Simply smelling chocolate can boost your gym workout, according to a recent study that’s generated headlines around the world.

No eating, no calories, just smelling.

Sniffing chocolate could make your leg day workout easier, even on an empty stomach.

Sniffing chocolate could make your leg day workout easier, even on an empty stomach.

Headlines followed, including:

Sniff chocolate, do more reps without trying harder!

Sniff chocolate, do more reps without trying harder!

This came with the qualifier:

We’re not even kidding. It’s a psychobiology thing.

We’re not even kidding. It’s a psychobiology thing.

But is all this too good to be true? Does the research check out? I’m an exercise scientist and here’s my verdict.

What the researchers did

The study recruited 23 young men who had been doing resistance training at least twice a week for the past two years. So, although they weren’t elite athletes, they were diligent gym-goers.

Resistance training is when you work your muscles against a load. This can be lifting weights, using machines, or using your own bodyweight.

In this study, the men used the leg extension machine. This is where you sit down, hook your shins under a padded bar, and straighten your knees against a weight (like a kicking motion).

In the study, each participant came into the laboratory three separate times after fasting overnight for roughly........

© The Conversation