Altered States, Enhanced Potential: Psychedelics and Physical Performance
June 12, 2026 Zane Qarni, Jérémie Richard preprint
People who use psychedelics like psilocybin mushrooms and LSD often describe them as enhancing physical performance indirectly by altering attention, increasing mind-body connection, promoting flow-like absorption, and reducing pain or fatigue. Some users report greater perceived strength, speed, endurance, coordination, or overall capability, along with effortless movement, reduced self-consciousness, sharper perception, and improved focus. Reports are predominantly positive or mixed, but concerns include overexertion, injury risk, impaired judgment, and fairness in competitive settings. Psychedelics may function more as potential-enhancing substances that change the subjective conditions of performance rather than as traditional performance-enhancing drugs. Whether perceived gains correspond to measurable improvement remains unclear.