Powering Through

What is this...I dont even.....

williamwayland@hotmail.co.uk (willwayland) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:47:00 +0000

Machado Gwangju

williamwayland@hotmail.co.uk (willwayland) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:04:00 +0000

I thought id make a post and put up some pics of Machado Jujitsu Gwangju. Ive been training here for over a month after switching grappling gyms. It Costs 70,000 won a month and the training enviroment there is one of the best ive trained at. My korean is pretty remedial but I can grasp what the Instructor is teaching. For those of you reading In gwangju its near chosun university in a side street in the basement of a 20,000 shop

Protein studies close amount per serving debate?

williamwayland@hotmail.co.uk (willwayland) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:26:00 +0000

Ingested protein dose response of muscle and albumin protein synthesis after resistance exercise in young men. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009.

A moderate serving of high-quality protein maximally stimulates skeletal muscle protein synthesis in young and elderly subjects. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 2009.

Much has been made of these two studies this year. Basically they recommend that 20-30g is all that is needed in a single sitting to maximally stimulate muscle protein synthesis. Im always asked howmuch protein should I consume the best answer I can give is "it depends" or usually 30-40g per meal or 1.4-1.8 grams per kg of BW. People worry to much about much they should take, the confusing messages from the supplement industry does'nt help either. Are you going to believe a press release with stupid graphs or studies.

Alot of flak is given to the supplement industry marketing and hype machine that ineffect they're trying to make gym rats and athletes protein obsessed even to the point of trying to make you feel "protein" guilt for not having eaten enough. The supplement industry itself is a big enough issue to warrant an entire article.

Hell back when I started training I remember getting anxious if I thought I was'nt getting enough protein. But thats not to say protein does'nt have an effect, it does to deny that would be fucking stupid. Insert research I can't be arsed to cite but read anything by John Berardi, Lyle McDonald, Anita Bean. Problem is I can see vegetarians and anti-protein advocates (ouch my kidney types, yes they do bloody exsist) jumping all over this research as a valid reason to consume less protein. I can see them now tell me all I need is legumes or 500ml serving of milk for my PWO nutrition (Don't get me started on milk). Thing is protein plays a huge role in a number of other bodily function. Metabolic function, Immune function, increased IGF-1, positive nitrogen balance, improved body comp due to increased protein consumption and reduced carbs. Anothering thing is research looks at "what is bare minimum" we can get away with the same is true of weight lifting 8-12 reps ACSM anyone?

"Do eight to 10 strength-training exercises, eight to 12 repetitions of each exercise twice a week."

This is not optimal its what is neccisary be it muscle synthesis or muscular response to resistance training, keep this in mind when reading research.

Point is protein has benefits beyond muscle synthesis. Why limit it to the bare minimum?

You can read the studies here

http://www.eclips.consult.com/eclips/article/Sports%20Medicine/S0162-0908%2809%2979472-3

http://www.find-health-articles.com/rec_pub_19699838-a-moderate-serving-high-quality-protein-maximally-stimulates-skeletal.htm Abstract

On Vibram Five fingers

williamwayland@hotmail.co.uk (willwayland) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 01:44:00 +0000

Vibram five fingers have gained alot of interest in the mainstream media, I recently had Someone email with some problems associated with wearing the trains they asked. Ankle and gait Biomechanics are by no means my speciality so if you have an opinion feel free to add.

Hi Will,
 
My name is Jason B. I am a graduate student in 
biomechanics at the University of Florida and I am hoping to go to 
physical therapy school.  I recently started training in parkour, 
though I have been trying to condition for it for some time now.  
I have seen your articles on Urban Freeflow and you very obviously 
know what you're talking about.  So, I was hoping I could ask you 
a few questions.  First, what are your opinions on the Vibram 
Fivefingers?  I like them, but I only recently got them and I 
apparently got a little over-zealous with them the first few times 
I trained in them.  After a few sessions, I've noticed that I have 
some swelling at the calcaneal insertion of the Achilles Tendon.  
Which leads me to my next question.  Do you know of any strength 
training protocols to treat and prevent this from happening again. 
 I know recent research seems to suggest that eccentric training 
of the calves may increase microvascularity to the hypovascular 
regions of the Achilles and there's some stuff on sonic vibration, 
but I was curious if you have run into the type of training 
problem or know someone who has had this training problem and if 
you know how they fixed it?
 
