Critical Thinking and Reading Science

Logical Fallacies

Hasty Generalization

•This is a conclusion based on insufficient or biased evidence. In other words, you are rushing to a conclusion before you have all the relevant facts.

Shifting the burden of truth

Argument from ignorance

•Assuming a claim is true because it has not been proven false or cannot be proven false.

Correlation proves causation

•Is B caused by A?

Appeal to Authority

• “Once seated you need to keep at least 20 percent tension in your abs to maintain a rigid spine” – kelly starret

During standing and walking the trunk muscles are minimally activated [42]. In standing the deep erector spinal, psoas and quadratus lumborum are virtually silent! In some subjects there is no detectable EMG activity in these muscles. During walking rectus abdominis has a average activity of 2% maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) and external oblique 5% MVC [43]. During standing “active” stabilisation is achieved by very low levels of co-contraction estimated at less than 1% MVC rising up to 3% MVC when a 32 Kg weight is added to the torso. – science

1:19:20

“I don’t see this in any NSCA Journals”

•Argument from silence – where the conclusion is based on the absence of evidence rather than the existence of evidence.

•+ he’s wrong and it’s been known for 30+ years

• (1) The fall of the postural-structural-biomechanical model in manual and physical therapies: exemplified by lower back pain

• (2)Lumbar Lordosis and Pelvic Inclination in Adults With Chronic Low Back Pain

• (3)Relationships Between Lumbar Lordosis, Pelvic Tilt, and Abdominal Muscle Performance

• (4) The Myth of Core Stability• (5) Incidence of Common Postural Abdormalities in the Cervical,

Shoulder, and Thoracic Regions and Their Associations with Pain in Two Age Groups of Healthy Subjects

• (6)Subacromial Impingement Syndrome: The Effect of Changing Posture on Shoulder Range of Motion

• (7) Is there a relationship between subacromial impingement syndrome and scapular orientation? A systematic review

• (9) Assessment of the degree of pelvic tilt within a normal asymptomatic population

“half a million spinal surgeries in America can you explain that”•Evading the question with another

question

“dude lives in his moms basement I bet”• Argumentum ad hominem- evasion of a topic by

attacking your opponent• Authors Bio: I have a Master’s in Exercise

Physiology from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, and another Master’s in Human Performance from University of Florida Gainesville. I am also an American Council of Exercise (ACE) certified personal trainer and NSCA Certifiied Strength & Conditioning Coach, executive committee member of NSCA PT, and also the NSCA Personal Trainer forum moderator.

• I believe he’s also working on/ finished his PhD

Become an evidence based trainer

Critical Thinking

•A way of deciding whether a claim is true, partially true, or false

Information Age

•How do you filter through the good and bad information?

Common Claims

•Carbs make you fat•Fat makes you fat •Exercise for weight loss•Posture causes pain•Cardio makes you fat•Any supplement claim

Lets examine a few claims together

•http://drozgarciniacambogia.biz/

•http://examine.com/supplements/Garcinia+cambogia/

• Studies in humans, for the most part, fail to replicate this; this may be related to less actual activity of de novo lipogenesis in humans and a much higher level in rats. Some isolated studies do note weight loss, but it appears to be quite variable and unreliable. Many studies also do report subjective appetite decrease, but tend to record dropout rates (how often people leave the study due to being unable to maintain the diet protocol) rather than food intake; even then the benefits are still unreliable and sometimes not present.

1998!

•Garcinia cambogia failed to produce significant weight loss and fat mass loss beyond that observed with placebo.

Women Running into Trouble

•http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/women-running-into-trouble/

citations• (1) Exercise training consisted of daily athletic

activity such as rowing, running, and weight lifting.• In the responders fT3 concentration decreased

(P<0.05) from baseline (BL) during an intense training period [(mean SEM) at 5 weeks by -28.2 (6.2)% and at 10 weeks by -24.9 (7.9)%], then returned towards BL levels (20 weeks compared to BL, P>0.05)

• The hormone changes observed in the (-) responder rowers were not significantly (P>0.05) correlated with changes in body composition or hydration status during the study.

• (2) Total body weight did not change at delta 48 or delta 80. Mean (+/- SE) lean weight in kg increased from 42.9 +/- 1.2 at baseline to 44.8 +/- 1.2 at delta 80 (P = 0.002). We have reported previously that at delta 48 the subjects had evidence of mild thyroidal impairment, which consisted of decreased T3 and rT3, and an exaggerated TSH response to TRH. With more prolonged training (delta 48 to delta 80) there were significant increases in T4, rT3, and unstimulated TSH, while the ratios of T4/rT3 and T3/rT3 and the TSH response to TRH decreased significantly. Some of the thyroidal changes that occurred between delta 48 and delta 80 are similar to those seen in other stressful non-thyroidal conditions.

• (3) 17 freshmen (group 1) before and after six months of competition rowing; controls (group II) were 19 senior rowers, already participating in a training program for more than 2 years.

• In group I body weight (BW; p < 0.01), lean body mass (LBM; p < 0.05), fat weight (FW; p < 0.05), body mass index (BMI; p < 0.01) and thyroid volume (TV; p = 0.08) all decreased; in group II body composition and thyroid volume did not change at all during the 6 months observation period. Whereas serum TSH and T3 did not change, free thyroxine (FT4) concentrations increased slightly in both groups (p < 0.01), presumably caused by the combination of exercise and insufficient energy intake.

• (4) The estimated net energy deficit induced by training was 244 MJ and was associated with a 5-kg body weight loss that was almost entirely explained by body fat loss. Resting metabolic rate (RMR) was significantly decreased by 8% after training despite the preservation of fat-free mass (FFM)

• These results suggest that when exercise training is associated with a substantial negative energy balance, energy expenditure and levels of related hormones are decreased

•(5) The effect of endurance training on serum triiodothyronine kinetics in man:

•This article was about women so reviews on men are moot

•(8) The influence of exercise training intensity on thyroid activity at rest was studied in male Wistar rats

•A decline in T3 plasma concentration, observed in rats trained with the lowest exercise intensities, cold be regarded as transitional effect in adaptation to chronic exercise.

Biosignature

•http://bayesianbodybuilding.com/biosignature-reviewed-hormones-key-weight-loss/

•http://www.evilsugarradio.com/episode-20-nick-tumminello-of-performance-university-bs-detection-how-to-do-science-the-scientific-method-rational-skepticism-epistemology-ways-of-knowing-how-to-think/190/