Science in bodybuilding

[Samourai Pizzacat]

There's been shitloads of research on the topics of nutrition and excercise. But as in allmost any scientific field these results tend to contradict each other or are applicable to just a small range of the spectrum. Besides issues with in-vitro studies, animal studies, small N in studies, etc, there's the one of the biggest problems; most research is done with fundings of supplement companies or other lobbygroups (think dairy and sugar lobby). Most research isn't unbiassed or independant. Be very critical when reviewing a study:

-Who did the research (many references from colleagues?)
-Who funded the research?
-who and how big was the test population?
-was there a controlgroup?
-was it a dubbelblind study?
-Was there sufficient control for confounds?
-what was the alpha (significance) of the test?
-where there modifications in the dataset?
etc.

Trust me, DaddyWaddy and TA, you aren't the first to go through studies in the hope of finding the new 'training and nutrition paradigm'.
When you resd more and get into the matter deeper you begin to realise that it's a great tangle of conflicting theories and vague hypotheses.

[kawaks]

Fat is still fat, muscle is still muscle and 80 lbs. is still  80lbs.

90% of the people posting here will stay basically the same size and weight  No matter how hard they train or how much protein they eat. They will make a bit of progress but nothing dramatic unless they hit the sauce.But you are not going to see a guy like Bigmc hit the weights and turn into a beast. Then there are the lucky few (myself, Meso,daddywaddy, bast), that have a genetic predisposition the grow muscle, and we are the guys who get BIG. You will never rise above your genetics no matter what exotic protocol you adhere to. That's life

What a croc! Anyone can add size and shape without cheating it just takes longer and you don't get that fake steroid look with real muscle PLUS you're liver and body thanks you for no abuse.

[WhiteCastle]

The one thing I notice particularly with exercise/supplement studies is the really low sample numbers.  Psychology has this issue often too.  Basically, they will have trouble noticing small effects from things when the sample sizes are smaller, and a lot of these supplements may give smaller benefits.  The reason why the research bounces back and forth so much is, IMO, purely from methodology errors.  I'm not sure if fitness studies have as much publication bias as the social sciences, but I guess it could be possible.  Also, half of the citations given by supplement companies seem to contradict the claims made on the product label when I look at the article, while the other half are run by the industry.  But on the bright side, I don't think it is nearly as bad as the way the drug industry controls so much of medical research now.

This article came out not too long ago in PLOS, and I think it is dead on.  It presents the argument that most published research is incorrect.

http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0020124

Message boards like these can potentially be used for quasi-experiments if people were honest, but I don't see it ever happening due to egos and the desire for certain products to work simply because we bought them.  It would be decent because we could create matched comparison groups where bodybuilders who post online would be the actual population. 

[Brutal_1]

Bodybuilders are just average people.  Their genetic makeup is no different than anyone on earth.

It would not matter if anything was tested on them....The things that do matter are the controls and vairables such as workouts, diet etc....

But doing a test on a bodybuilder and a regular person will yield the same results provided the controls and vairable are ALL THE SAME.

This post is wrong on so many levels

"Bodybuilders are just average people"

Uh, No!  Maybe they're nothing special in terms of physiology, but their lifestyles make them completely different.  You can't compare a person who works nine to five and eats three meals a day, to someone who trains hours per day, damaging muscle tissue and taxing the CNS daily, adding to that high amounts of protein and in most cases AS....sorry, two different types of people.

"Their genetic makeup is no different than anyone on earth"

Everyone's genetic makeup is different    Which is why one diet or one type of training style DOES NOT work for everyone, i.e. Ben and Jerry's?!

"The things that do matter are the controls and vairables But doing a test on a bodybuilder and a regular person will yield the same results provided the controls and vairable are ALL THE SAME."

This one's too easy...you contradict yourself 

It's the "variables" that make bodybuilders different.  If you had a study with a cohort of 100 males, twenty of which never touched a weight and the other 80 were conditioned bodybuilders, I don't care which "variable" you measure fat loss, muscle gain, RER, etc.  The results will be skewed and you can't apply them to the dormant individual! PERIOD!!

[Palpatine Q]

Oh trust me I have

That is why I say nearly all supplement and protein powders are garbage

I agree.  Did you ever notice that people in supplement forums are always vague about the actual results they got?  It's always "I felt fuller" or "tighter" or some bullshit.

[Marty Champions]

the more fit you are the more you are able to store fats inside the muscle than in adipose tissue. very interesting. but these fat stores wont grow inside the muscle if you dont consitently get enough fat in the diet.

[Marty Champions]

Team Daddywaddy for 07' ?

people are still hitting the wall with there low fat high protien diets, maybe they will come around and join the team

[Rammer]

people are still hitting the wall with there low fat high protien diets, maybe they will come around and join the team

I tried using MCT oil back in the day when it first came onto the market.  I got it for free from a sponsor so I decided to try it during a precontest diet.  I was up to 15-20 tablespoons a day and I was the leanest ever for that show, around 5-6% bf.

[Marty Champions]

I tried using MCT oil back in the day when it first came onto the market.  I got it for free from a sponsor so I decided to try it during a precontest diet.  I was up to 15-20 tablespoons a day and I was the leanest ever for that show, around 5-6% bf.

MCT's gave me the shits i cant handle them.

[Mr. Intenseone]

I was up to 15-20 tablespoons a day and I was the leanest ever for that show, around 5-6% bf.

Right there should tell you that most of these supps on the market are a crock of crap..........15-20tbls per day?? and how much does it cost? and how soon do you run out?? See my point?

[Rammer]

Right there should tell you that most of these supps on the market are a crock of crap..........15-20tbls per day?? and how much does it cost? and how soon do you run out?? See my point?

I was only able to take the MCT oil like that because I got it for free from a sponsor.  I took a lot of second rate supplements because I got them free.  I would have preferred some of the better tasting protein powders but free is free so you hold your nose and slug it down.  When the freebies ran out you better believe I switched to good tasting better quality stuff.