Question thread for our AMA with Dr. Brandon M Roberts and Dr. Peter J Fitschen starting Wednesday April 15th!

@paparazi257 Q4Both:

Do you find bodybuilders in general to be interested in learning and being up to date with the recommended practices, or are they mainly relying on coaches who are the ones who keep up to date?
 
@niecey85 I think that depends upon the individual. Some like knowing the "why" while others just want to be pointed in the best direction to be at their best onstage.
 
@niecey85 Some of my clients are interested and want everything explained. Others just want directions and trust me. I think both of our clients know we try to educate, so I tend to get those people more often.
 
@paparazi257 Q4Both:

As someone who's involved in science, I see that when it comes to researchers and the material they put out, the state pretty much around the world in many fields (not necessarily this one) is that they are "forced" to follow a certain rate of publications in a given time or they lose their grants and budget, which often results in pointless research that just adds to the noise that makes the truly useful things that come up now and then harder to identify. Do you see that happening in your field? And if so, do you find that it becomes an obstacle when you have to conduct research and you need to rely on previous work, and how do you see it affect research in general?
 
@niecey85 The "publish or perish" mentality was definitely a thing when I was in grad school. Honestly, that (along with all of the hoops you have to jump through in academia) were a large part of the reason I got out of academia and have been coaching full time since graduating in 2015.
 
@niecey85 I think I can give some good insight into this one because I've been on the job circuit this year in academia.

There is usually an expectation to publish. In our field, it's normal to have to publish between 2-5 studies to be promoted to tenure. People go up for tenure promotion 5-7 years after they start their job as an assistant professor. Grants aren't as common in sports science, so those aren't generally expected. You will probably be expected to apply to a few. Getting one is a feather in your cap.

The noise you mention isn't an issue for me. It's helping students complete graduation requirements, helping promotion to tenure, and there are generally a few good things to learn from a study - even if it's how NOT to design it.
 
@niecey85 I'm really looking forward to more overfeeding research. I think there is so little being done with training that we direly need more. I'm on a team doing one study now and hope to do more in the future. I also think deloading needs a lot more research, which is something I'd like to do too.
 
@niecey85 I don't know that I would call any 1 study revolutionary; however, each new study builds on the current body of literature to give us an idea of what may be better/worse approaches to try.

What those approaches are may change over time as well with more data / experience. For example, about 6-10 years ago HIIT cardio was the thing to do. Research showed that it was more similar to lifting, you got less interference with strength / size gains and everyone in the evidence based community did a lot of HIIT and oftentimes spoke negatively about steady-state cardio. However, as more data has come out and as we have more experience having clients do large amounts of HIIT we are finding they struggle to recover after a certain point because it is so high intensity and typically individuals are in a deficit when doing a lot of HIIT which can impair recovery so we have almost circled back in a way to using more steady-state or at least a combination of the 2 rather than just HIIT cardio exclusively.
 
@paparazi257 Q4Both:

Do you find that besides following your instructions, that your clients are eager to also learn the theory behind what they do, especially considering the weight of your credentials? Or are they happy to just follow?
 
@niecey85 I think it depends upon the person and you need to kind of feel out / get to know each individual client. I've had clients who I have tried to explain the "why" to who didn't really care and others ask a lot of questions and want to learn more. I think as a coach it is important to adapt your communication to what is best for each individual client.
 
@paparazi257 Q4Both:

In our sport, the off-season may be the most straightforward phase we go through, on the other hand must of us, even the pros with the most experience under their belt, struggle when in comes to the contest prep. Which lessons have you learned that have made a big difference for you in this area?
 
@niecey85 I think the biggest thing is just being comfortable with not being stage-lean and actually being at a sustainable body fat percentage. I think far too many people do themselves a disservice in the offseason by cutting far too frequently and/or trying to stay too close to stage-lean.

This doesn't mean your offseason should be a free for all where body fat gets excessively high; however, I think for many people being comfortable with not being stage-lean so that they stay out of a deficit for a prolonged period of time is a huge lesson that could ultimately result in more progress.
 
@niecey85 I think it can be a great approach for maintaining weight once someone has established habits for doing so. However, I don't think it is a great approach for a beginner or someone trying to gain/lose weight.
 
@niecey85 I think it's useful for those that have never struggled with over or undereating. It is probably better suited for people who have already tracked for a long time.
 
@niecey85 I would say outside of bodybuilding, I really enjoy watching sports and playing fantasy football. In fact, I typically have sports talk radio on in the background while I am in my office working. As I type this, The Herd is on in the background.
 
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