Thank you very much for your time,
Jason

I responded with

Hi Jason,

Ive not used the five fingers myself, but ive heard good things, but it sound slike you have made the classic mistake of jumping from conventional footwear into wearing five fingers, which has lead to possible achilles problems. The sudden change from heeled shoes to non heeled shoes loads to increased rom in the calf and a sudden increase in work load has load to your problem. In terms of dealing with the problem typical tendonitis protocal is needed if that is the case. Stretching the tendon and calf when the tendon is healthy is a must, calves of freerunners and traceurs can end up very tight. Unilateral work is a must, pistol squats, bulgarian split squats, lunges and other single leg work is key, especially with deep Rom in the lower limb because strength reinforces good range of motion especially in the calves, and tight inflexible calves plus strong calves can lead to a world of hurt and are plantar flexing happy, but when sudden passive dorsiflexion occurs ie landing from a jump it'll tear an inflexible achilles tendon to bits!

A heeled shoe decreases the amount of dorsiflexion on running and jumping activities. Massage can help loosen you up too. Just be sure to keep training sessions with five fingers breif and light, until you become more accustomed to them.

If anyone has any feedback about five finger or switching to barefoot training I would like to hear about your experiances.

Get Ready For The Workout Of Your Life!

williamwayland@hotmail.co.uk (willwayland) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:58:00 +0000

Get Ready For The Workout Of Your Life!

John Paul Catanzaro with some cracking workout advice, the ones that stood out for me were....

Ultimate Workout Tip #4

Soft tissue work before exercise can improve performance. Prior to lower body training, roll the bottom of the foot with a tennis ball or a FootWheel and the outside part of the leg with a foam roller. Before upper body training, roll the upper back and perform thoracic extensions using a foam roller.

Ultimate Workout Tip #7

Depending on your level, there are several neural tricks to improve strength and performance. Beginners can start with oversize grips for their warm-ups and then use regular handles for their work sets. Advanced trainees can take it a step further by employing plyometrics and overshooting the working load with eccentrics, heavy supports, and chains during their warm-ups.

Bigger, Better, Faster, Longer 40 Minutes With Dan John

williamwayland@hotmail.co.uk (willwayland) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:33:00 +0000

http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/bigger_better_faster_longer

Bigger, Better, Faster, Longer40 Minutes With Dan John

Dan John is the Yoda of strength training. He's not quite as wrinkly, but the wisdom, man, the wisdom!

Of Politics & Idiocy, Part 2 Strength & Conditioning at the Collegiate Level

williamwayland@hotmail.co.uk (willwayland) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 05:40:00 +0000

I loved part 1 of this article by the anonymous strength and conditioning coach because it resonated with me and my experiances with the strength and conditioning community, before you call me a whiner for bitching about an industry that has nepotism and morons coming out its whoha, give these peices a read first, I blogged the originial here http://williamwayland.blogspot.com/2009/10/of-politics-idiocy-part-1-strength.html

Of Politics & Idiocy, Part 2
Strength & Conditioning at the Collegiate Level

By The Anonymous Strength Coach

For www.EliteFTS.com

This is part two of a two-part series.

If you don’t know how to play the political game in collegiate strength and conditioning, you will have a very stressful, frustrating, and potentially short career as a strength coach. There are five groups of people in athletics that a strength coach has to work with—other strength coaches, athletes, sport coaches, administrators, and athletic trainers. If you’re looking to further your career, you had better know how to approach each one of these groups.

