For sure. And I’d bet lots of high school football players still try stuff like “Gallon Of Milk A Day”.
1 Like
Likely. This stuff is super reliant on what they call “bro” science, which is weak science at best,
2 Likes
Yeah, I know what you mean.
I already linked a site I found earlier that’s pretty interesting. Menno Henselmans does a lot of intelligent “meta” analysis on these studies that everyone sites as fact and have become dogma. It’s pretty funny how unscientific a lot of them really are. A few of my favorites were what’s really going on with adding carbs to a post workout shake; the general idea that you have this 30 - 60 window of opportunity to ingest a post workout meal or your screwed (lol); and the one I mentioned with the 1-gram-of-protein-per-pound-of-body-weight-per-day. All were very poorly done studies, somehow the ‘results’ became gospel.
Truth be told though, I don’t know how something like body building can have a truly “scientific” study. The results are at best, really slowly achieved, and the fact that it’s pretty much impossible to control factors like exactly the same stimulus between subjects (number of reps perceived exertion etc.), or even the same subject day after day. Or exactly the same recovery and rest.
We’re left with people equating how they ‘felt’ about a certain workout or routine. “Bro, I freaking destroyed my quads yesterday. What a great workout!”
So, yeah. “Bro Science” indeed.
I like how this spiraled from “will boxing be a problem” into nutrition, lol.
I try to stick to 1g / lb, but I’m sure I swing +/- 30g any given day. It’s easy for me since I only eat once a day, so counting only one macro (protein) for one meal (dinner) is chill.
1 Like
Ha…yeah. I’m sort of a forum jerk. Always hijacking people’s threads. Sorry @PickingApprentice I should make a new thread called “Guitar Players Discuss BodyBuilding Dogma” or something lol
If the weights sound loud and feel good, it is good 
1 Like
Well slower if you are going all natural for sure.
Typically the studies are done by allotting a time span where a difference can possibly be achieved, and then grouping the subjects between a control and treated group. The results are then averaged between the two or more groups to see what the mean change effect was.
Not bodybuilding related, but an epic example of this was a supposed study showing the Dvorak keyboard layout was more efficient for typists than the Qwerty layout. It got cited like crazy over the years, by people who clearly hadn’t actually bothered to read it. This came to light when one researcher discovered how incredibly difficult the text was to track down. And then it turned out it was basically a sales pamphlet from someone hawking Dvorak keyboards back in the day.
1 Like
That’s insane!
Not bodybuilding related either, but an epic example of this was a supposed biomechanics-based series showing that slanting a guitar pick was the trick for clean string changes. It got cited like crazy by guitarists over the years and led tens (hundreds?) of thousands of guitarists down the wrong technical path. This came to light when the guy who made the discovery realized how incredibly sparse the results were of people achieving high-speed alternate picking based on the series. And then it turned out slanting the pick had nothing to do with it.
Crazy!
2 Likes
I know you’re being playful, but I’d say this was more of a “correlation versus causation” thing. The slant itself won’t produce clean string changes, but the slant is often (though not always) observed coinciding with clean string changes.
In single-escape picking, string changes are cleanest when the pick orientation on downstrokes and upstrokes is very nearly symetrical relative to the path of the picking motion, which translates into an observable “slant” in the pick relative to the plane of the strings. But yeah, the motion is the key, and attempting to describe it in terms of the “slant” confused a lot of people, and caused some others to dismiss the insights altogether.
2 Likes
You actually indulged my mindless bored-on-a-Friday-afternoon-at-work shitposting with class and gave a pickslanting mini-primer in the process.
1 Like
I mean you’ll find the same shit a lot of places. Another famous examples are ones showing no correlation between glucose based sweeteners and diseases such as NASH, Diabetes, heart disease etc… you then see the sponsor as Coca Cola inc.
Well that’s were you would look to see if there is a secondary party who sponsored the study and check for vested financial interests involved.
