Problem with "Science Based Training"

Recently, in fitness or exercise articles or podcasts, you may see or hear terms like “scientific training method” or “clinically proven exercise”. In current fitness industry, these methods have become a must follow and these methods cannot be wrong and practiced by the fitness professionals including trainers and nutritionists.  Even when trainees are not seeing results through those methods, fitness professionals tends to justify and may criticize what trainees are doing wrong.

Some of the issues are trainers have stop learning the foundation of physiology and biomechanics and start believing in “scientifically proven methods" are for everybody.  Training is not that simple.

Scientific Studies

Scientific findings are very important information for any fitness professionals to have.  However, it does not mean that the finding is a definite and can be applied for everyone.  Chance of scientific findings may not apply is relatively high.

When looking at scientific studies, it is done in very controlled environment.  Controlled factors can be age, gender, climate, level of fitness of the subjects, frequency of training per week, and nutrition. 

When training clients, the environment is not under my control (temperature, humidity, type of music). There are also stress level, sleep quality and diet of the clients that may vary from session to session, and they may have underlying conditions that may impact the training session. As a fitness professional, it is important to acknowledge these factors.

Interesting thing about science, especially when it comes to exercise and diet, is that it is not definite. Deep squat, deadlift, knee over the toes, lift heavy, running, plyometrics, eating protein, eating, carbs, eating fat, these are all been proven to be good and bad through science. Yet we see many who has seen amazing results utilizing these method properly (very important).

Does that mean scientific studies are worthless?  No. It can be useful in specific situations.  For example, German Volume Training methods are known to improve strength and muscle size drastically.  It is 10 sets of 10 repetitions @ 60% of maximum exertion with 1 minute of rest in between sets.  This method became popular amongst lifters and bodybuilders in around 1970s.  There is scientific literature that states that this is a highly effective training method. It is challenging but very effective.

Another popular training method is called plyometric training. Plyometric training is a form of exercise that focuses on explosive movements to increase power, speed, and overall athletic performance. It typically involves activities such as jumping, bounding, and quick directional changes, which rapidly stretch and contract muscles to generate maximum force in short intervals. Plyometrics are commonly used by athletes to improve their ability to produce fast, powerful movements, but the intensity of these exercises means they must be carefully programmed to suit individual fitness levels and goals. While scientific studies show plyometrics can enhance strength and agility, they are best incorporated thoughtfully, considering factors like age, experience, and recovery capacity to minimize the risk of injury and maximize benefits.

Will I use these methods with all my clients?  May be few but not all.  German Volume Training performing 100 repetitions of any exercise in 15 minutes and is very high demand for the body and may not be able to recover properly.  Same goes with plyometric training. I utilize this method regularly and I know what is involved. It is demanding not just for muscles but also to tendon and ligaments. It looks cool to do, however, that shouldn't be the reason to add to your routine.

Basic Science

Although scientific training methods may not be for everyone, however, basic science should be understood and be educated by all the trainers and trainees. Basic science that I refer to are anatomy, physiology, biomechanics, biochemistry, endocrinology, neuroscience and so on. 

Although these are complex subjects, however, it is the foundation to understand how our body works in exercise and nutrition.  You don’t have to have degree in it, however, it is good to have undergraduate level of knowledge in these subjects, especially if you are trainer.

When observing how people are performing exercise, it is important to be thinking of how muscles, tendon, ligaments and bones (anatomy) are moving (biomechanics).  When the movement is being compromised, it is easier to spot what is happening and correct them by adding different exercises or simply having the client be mindful to see if they can adjust the movement pattern. Conversation with clients during the session is not only to get to know them but also to observe their breathing pattern to determine the level of exertion (physiology) from exercise.

When talking about nutrition, the information provided by the clients visualize how the body responds (physiology and endocrinology) to the types of food they are consuming (biochemistry) and help guide clients to the right path for the goal that they are working for. This is especially important for the trainees who need to recover from the training session and get ready for the next.

Even when reading scientific literature, it is necessary to have basic science knowledge to understand why the study was designed in such way and what does the finding means.  Reading abstracts alone is not enough. Sometimes, you will find that what data the studies have observed and conclusion that researchers wrote may not be the same.  These minor details are necessary to verify whether the study was valid or not. Therefore, while outcome in scientific studies are important, it is also important to know how did the researchers got to that outcome.

In Training, Results Matter

In training, results matters. If the training is consists of "Scientific Based" training but does not give you results you are looking for, does it really have value in following it? Scientific finding may not be wrong but it may not be lined with what you wanted to accomplish. If the training is not "proven by science" but able to see results that you are training for, does it really matter if it has been proven or not?

Whether it is exercise or diet, there are so many things that we are not sure of why things happen in certain way. Since we are individually so unique, what works and not work for each individual may be different. That is why trainers have to be fluent in basic science and recognize that not all scientifically proven exercise or diet works for everyone.

What matters the most is whether or not you seeing results that you were looking for with exercise and diet that you are working on. If the answer is yes, then great! If not, time to make some adjustment.

Kota Shimada