Smelling chocolate could be key to boosting exercising
A quick sniff of chocolate before hitting the weights may help gym-goers squeeze in extra reps, new research suggests.
Scientists have found that smelling chocolate, especially dark chocolate, improves resistance training performance and also makes people feel less hungry.
Researchers from the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur tested the unusual theory on 23 healthy men in their early to mid-20s after fasting for 10 hours.
Participants were divided into three groups and asked to smell 90 percent liquefied dark chocolate, 60 percent milk chocolate, or water before and during a series of leg extension exercises.
Writing in the journal Frontiers in Physiology, researchers found that those exposed to the dark chocolate flavor completed significantly more repetitions than those smelling water, with milk chocolate also boosting performance.
Senior author Dr Mohamed Nashrudin bin Naharudin said: “Smelling a 90 per cent dark chocolate scent added about 18 more reps to participants’ leg extensions, while a 60 per cent milk chocolate scent added about nine reps compared to the water control.
“Exposing moderately trained men to the scent of chocolate immediately before and between resistance exercises significantly increased their overall training volume without increasing their perceived exertion. It is a fascinating psychobiological result to see a significant increase in repetitions without the athletes feeling like they were pushing themselves harder.”
The team also reported that the volunteers felt less hungry, had less desire to eat, and felt fuller after smelling the dark chocolate.
Dr Nashrudin added: “The smell of dark chocolate acts as a learned cue for a rich, bitter and highly satisfying food, essentially pre-empting the system into a state of fullness.
“Conversely, sweeter milk chocolate odor acts more like a hedonic reward cue, increasing exercise volume by creating a highly pleasant sensory environment rather than altering basic metabolic hunger signals.”
The researchers believe other appealing food flavors may produce similar effects, but emphasized that larger studies are needed before definitive conclusions can be drawn.
