139: Cruel Tutelage of Pai Mei

How to Read Research Without Getting Misled

This episode is about how to evaluate research with more discipline and less hype. Giovani is joined by Coach Matt and Brent for a practical breakdown of what actually matters in a study, from sample size and methods to p values, R squared, study design, and whether the findings apply to real people in the real world.We discuss why abstracts are not enough, why observational research is not the same as prescriptive guidance, and how funding, publication bias, and participant selection can shape what a study seems to say.

(00:00) Why this episode is about evidence, not just opinions
 (02:19) Abstracts vs methods and what a study is really asking
 (03:55) Observational data is not the same as prescription
 (05:55) P value basics and why significance gets abused
 (07:25) How funding and grants shape research questions
 (09:09) Does this study even matter to your population?
 (13:21) Study design, control, and why bigger samples are harder to manage
 (15:28) Randomized controlled trials vs case studies
 (17:25) Meta analyses and review articles explained
 (18:58) Why medical research and performance research are not the same problem
 (21:06) R squared, measurement error, and why trends matter more than single numbers
 (24:00) Wearables, accuracy, and consistency over perfection
 (26:37) Citation count is not truth, but it is a clue
 (27:32) Correlation is not causation and why that distinction matters
 (29:39) Injury prevention vs injury mitigation in real coaching language
 (32:09) Why current goals should not override the full performance picture
 (35:04) Coaching experience as its own form of evidence
 (37:31) Raider, recovery, and scaling training for the right population
 (41:33) Pool training, underwater swims, and task-specific adaptation
 (49:19) Getting better by attacking the thing you suck at
 (54:51) Sooner vs faster in shooting and the task transfer tax
 (57:28) Publication bias and why negative results are harder to find
 (58:14) Reaching out to researchers and reading beyond the abstract
 (61:35) Homework: read one study this month and verify the source