Strength coaches
Let’s start with the strength coaches. This is arguably, along with the athletes, the easiest group to work with. For the most part, any problems that develop among a staff of strength coaches are from a lack of communication. These problems are easily fixed. For the most part, politics are not a real issue here, except for an assistant/graduate assistant who may be making some concessions in program design to please the head strength coach. This can be a learning opportunity for the assistant if he keeps his mind open.
Athletes
Next are the athletes, and like the strength coaches, this could be one of the easiest groups to work with. This is where you get to coach and help athletes. Yes, there are athletes who will push the limits of what they can get away with, but for the most part, athletes want to get better. You may just have to push them a little.
Where this group will get difficult is when you have to treat the athletes in a manner that the sport coaches want. Some coaches want their athletes disciplined to the extreme, some want them babied, and some want them pushed to their physical limits. And there is always someone watching whether you think they are or not. So don’t try to treat the athletes in a manner that is not approved by their head sport coach.

Sport coaches
Sport coaches tend to be very sensitive and don’t like people who disagree with them. They also don’t like to change. So if they did something thirty years ago when they were playing, then that is how it has to be now. It doesn’t matter that we now know that what they were doing back then is actually counterproductive. It only matters what they like.
The strength coach’s job is to find a way to get done what needs to get done while also keeping the sport coach happy. If you don’t do what they want, they will throw a fit. So you will have to compromise your own philosophies. Over time, if you get results, you should get to do more of what should be done and less of what the sport coach wants. However, each coach will be different, and some may not ever acknowledge that you know what you’re doing. Others will be more open. Some will give you a clean slate after they’ve worked with you for a while. A few will give you a clean slate from the beginning, but this is rare.
The key here is finding out what the sport coach wants. This seems like an obvious answer, but it isn’t. Having the athletes in good shape and able to perform isn’t always what’s important to a sport coach.
Here are three real life examples of coaches who I’ve dealt with in the past.

Coach #1: She wants her athletes to be disciplined. It doesn’t matter how fast or strong they are but rather that they never get out of line.

Coach #2: He wants his athletes to run. And when they are done running, run them some more. Speed work and strength training aren’t important. These aspects can be replaced with a distance run.

Coach #3: He wants the program to be well designed to ensure optimal results. He likes the scientific aspect of strength and conditioning.

If you’re working with football or basketball, you have got to learn how to play the social game as well. Many of these coaches judge your performance not only by results but also by how much they like you. Guess what—if they don’t like you, you aren’t getting results. If they do like you, you’re getting results. This sounds completely absurd, but it’s the truth. Just like other sport coaches, these coaches are very finicky. The difference is they hold your job in the palm of their hands.
Like it or not, you’d better learn to suck up to the sport coaches if you want to be successful. I know this isn’t right, but it’s the truth. So if the head football coach wants you to do the 225-lb rep test at the end of every upper body workout, you might want to think about doing it even if it’s not a very smart thing to do.

Administrators
Administrators are a good group to make friends with. Like football and basketball coaches, this group can determine the future of your career. Even though most of the time you don’t work directly with them, they do talk to the sport coaches on a regular basis. If the sport coaches like you, chances are the administrators will at least know who you are. Of course, an occasional chat at a game or around the athletic department will be in your favor when it comes to getting recommendations.

Athletic trainers
In my experience, athletic trainers aren’t too hard to work with if you’re willing to go with the flow. I’ve worked with trainers who like to do all the rehabilitation themselves and then send the athlete to the strength coach when he is completely healthy. Other trainers progress the athlete to a certain point and then let the strength coach continue rehabilitation more aggressively. For the most part, I don’t see that this is a big deal. And from my point of view, I would rather keep the athletes away from the training room and in the weight room. So I don’t mind finishing up someone’s rehabilitation. A strength coach should be knowledgeable enough to do this without any problems.
Athletic trainers suffer a lot of the same stresses coming from the sport coaches as strength coaches suffer. So these two groups tend to relate very well and can be a good source to vent about subjects that can’t be discussed with others or that others may not understand.
Well, there you have it. Being a strength coach entails much more than just your job. It consists of dealing with the idiots in your own profession and playing the political/social card with the other groups that you’re working with. You’re all on the same team, but it doesn’t always seem that way.

