When people say they've done their research...

I'm gonna start this post with a facebook comment form Mike T Nelson from http://miketnelson.com/

"If I hear one more person email me and say "well, if you would study the research, especially Guru X, you would find......." I am going to scream.

But when I ask them what research they studied, and they can't come up with anything. In return, I feel that I don't have to answer. Would anything I say be valid?

By all means, please read, please ask others, question ...things, do your homework, but don't say you are "studying research" when you are reading Dr. Google or parroting the latest "Guru."

I would rather people say "Hey, Guru X said this, what do you think?" That is fair.

But if you say you are studying research, I would expect at least 2 full studies, 3 if they are rat studies, and 5 if they happened in a dish in a lab. Hell, at this point I would be happy with one.

If you still hassle me again I will ask about the studies you have received IRB approval for, conducted, and published.

Anyone can find flaws with every study, that is not hard since by virtue of doing X you can't do Y. If I run a ride to exhaustion, I can't do a time trial format.

If I run a study in a metabolic chamber it will not be "real world specific." The opposite is true also, if I run a study in free living people, I can't control everything that happens to them. If I wanted to do that, I would lock them in a metabolic chamber.

It is harder to piece together the current literature into a concise statement with supporting evidence. I may not agree with it (nobody agree with everything), but at least I can follow your train of thought and I am willing to discuss / learn from it. " 

Why Nutritional Dogma Dies Hard - Alan Aragon

"there’s no way it can’t be productive to calmly & intelligently discuss any topic by presenting scientific evidence to support your case, while being open to research that perhaps you were not aware of. But hey, learning and staying informed about the scientific side of things takes considerable effort. And apparently, some people have no interest in delving into anything beyond their pre-existent beliefs. I personally think that there’s ALWAYS room for learning from scientific research, especially if you include science to justify your methods of practice."

Here are some common mistakes trainers and nutritionists make when talking about research studies.

"The false dichotomy is where you are presented a situation as having only two choices, when many other choices could be considered - when someone presents you with a limited number of choices ... that person is presenting a false dichotomy."
http://weightology.net/weightologyweekly/?page_id=365

My stance on placebo and alternative medicine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHkHB1i0Ss0
http://www.jyfitness.blogspot.com/2011/01/homeopathy.html

The Straw Man: misrepresent an opponent’s position
http://weightology.net/weightologyweekly/?page_id=485
"No other fallacy is probably more prevalent in the health industry than the straw man. The straw man is where you misrepresent an opponent’s position. You “set up a strawman” because you create a position that is easy to refute, then attribute that position to your opponent. You are essentially substituting a hard target for an easy one. It is called a straw man because it is very easy to tear down a straw man; however, it is a fallacy because you have not refuted your opponent’s true position."

Correlation is not Causation (Sausage Analogy)
http://athlete.io/2070/lessons-from-sausage/

"epidemiologists try to figure out what can be said of their decades worth of data, only to realize in the end that it doesn’t say anything at all. It only helps us realize how little we actually know."

How to become a fitness guru in 25 easy steps
http://bretcontreras.com/2012/02/how-to-become-a-fitness-guru-in-25-easy-steps-2/

17. "Surround Yourself With Clones and Parrots – Don’t surround yourself with brilliant scientists, physical therapists, biomechanists, or exercise physiologists as they’ll just impair your ability to be cocky when you realize that your theories aren’t so earth-shattering and are lacking in substance. Find some folks who think exactly the way you do and promote each other round the clock. This will help you feel better about yourself"

How to become easily brainwashed in 5 steps - Jamie Hale
http://www.maxcondition.com/page.php?134

1. Fail to verify information for yourself

2. Believe that because something is widely held as fact, it must be true

3. Practice blind obedience to authority

4. Place great emphasis on formal credentials

5. Be swayed by the ad hominem attack

"This is when someone seeks to discredit another person's argument, not by rationally and systematically addressing the key points of that person's argument, but by instead attacking that person's personal character. To call someone unqualified, uneducated, disreputable, or a conspiracy nut, or to claim that they are a pug-ugly loser whose mother engages in the paid distribution of sexual favors, while failing to intelligently refute their arguments, is akin to placing a huge flashing sign above one's head--one that screams "I cannot intelligently refute this person's argument to save my life, so I am trying to divert attention to his alleged character flaws instead!" To maintain a robust Brainwashed Sucker state, ignore this warning sign no matter how brightly it flashes!  Ignorance is Bliss"

A good video on how to read Science For Smart People

Explaination (and good examples) on how research are supposed to be dissected and analyzed.
http://bretcontreras.com/2012/08/the-strength-of-evidence-podcast-episode-one/

"research methodologies and design can impact the quality and usefulness of a paper."

20 best quotes (knowledge bombs) from nick Tumminello
http://nicktumminello.com/2012/09/20-best-quotes-knowledge-bombs-from-personal-trainers-physical-therapsists/

17. “If you know enough about anatomy, physiology, and strength training, you could make a case for why every exercise in the book should be avoided. Conversely, you could also make a case for why every exercise in the book should be performed.” Bret Contreras