Reading Research, the Placebo Diet, Muscle Memory, and Alex Kolliari-Turner
The Stronger By Science Podcast
Interpreting Research Accurately
This chapter discusses the challenges of accurately interpreting research and emphasizes the importance of knowledge in areas such as statistics and understanding underlying theory. The speakers also express their frustration with heavily editorialized intro and discussion sections in research papers.
In this episode, college football makes its first ever appearance in the “Feats of Strength” segment. Then, Greg and Eric share some practical tips for evaluating and interpreting exercise and nutrition research, Eric shares a Read of the Week segment about the placebo effect of believing you’re on a diet, and Greg discusses training lift variations that are different than your competition lifts. Finally, Greg shares his onion jam recipe, followed by an interview with Alex Kolliari-Turner, who tells us about his exciting new research on “muscle memory” and the effects of steroid use on muscle myonuclei.
As we mention in this episode, Alex Kolliari-Turner is currently recruiting participants for his study on how muscle myonuclei numbers change during and after steroid use. For 2019 data collection, October 26th, 27th, 28th are the last opportunities for current and past steroid users living within Europe to get involved. They will be doing sampling in 2020, so even if you can't make the October dates, you should still get in touch with Alex using the following email address: A.Kolliari-Turner@brighton.ac.uk
TIME STAMPS
0:01:17 Feats of Strength
0:07:05 Discussion on how to read and interpret research
0:08:21 Going beyond the abstract
0:13:51 Misleading referencing
0:14:48 Author bias
0:20:45 “Generous” statistical interpretation
0:28:56 Conclusions about things that weren’t actually measured
0:35:07 Radical ideas about what introduction and discussion sections should look like
0:42:18 Read of the Week: “Studying a Possible Placebo Effect of an Imaginary Low-Calorie Diet”
Study: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00550/full
0:43:41 Methods
0:45:57 Results and discussion
1:01:33 Coach’s Corner: Training lifts vs. competition lifts. Sometimes it makes sense to focus on non-competition lifts, or train a competition lift with altered technique that you don’t compete with
1:13:00 To play us out: recipe time (onion jam)
1:28:23 Interview with Alex Kolliari-Turner
1:28:36 Alex’s background
1:31:06 Why are satellite cells and myonuclei important for muscle physiology?
1:33:34 Why do so many studies measure satellite cells instead of myonuclei?
1:34:24 The concept of “muscle memory”
1:42:37 How do anabolic steroids affect myonuclei? Do myonuclear changes revert back to normal when people stop using steroids?
1:54:22 An overview of Alex’s current study on myonuclei numbers in current and former steroid users (note: recruitment is ongoing. Please contact Alex if interested in participating)
2:02:53 Steroid policies differ from country to country
2:06:31 When Alex’s current study is done, what effects could it have on anti-doping policy in the future?
2:10:12 How long should someone be banned from sport when they’re caught using steroids?
2:15:31 To what degree is satellite cell activation predictive of the accumulation of myonuclei? What are the mechanisms that contribute to myonuclear accretion? Are there important physiological roles of satellite cells that do not become activated?
2:29:52 Why do muscles eventually stop growing?
2:46:59 How can people stay in touch with Alex Kolliari-Turner, or contact him about participating in his study?
Email: A.Kolliari-Turner@brighton.ac.uk
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