Elite Fitness Systems strives to be a recognized leader in the strength training industry by providing the highest quality strength training products and services while providing the highest level of customer service in the industry. For the best training equipment, information, and accessories, visit us at www.EliteFTS.com.

williamwayland@hotmail.co.uk (willwayland) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:10:00 +0000

Elliot Hulse gives a great insight into the common mistakes on the deadlift

New "shake weight" for men!

williamwayland@hotmail.co.uk (willwayland) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:04:00 +0000

Hot on the heels of http://williamwayland.blogspot.com/2009/08/shake-weight.html

Parkour/Freerun: Anti-Social? Is It F**k!!

williamwayland@hotmail.co.uk (willwayland) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 01:39:00 +0000

Many of us expected it to happen one day. Well now it has…..Council officials have taken a general view that Parkour/Freerun activity is anti-social and have subsequently slapped a ban on it. The town of Moreton in the UK, which has a flourishing scene, has been hit hard by this decision and for those choosing to ignore the ban, they will be faced with being on the receiving end of an ASBO (Anti-Social Behaviour Disorder). Anyone involved in the sport/art/discipline will already be aware of the positives that can be drawn from PK/FR and will see this as ill informed officials being a tad heavy handed, but with their decision being passed, surely it’s only a matter of time before other areas follow suit? Click the ‘read more’ link to see an ITV news piece about this….

Its the sad cycle of things, but skateboarding went through the same cycle until councils gave in and built skateparks. This news his the pk/fr community riled.

Orginally posted on http://www.urbanfreeflow.com/2009/10/14/parkourfreerun-anti-social-is-it-fk/

Of Politics & Idiocy, Part 1 Strength & Conditioning at the Collegiate Level

williamwayland@hotmail.co.uk (willwayland) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 23:14:00 +0000

This article really struck a cord with me, as many of you know as well as working for myself and having various strength and conditioning roles either Voluntary, parttime or some a little longer, Im yet to find that full time posistion I desire. A collegiate job would be amazing, Ive been for so many interviews and met so many budding strength coaches. But what is so so sooooo demoralising is when you meet the types described in this article. A person who appears to be the antithesis of a strength coach sitting in a well paid strength and conditioning job. It boils my blood especially when you work so hard to train experiance and be the best you can be and the moron gets the job. C'est l'vie

Heres the peice, enjoy!

Of Politics & Idiocy, Part 1 Strength & Conditioning at the Collegiate Level

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37 Tips and Tales from Dave Tate

williamwayland@hotmail.co.uk (willwayland) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:11:00 +0000

37 Tips and Tales from the always brilliant Dave Tate of EliteFTS

37 Tips and Tales from Dave Tate

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BBC NEWS | Warning on muscle and joint pain

williamwayland@hotmail.co.uk (willwayland) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 04:46:00 +0000

According to the BBC "No less than 49% of all sickness absence is caused by MSDs, said the Fit for Work Europe report by the Work Foundation business consultancy group.
It estimates that this costs the UK economy Â£7bn each year, rising to 240bn euros ($349bn; Â£219bn) across Europe.

MSDs include back pain, arthritis and repetitive strain injuries."

I wrote this last year on the subject of a fitness industry that does'nt do its users any favours for MSD sufferers.

"Musculoskeletal disorders are shockingly common, its my observation most people over the age of 20 have one. During my brief stint in the commercial fitness sector I found myself dealing all sorts of pathologies other instructors couldn't deal with, poor posture, muscular/structural imbalances, poor diet. The thing is that ideally a well trained team of fitness instructors should be able to deal with common issues faced by the general public from a strength and conditioning point of view. The biggest two being muscular imbalance, involving tight chest and shoulders , tight hip flexors and under active glutes and scapular musculature."

Its funny when people point out a problem but do little to improve it. Musculoskeletal pain is one of those sleeper conditions thats requires years accrew before they cause pain. I see postural problems everywhere I go, I cant help but analyse people when out and about it comes with the territory. So what will "Fit for Work Europe campaign" yeild? Probably not alot not when doctors prescribe painkillers and gyms can't provide staff with the training. And physio's are too busy dealing with more urgent matters like stroke victims and car crash recoveries.

