Introduction
The placebo effect describes a favorable outcome that occurs because of one's belief or expectation that one has received a positive interventionNotably, studies investigating the placebo effect in sports science are conducted with placebo dietary supplements such as caffeine, creatine monohydrate, carbohydrate, and even anabolic steroidsA recent popular training concept within sports science is training according to participants' individual "force–velocity" (FV) profiles. Briefly, the individualized training is theorized to work by changing athletes' force–velocity profiles towards a theoretical optimal profileCurrently, we know very little about the potential placebo effect when investigating different training configurations (e.g., exercise selection, loading, volume, frequency). Hence, the present study aimed to investigate whether a placebo effect is present when participants are told they get "optimal training" compared to being told they get generic "control training".