Enhancing workout performance remains a top priority for Arnold Schwarzenegger. In his July 21 Arnold’s Pump Club newsletter, he revealed whether sniffing dark chocolate can lead to more reps during training.
In the 1970s, Arnold Schwarzenegger dominated the professional bodybuilding industry with size and aesthetics. He defeated iconic Men’s Open competitors en route to building his legacy, from Sergio Oliva and Lou Ferrigno to Frank Zane.
Schwarzenegger is always looking for an edge inside the gym. He’s discussed how creatine or beetroot juice can impact training, but now he’s taking a closer look at chocolate. When we think of chocolate, extra calories and weight gain come to mind, but Schwarzenegger is exploring whether it could be a hidden performance-booster.
“Within the past week, about 20 APC readers all sent us the same question: Did you see the dark chocolate study? Is it true that if you sniff dark chocolate before a set, you’ll crank out 18 more reps?” We’re already picturing scratch-and-sniff preworkout stickers with claims that match the research.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger Discusses If Sniffing Chocolate Boosts Workout Performance
In the newsletter, Schwarzenegger pointed out one study showing that those who smelled dark chocolate were able to perform extra reps.
“The study isn’t as crazy as we first thought, though it’s taking a massive leap of faith in its claims. People who smelled dark chocolate really did add reps. But the study had many flaws, and the data suggest the researchers couldn’t explain why performance changed.”
Scientists examined men who used the leg extension machine under three different conditions. During the study, they each smelled either 90% dark chocolate, milk chocolate, or plain water.
“Scientists took men in their early 20s who lift weights. Each fasted for at least 10 hours, and then came into the lab on three different occasions for a workout.
Before and between sets of leg extensions, a researcher held a liquid under their nose for 30 seconds with one of the following: 90% dark chocolate, milk chocolate, or plain water.”
Surprisingly, they found that those who sniffed the dark chocolate were able to add around 18 reps to their sets. Participants who smelled milk chocolate saw a modest increase of nine reps.
“Strange as it might sound, the dark chocolate added about 18 reps over water. Milk chocolate added about 9 reps. And when doing those extra reps, no one reported the workout feeling harder. In other words, the participants were able to do much more, but they said that the effort felt no more difficult than the plain water reps.”
Schwarzenegger explained that it’s uncertain what caused the change, but suggested that the smell of dark chocolate made subjects less hungry throughout sessions.
“The researchers figured the smell worked by killing hunger, and sure enough, dark chocolate made the men less hungry, and the less-hungry sessions had more reps. But “happened at the same time” isn’t “caused it.” Ice cream sales and sunburns both spike in July, and the ice cream isn’t burning anyone.”
“When the team ran the real test to see whether the hunger drop drove the reps, it didn’t find a link between the two. So the explanation was just a hunch.”
As for discrepancies with the study, Schwarzenegger shared that there weren’t any ‘blind’ experimental conditions and that they only looked at one exercise.
“Then there’s the control, which was plain water. Good studies “blind” the experimental conditions so the participants don’t know what they’re receiving. And that’s because we know the placebo effect is real and powerful (thinking something can work — even if it’s nothing — leads to changes). So, knowing the water was different from the other two conditions, it’s possible that much of the performance was driven by the expectation that it would work.”
“And it was a small study and only one exercise, so the applicability is limited. We’re looking at twenty-three young men, training on an empty stomach, testing one-leg machine across one session. It says nothing about other exercises, an entire workout, or whether this leads to more strength and muscle over time.”
According to Schwarzenegger, the performance boost could come from our brain thinking about food during a workout:
“Here’s what’s possible: when you train on an empty stomach, the sight or thought of food — or some source of energy — could boost performance.
It’s the same reason swishing a sports drink and spitting it out lets people grind out extra reps without swallowing a calorie. Your brain catches the cue, and it triggers a change in how hard you can push.”
Schwarzenegger has opened up about other under-the-radar performance enhancers. He broke down research suggesting that simply swishing a carb-based drink in your mouth can lead to increased power during hard workouts.
Schwarzenegger continues to offer lifters useful strategies for better performance. He believes smelling chocolate could have merit, especially if your training session starts dragging.
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