BBC NEWS - Warning on muscle and joint pain

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The Stair-Step Approach to Muscle

williamwayland@hotmail.co.uk (willwayland) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 05:43:00 +0000

Another great article by Nate Green, Hes a writer that resonates with me seeing as we are about the same age, but Nate the lucky devil is doing exactly what Id love to do. Anyway Heres the peice...

"Sometimes a simple, bare-bones program is all you need to "turn on" muscle growth and boost your strength if you know how to progress from week to week and month to month. If you've ever found yourself in the weight room wondering what you should do, use Robertson's template as a guide to kick-start your next few months of training."

The Stair-Step Approach to Muscle

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Inject Some Testosterone into Your Health Club

williamwayland@hotmail.co.uk (willwayland) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:30:00 +0000

A genuinely orginal article from Kevin Larrabee of the fitcast, which despite being slightly assinine (I dont care for MC prattle with guests It drives me mad...sorry Kevin)is arguably the best Podcast around at the moment for health and fitness related issues. Kevin also writes some of the most orginal/practical articles ive read.

Inject Some Testosterone into Your Health Club

also check out http://www.TheFitCast.com

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Wanderlei Silva vs Yoshihiro Akiyama Possible for UFC 108

williamwayland@hotmail.co.uk (willwayland) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:16:00 +0000

As a Akiyama and Wanderlei fan boy im happy to read about these rumblings...I just hope this match up happens....

Former Pride superstar Wanderlei Silva is in early discussions to make his middleweight debut against decorated Judoka, Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 108 in Jan. News of the bout was first reported in a post from Luke Thomas of MMANation on Twitter.

Even though the bout is far from official and is in the early stages of discussions, the possibility of the bout has peaked fans interest. If booked, the Silva vs. Akiyama bout has the potential to be an exciting back and forth battle as both men often bring an aggressive and crowd-pleasing style.
Silva was expected to return to the Octagon against Michael Bisping at UFC 105 on Nov.15, however, the former Pride middleweight champion opted to undergo facial plastic surgery, which sidelined him the rest of the year. Silva later commented that the facial surgery was to help him breathe easier.

Silva (32-10-1) has lost his last two bouts against the likes of Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and, most recently, Rich Franklin, at UFC 99 in June. Prior to those losses, he defeated Keith Jardine at UFC 84 last May. Silva has put together a dismal 2-5 UFC record as he has suffered other Octagon losses against notables such as Tito Ortiz, Vitor Belfort and Chuck Liddell.
Back in March, when Akiyama first signed with the UFC, he was asked by Nikkansports who he would like to fight in the UFC. Akiyama answered, saying that he wanted to fight Wanderlei Silva.
The longtime Pride veteran has been competing professionally for nearly 13 years, scoring notable wins over the likes of Dan Henderson, Kazushi Sakuraba, Ricardo Arona and Quinton Jackson (x2). He has finished 26 of his 32 career wins, including 23 coming by TKO or KO.

Akiyama (13-1) is unbeaten in his last 13 bouts and he most recently defeated Alan Belcher in his UFC debut in July at UFC 100. Belcher and Akiyama earned "Fight of the Night" honors for their performance at the event. Akiyama has not been defeated since suffering his only career loss against Jerome LeBanner in March 2005.

The K-1 Hero and DREAM veteran sports a near perfect MMA record of 13-1, with all but one of his 13 career wins being finishes. He holds notable wins over the likes of Melvin Manhoef and Denis Kang.
UFC 108 is expected to take place on Jan. 2, 2010 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV, and will be headlined by a UFC middleweight title bout between longtime champ Anderson Silva and challenger Vitor Belfort.

