and the other two to compare times after drinking 16 ounces of regular bottled water versus 16 ounces of supposedly super-oxygenated water. The runs were completed at least three days apart; the study was commissioned by the American Council on Exercise (ACE).
Before running, each participant watched a video promoting super-oxygenated water, including statements that the products pack up to 10 times more oxygen than tap water and thus improve performance.
Participants were competitive or recreational runners who ran at least 7.3 miles weekly.
Some additional background: In 2001, an ACE-sponsored study found that drinking super-oxygenated waters – brands like Aqua Rush, Athletic Super Water and AquOforce – before exercise had no measurable effect on heart rate, blood pressure or blood lactate values, which fluctuate based on oxygen demands of muscles.
The new study, which ACE published last month, was designed to determine whether a person’s belief that he had used one of the new products might have a placebo effect. Sure enough, 27 of the 32 people ran faster – an average of 83 seconds quicker – after downing the phony pint than after drinking the regular bottled water.
Interestingly, those who ran the familiarization 5K in under 20 minutes improved on their bottled-water time by about 28 seconds during the placebo run versus 142 seconds for those who took longer than 20 minutes. This suggests less-experienced (or less-skilled) runners are easier to fool into performing better. Runners with more miles behind them may be more in tune with their bodies and able to distinguish between a real and an imagined benefit.
Otto says the message might apply to other products purported to improve physical performance: “All the aids that are out there (the shoe implants, special water, etc.) maybe it’s because you’re expecting them to work that they seem to have an effect.”
And don’t even get us started on dietary supplements.
