The Guac - Intro
Hey there,
This blog was curated in order to give you, the reader, practical information on exercise science that you will not find anywhere else on the net, unless you are reading scientific research papers directly and developing your own philosophy. If you are doing that, kudos! We would love to hear your thoughts.
Meanwhile, we will continue to read and post on some of our favorite published articles to improve your Quality of Life. Like the delicious, avocado-based dip after which this blog is named, it will be seasoned with different “spices” - both objective information and opinions - from different viewpoints - that of the fitness professional, the client / fitness pursuer side, the investor and financial side, the physician side, the sports and performance world, and others - to give you both a detailed and a big-picture view of how we have come to appreciate human physiology, as well as where we hope to push the field next.
The following is a direct quote from the text “Clinical Exercise Physiology: Third Edition” by Jonathan K. Ehrman, Paul M. Gordon, Paul S. Visich and Steven J. Keteyian. We use this text in class instruction at LIU-Brooklyn, in the Graduate Exercise Physiology program:
“Possibly the most important task of the future clinical exercise physiologist will be to review and disseminate the vast amount of exercise-related research and recommendations to the masses… The clinical exercise physiologist should prepare to be the intermediary between knowledge and understanding of the exercise prescription.”
This quote greatly sums up what we do. Thousands of papers are published each year concerning exercise science, applied physiology, nutrition, medicine and beyond to better our understanding of the human body. More specifically, this research is performed with the goal of furthering our knowledge on the body’s responses to various stressors and chemicals, its environment, and the role of genetics in Quality of Life, Health and Performance. We, in turn, make that information useful in the gym, on the field, at your table, in your home.
All of the preceding is important in the context of “Current Physiologic State,” or as some call it, “Current State of Training,” in deciphering how literature can impact even our most minute exercise and nutrition decisions.
Some important things to know as you read on:
Impact Factor: According to Thomson Reuters’ Journal Citation Reports, impact factor is a measure of the frequency with which the “average article” in a journal has been cited in a particular year or period.
Article Applicability: Two factors here.
One is where on the spectrum from Sickness -> Health -> Performance a particular article has the most relevance. You will see that in our signature image. That way, depending on where you are right now on that spectrum (a combination of objective and subjective assessment), you can more easily decipher the personal usefulness of the information.
Second is the weight the article carries. The more weight an article carries, the more you should consider it in forming your “big picture” when it comes to your Quality of Life. Article Weights will often come with explanations.
Practical Application: For those who like to skip to the end, this is our brief summary of the article’s most pragmatic aspects.
When you read a research paper, every bit of detail can be important in discerning just how relevant and applicable the study’s outcome is to us, as individuals. The details impact how we relay this information to our clients, friends, family. For example, a study of only 8, untrained, college-aged men tells us a few things directly. However, indirectly, how does this small sample size impact the article’s relevance in our lives? This is one example of the details you will see unfold as you read on in our Guacamole.
First, we start off with some simple, straightforward posts that are less dry-science, more conversational. This way, you can see our point of view when compared with the rest of the interweb. As we go on, though, we wish to influence your daily decision making for the better through science. That’s the Guac!
References:
http://wokinfo.com/essays/impact-factor/