Source: www.fiveknuckles.com

http://www.fiveknuckles.com/mma-news/Wanderlei-Silva-vs-Yoshihiro-Akiyama-possible-for-UFC-108.html

Maximum Overeem: Strikeforce Champ Defeats Aerts in K-1

williamwayland@hotmail.co.uk (willwayland) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 04:56:00 +0000

Maximum Overeem: Strikeforce Champ Defeats Aerts in K-1

"Overshadowing his victory over kickboxing legend Peter Aerts this weekend in Seoul, South Korea, were Alistair Overeem’s engorged trapezius, pectoral, and bicep muscles. The man who had fought at 205 lbs. as recently as 2007 appeared to have been sculpted from Apoxy putty, looking as though he weighed a minimum 240-250 lbs. with a body-fat percentage in the single digits. "

People seem all too keen to throw the steriod accussation at overeem. He has stated that he has never been able to do proper strength and conditioning bc of his cut to 205. That's why it can be argued he has gassed in many of his fights, servre calorific restriction before an event can leave you little in the take glycolitically. Now that he has determined he will stay at HW, he can obviously up his calories and not be so worried about cutting.

Conversly however the other thing that can be considered suspect is fighting in japan where there is no drug testing for fighters means that he could be taking anything. Vanderlei silva, Randleman (staph aside), Coleman (pre 205 cut) and Crocop looked noticably smaller fighting in the US than in Japan.

The fact that the Japanese conveniently bury their heads in the sand to the pink-elephant-in-the-room of performance enhancing drug use among athletes, and the fact that Overeem never fights outside of Japan or Korea, only adds more suspicion. 30 pounds (of nothing but muscle) in 13 months on a guy who probably has consistently maintained 3-8% body fat, all while fighting in an organization/country that doesn't test for PED's, is pretty blatant.

In a sport where drug use is becoming increasingly more common, Overeem is in a situation where his mass gain has been blatant, the accusation of drug use will hang over his head until he competes outside of Japan.

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USC's Johnson seriously hurt in weightlifting accident

williamwayland@hotmail.co.uk (willwayland) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 01:18:00 +0000

The Trojans' head strength and conditioning coach Chris Carlisle said that the bench press is one of the safest exercises in the weight room.

"I've seen players have the bar slip and fall onto their chest, but never in my 25 years of coaching have I heard of someone dropping a bar on their throat," said Carlisle, who according to the Web site was within 10 feet of the accident. "We're fortunate he was being spotted."

USC's Johnson seriously hurt in weightlifting accident

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Richard Dawkins to call for changes to Britain's libel laws - Times Online

williamwayland@hotmail.co.uk (willwayland) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 01:02:00 +0000

You guys know much much I loath, "complimentary medicine" quack nutritionists, chriopractors and bullshit in general, I thought id make a point of posting this and showing just how fucked britains libel laws are.

"Richard Dawkins, the evolutionary biologist, is to call for Britainâ€™s libel laws to be reformed following a string of cases in which science researchers and writers have been sued for criticising health therapies they felt to be unreliable.

Dawkins will today ask Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, to support reforms that would protect scientists and doctors who want to speak out against treatments they have concerns about.

Among those currently facing writs is Simon Singh, the broadcaster and author, who is being sued by the British Chiropractic Association for an article criticising the use of chiropractic techniques for some childhood illnesses. He has spent Â£100,000 defending the action.

Another is Peter Wilmshurst, a heart specialist at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, who is being sued by NMT Medical, an American company, for suggesting that medical trials into one of its devices had been described innaccurately to other scientists."

continue reading....

Richard Dawkins to call for changes to Britain?s libel laws - Times Online

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Thibaudeau Talks Training

williamwayland@hotmail.co.uk (willwayland) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:20:00 +0000

Thibaudeau Talks Training

CT gives interesting advice on topics such as auto-regulation, rep execution and ramp training

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Death Squat

williamwayland@hotmail.co.uk (willwayland) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 07:12:00 +0000

For those of you that have not seen it yet, I recommend watching death squat with eliteFTS luminary Dave Tate its awesome

Death Squat

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“How to read articles about health” – by Dr Alicia White

williamwayland@hotmail.co.uk (willwayland) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:20:00 +0000

“how can I spot bad science in a newspaper article?” Is a question im often asked, I stumbled upon this list of pointers from Dr Alicia white from behind the headlines they describe, in everyday language, the actual scientific evidence behind each day’s major health news stories.

