Welcome to the Get Fit Guys quick and dirty tips to slim down and shape up.

My name is Brock Armstrong and I'm the Get Fit Guy.

The placebo effect has been looked down on, scoffed at and written off is useless because it's all in your head.

But lately there has been a shift in that thinking, and we're starting to see the power

that the placebo holds in athletic performance. Randomized trials and dedicated placebo studies have

given us a much deeper understanding of the placebo effect and all its complex parts. Researchers have even

used things like brain scans to show that there

could be a physiological, not just a psychological explanation for it. While there's still much

about placebos that we don't understand, what's becoming clear is that there is more to it than

simple deception. Doctors worry that a more broad acceptance of the placebo effect

could be used to justify things like useless treatments or procedures. On the other hand,

in sport and fitness, there's a growing idea that the placebo effect may actually be an integral

part of what we call the champion's mindset. This idea has many scientists

and coaches and athletes devoting more time to figuring out how they can use it to their advantage.

First, let's lay out what exactly we're talking about here. The word placebo is a late

18th century Latin term, which literally means, I shall please.

In modern times, the definition of a placebo is a harmless pill, medicine, or procedure

prescribed more for a psychological benefit to the patient than for any physiological effect.

Or, as they explain at the Harvard Medical School, a favorable response

to an intervention, a pill, a procedure, a counseling session, etc., that doesn't have a direct

physiological effect. Now that's interesting. Take note of those words harmless and direct. It's

important to keep those in mind as we proceed because

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