posted Jan 24, 2008

These so-called fitness experts and sports scientists that contribute to this 2nd rate forum are talking a load of balderdash and piffle. They claim to provide a so-called 'scientific' basis to their suggestions. I have you know I spent a faithful forty years serving my university biology department and never once did we find a single bit of information that was useful to an athlete.

Now don't even get me started about the 'cutting edge of science'. We did all the useful research in exercise physiology decades ago - connecting frogs-legs up to the mains voltage and seeing how many times we could get them to twitch before they caught fire. These bloody charlatans with a mickey mouse sports science degree, coming waltzing in and think they know everything and they've never even dissected a pigs heart. And as for bloody animal liberation front. My arse. We've learnt all we know from animal research. When I was a post-doctoral whipping-boy to Professor Monty Bigglesthwaite I remember fondly that he had me in the lab every day, researching the effects of cigarette smoking on exercise capacity in dogs. First-rate science that was. Mind you, it was heartbreaking to watch those beagles fumbling to open a box of matches every time they wanted to light-up.


Faithfully yours,

Professor Douglas Baarg (retired)

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posted Jan 24, 2008

I am a BASES Accredited Physiologist and agree with the comments posted by DrMerryHammer. I am an applied sports scientist working at a university, and we most definitely do not as you say in your reply to DrMerryHammer: 'wear white coats and carry out perfect tests' (whatever they are...). What we do do is provide easily understandable feedback and practical advice and guidance based on scientific facts and the current research. Having a background in sport is helpful in allowing someone to relate to an athlete they are testing but that alone does not give someone the scientific knowledge required to interpret scientific data. It would therefore be interesting to know what Giuseppe's scientific background/qualifications are, as on his website only his sporting achievements are listed.

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posted Jan 24, 2008

Before this gets out of hand I would like to inform any enthusiasts out there that I had a thorough test at Loughborugh Univeristy Sports Science Services, I suggest you contact them:

http://sdc.lboro.ac.uk/performance_sport/ASS_index.php?cat_id=272&subcat_id=61&level=2

Ps It was suprisingly cheap..

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posted Jan 24, 2008

Professor Douglas Baarg (retired)... I find it difficult to reconcile your comment. How is it you describe your university biology departments research into the exercise capacity of dogs as 'first-rate science' if it produced nothing of use to athletes?

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posted Jan 28, 2008

Giuseppe,

I will make this my last comment as this is becoming rather tedious. You cannot claim that your experience is a substitute for understanding the science. Would you consult an experienced patient as opposed to a qualified physician? The whole point of providing sport science support is to provide information to the coach and performer that could not be established without physiological assessment - if we are not doing that then we should not be charging for services. Your claim that we should all stick to 'number crunching' is also curious since your business seems to rely on the crunching of said numbers (albeit you allow commercial software to provide the results as opposed to analysing them yourself - not an approach I would not be happy to use). You do not seen to have any particular understanding of how these values are calculated? How can you base your business on providing a scientific approach to training and rubbish those scientists who work in this area?

LACTATE THRESHOLD (LT). Lactate is present in the blood at all times. Threshold is the point at which these levels begin to exceed resting levels. The term 'Anaerobic Threshold' (AT) really stems from a time when we believed that a threshold was reached because the muscle had become anaerobic (lacked O2). AT was applied to ventilatory data - based on the concept of bicarbonate buffering of the hydrogen ions. AT is an outdated term and it would be more correct to use the term ventilatory threshold (VT) as this is what you attempt to measure. VT is used in respiratory research but is very problematic to calculate and identify even in experienced subjects. You would only appreciate this if you begin to analyse your data yourself! VT should NOT be used as a reliable substitute for LT in athletes. Your claim that LT does not require blood sampling is NOT true!

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posted Jan 29, 2008

I was tempted to reply but was hoping that someone more knowledgible than myself would reply instead. Thanks MDH. Its clear Giuseppe you're not truly familiar with sports science fundamentals. However, that doesn't mean clients won't appreciate what you do for them. Afterall most of them probably know less than you about the subject.

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posted Feb 3, 2008

nice thread - haha - may be late to the party, but i have one question to sloppy guiseppe (funny) or anyone for that matter.

Loughborough - wrong end of the country for me - anywhere in the South East that offers a similar service....cheaply?

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