Right. Any research worth any value takes a good deal of money to fund. I mean, someone needs to pay the researchers. Well designed studies take talent and too much time for some brilliant but benevolent group of scientists to just do it for the greater good. If you follow the money you eventually find as best bias, at worst nefarious profit seeking.
I really don’t consider myself a conspiracy theorist, I promise! But the more of these “studies” I look into, the more I find stuff like you mentioned. I guess those things don’t need to be mutually exclusive though, right? I can believe some big companies are funding some of these to make more money for themselves, and also not believe they are doing it because the illuminati are making them lol!
Even when you rule out the nefarious, there are perverse incentives in the publish-or-perish model that lead to stuff like this:
1 Like
Depressing. True, but depressing. When I feel depressed, I like to go eat some pizza. Which defeats the entire purpose behind this thread
Some pizza is fine every now and then, a whole large to yourself every other day is the issue.
1 Like
I was never a problem pizza eater, but a few months after I moved out of my parents’ house, my regular pizza place sent them a letter asking “did we do something wrong?” 
1 Like
I’m aware that the converstation has moved toward nutrition and a critique of “bro science,” but I have some thoughts on the original topic is anybody is interested.
I’ve always been interested in martial arts and I’ve been training intermittantly since my early teens. I started in Taekwon-do and switched to kickboxing in my later teens. I couldn’t compete in kickboxing due to a visual impairment and my interest dwindled over time. I discovered Judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu while I was in university. I loved both, but I wasn’t able to train consistently due to a chronic RSI (from typing my thesis) and due to moving frequently for work after completing my doctorate. In 2017 I felt I was getting very out of shape and I decided to return to jiu-jitsu. My work situation has been stable since then and I’ve been able to train consistently. I earned my purple belt this year.
The BJJ gym also offers boxing classes, which I atttend regularly. I’m much less experienced in boxing than I am in jiu-jitsu and submission grappling and I have a lot of habits from kickboxing and grappling which are problematic in boxing, but I do train.
Honestly, I think it’s very unlikely that you’ll injure your hands in boxing. Most of the time in training you’ll be hitting pads with gloves and wrapped hands, working on movement/footwork, etc. Unless you’re doing something really stupid (like hitting a heavy bag without wraps & gloves), I think you should be ok. Obviously, broken hands are a common occurrence in full contact competition, but in training the risk would seem very low to me.
Grappling with a jacket (BJJ, Judo, Sambo) absolutely carries a risk of finger injury, however that risk can be greatly reduced by avoiding situations which are particularly stressful on the fingers. There are some specific techniques and styles of play which are notoriously hard on the fingers, and some practitioners have severely damaged fingers. However, simply being willing to release your grip and take another, rather than trying to deathgrip while your partner/opponent tries to forcibly break your grip, goes a long way to keeping your fingers safe. My fingers are fine, I just have some calloused skin on my knuckles from friction against the cloth.
Without the jacket (NoGi BJJ, Submission Grappling), the risk of finger injury is much lower. Any activity carries a risk of acute injury, but the long term, attritional damage that some Gi-focused practitioners experience is unlikely. Also, keep in mind that any physical activity carries a risk of injury, particularly as we get older.
3 Likes
Thanks for your input Tom and great to see you back on the forum!
1 Like
You’re welcome.
If you’re going to try boxing, I’d recommend actual boxing classes with qualified coaches vs “boxercise” type classes. I’m sure the coxercise classes will give you a good workout, but I doubt they’d help you develop real boxing skills, or give you more insight into the technical aspects of the “game” of boxing. Even with very light contact, free sparring is what allows you to understand the movements and strategies in live context.
I’d also suggest maybe trying a NoGi BJJ or submission grappling class. Unlike striking styles, you can spar at close to full resistance in grappling on a regular basis. Live grappling is also extremely technical and mentally stimulating. You may not like it, but I can promise you won’t be bored.