By Dr Alicia White

If you’ve just read a health-related headline that’s caused you to spit out your morning coffee (“Coffee causes cancer” usually does the trick) it’s always best to follow the Blitz slogan: “Keep Calm and Carry On”. On reading further you’ll often find the headline has left out something important, like “Injecting five rats with really highly concentrated coffee solution caused some changes in cells that might lead to tumours eventually. (Study funded by The Association of Tea Marketing)”.

The most important rule to remember: “Don’t automatically believe the headline”. It is there to draw you into buying the paper and reading the story. Would you read an article called “Coffee pretty unlikely to cause cancer, but you never know”? Probably not.

Before spraying your newspaper with coffee in the future, you need to interrogate the article to see what it says about the research it is reporting on. Bazian (the company I work for) has interrogated hundreds of articles for Behind The Headlines on NHS Choices, and we’ve developed the following questions to help you figure out which articles you’re going to believe, and which you’re not.

Does the article support its claims with scientific research?

If an article touts a treatment or a lifestyle factor that is supposed to prevent or cause a disease, but doesn’t give any information about the scientific research behind it, or refers to research that has yet to be published, then treat it with caution. A lot of caution, like balling the article up and throwing it in the (recycling) bin.

Is the article based on a conference abstract?

Another area for caution: news articles based on conference abstracts. Research presented at conferences is often at a preliminary stage and usually hasn’t been scrutinised by experts in the field. Also conference abstracts rarely provide full details about methods, making it difficult to judge how well the research was conducted. For these reasons, articles based on conference abstracts should be no cause for alarm. Don’t panic or rush off to your GP.

Was the research in humans?

Quite often the “miracle cure” in the headline turns out to have only been tested on cells in the laboratory or on animals. These stories are often accompanied by pictures of humans, creating the illusion that the “miracle cure” came from human studies. Studies in cells and animals are crucial first steps and should not be undervalued. However, many drugs that show promising results in cells in laboratories don’t work in animals, and many drugs that show promising results in animals don’t work in humans. If you read a headline about a drug or food “curing” rats, there is a chance it might cure humans in the future, but unfortunately a larger chance that it won’t. So no need to start eating large amounts of the “wonder food” featured in the article.

How many people did the research study include?

In general, the larger a study the more you can trust its results. Small studies may miss important differences because they lack statistical “power”, and small studies are more susceptible to finding things (including things that are wrong) purely by chance. You can visualise this by thinking about tossing a coin. We know that if we toss a coin the chance of getting a head is the same as that of getting a tail – 50/50. However, if we didn’t know this and we tossed a coin four times and got three heads and one tail, we might conclude that getting heads was more likely than tails. But this chance finding would be wrong. If we tossed the coin 500 times – gave the experiment more “power” – we’d be much more likely to get an even number of heads and tails, giving us a better idea of the true odds. When it comes to sample sizes, bigger is usually better. So when you see a study conducted in a handful of people, proceed with caution.

Did the study have a control group?

There are many different types of studies, and they are appropriate for answering different types of questions. If the question being asked is about whether a treatment or exposure has an effect or not, then the study needs to have a control group. A control group allows the researchers to compare what happens to people who have the treatment/exposure with what happens to people who don’t. If the study doesn’t have a control group, then it’s difficult to attribute results to the treatment or exposure with any level of certainty.

Also, it’s important that the control group is as similar to the treated/exposed group as possible. The best way to achieve this is to randomly assign some people to be in the treated/exposed group and some people to be in the control group. This is what happens in a randomised controlled trial (RCT) which is why they are considered the “gold standard” way of testing the effects of treatments and exposures. So when reading about a drug, food or treatment that is supposed to have an effect, you want to look for evidence of a control group, and ideally evidence that the study was an RCT. Without either, retain some healthy scepticism.

