A new study from Frontiers in Physiology found that smelling chocolate before and during resistance exercise helped men complete more repetitions without increasing their perceived exertion. The strongest effect was observed with dark chocolate.
A tough leg day may have an unexpectedly simple boost: the smell of chocolate. Researchers at the University of Malaya, led by Dr. Mohamed Nashrudin bin Naharudin, an assistant professor at the Faculty of Sports and Exercise Science, discovered that exposure to chocolate aromas significantly increased training volume without making workouts feel harder. "Exposing moderately trained men to chocolate odors right before and between sets of resistance exercise significantly increased their overall training volume without increasing their perceived exertion," Dr. Naharudin stated. "Seeing a substantial increase in repetitions without the athletes feeling like they were exerting themselves any harder is a fascinating psychobiological outcome."
The study involved 23 healthy men in their early to mid-20s who were moderately trained. Participants were divided into three groups and exposed to either liquified dark chocolate (90% cocoa), liquified milk chocolate (60% cocoa), or water as a control. Before exercise, all participants fasted for at least 10 hours. They then performed leg extensions, measuring performance both before and during the session. Participants also rated their hunger, fullness, desire to eat, and intention to eat before exercise, and hunger and desire to eat after each 30-second exposure to the scent samples.
The two chocolate aromas influenced appetite differently. Smelling dark chocolate was associated with lower hunger, less desire and intention to eat, and greater feelings of fullness before exercise. Researchers believe that the aroma reduced appetite by decreasing hunger and increasing perceived fullness. Milk chocolate also had an effect, but to a lesser degree. Dr. Nashrudin Naharudin noted, “We know olfaction is powerfully wired into the brain’s appetite and emotion networks, but surprisingly, no study has systematically looked at the three-way interaction between smell, appetite, and actual resistance exercise capacity.”
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