Did the study actually assess what’s in the headline?

This one is a bit tricky to explain without going into a lot of detail about “proxy outcomes”. To avoid doing that, here is the key thought: the research study needs to have examined what is being talked about in the headline and article. (Somewhat alarmingly, this isn’t always the case.) For example, you might read a headline that claims “Tomatoes reduce the risk of heart attacks”. What you need to look for is evidence that the study actually looked at heart attacks. You might instead see that the study found that tomatoes reduce blood pressure. This means that someone has extrapolated that tomatoes must also impact heart attacks, as high blood pressure is a risk factor for heart attacks. Sometimes these extrapolations will prove to be true, but other times they won’t. So if a news story is focusing on a health outcome that was not examined by the research, treat it with a grain of salt.

Who paid for and conducted the study?

This is a somewhat cynical point, but one that’s worth making. The majority of trials today are funded by manufacturers of the product being tested – be it a drug, vitamin cream or foodstuff. This means they have a vested interest in the results of the trial which can affect what the researchers find and report in all sorts of conscious and unconscious ways. This is not to say that all manufacturer-sponsored trials are unreliable. Many are very good. But it’s worth looking to see who funded the study to sniff out a potential conflict of interest for yourself.

Should you “shoot the messenger”?

Sometimes journalists take a piece of research and misrepresent it, making claims the scientists themselves never made. Other times the scientists or their institutions over-extrapolate, making claims their research can’t support. These claims are then repeated by the journalists. Given erroneous claims can come from a variety of places, don’t automatically ’shoot the messenger’ by blaming the journalist.

How can I find out more?

It’s not possible to cover all the questions that need to be asked about research studies in a short article, but we’ve covered some of the major ones. For more, go to Behind the Headlines at www.nhs.uk/news for daily breakdowns of healthcare stories in the media.

www.bazian.com

http://www.bazian.com/pdfs/HowToReadANewsStory_vers03_26Nov08.pdf

be sure to also check out

http://www.senseaboutscience.org.uk/

Really Stupid Stuff

williamwayland@hotmail.co.uk (willwayland) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 01:23:00 +0000

Two Genius video's I stumbled upon in a T-nation thread which I thought I would share here, enjoy!

Classic swiss ball barbell squat

The Anyhow press

Reversal Shorts Extra review

williamwayland@hotmail.co.uk (willwayland) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 06:10:00 +0000

The Reversal Extra Shorts are 100% Nylon. It's a pretty simple yet strong pair of shorts and are pretty tidy looking alot of shorts are covered in all sorts of crowded designs these are plain and simple.. They're what you would expect from a brand like reversal dogi design works with a drawstring, baggy fit, big leg slits, stretch panels between the legs, long velcrow waist. The version I bought are all red with black leg stripes, black stretch panel and Yellow printing on the legs. The shorts also have some a pretty good quality screen printing on them, so I guess no worries for a while. They're a standard low profile design which I also like.

The shorts performed well in Muay Thai and striking work. There was no hindering of kicks, they're light and not too baggy, the stretch panel did its job and they're gonna hold up for a while. In BJJ they moved with you and didn't ride up when you were pulling guard and left me unhindered when performing sweeps and performing moves which require opening up the hips. They felt just right. I definatly recommend these shorts if you can afford the rather steep price, 80,000 won.

Only draw back I could find was that you need to order at least one or two sizes above your own, especially if like you have a small waist and larger legs.

I purchased these from Isami Seoul

http://www.isami-seoul.com/index.php

Going Inside the Mind of Body Builder…Harry Grove

williamwayland@hotmail.co.uk (willwayland) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 05:57:00 +0000

Twirlit did an interview with Harry Grove last month, Harry has been going from strength to strength no pun intended, heading off for world drug free powerlifting championships and recently setting up his own online business. I mentioned Harry in my blog post at Nice one harry.
You Can read the interview here....http://www.twirlit.com/2009/07/30/going-inside-the-mind-of-body-builder-harry-grove/. Although I will have to give harry some stick for his promo photo's.

Will