AmpedTraining Blog

Testosterone, Lies, and Internets

2009 August 28 | 4 Comments »

By Matt

The recent shit-storm, besides being really funny, has given us all a reminder of the dark cave full of snakes that is the Internet fitness industry. Here’s the links to recap, if you missed any of it:

Supplement Marketing on Steroids by Alan Aragon

Fat-Free Mass Index in Users and Non-users of AAS – Research Review

Monday Morning Censorship Protest: The Real T-Men Speak Out

Real T-Men Speak Out: Part 2

Real T-Men Speak Out: Final Update

This has also been a nice reminder of some of the deceptive, dishonest, and borderline illegal crap that’s gone down over the years, ever since the Internet gave a voice to every idiot and con-man that cared to get on his soapbox. Which brings me something that should probably be talked about, just to give a little background and context to some of the arguments here.

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Real T-Men Speak Out: Final Update

2009 August 26 | 1 Comment »

By Matt

As in part 1 and part 2 of this little social experiment, I want to analyze some of the T-Logic that’s come out of the T-Muscle forums, in response to challenges made against the outrageous claims of their forthcoming “I, Bodybuilder” program.

The thread that was on-going was finally ground to a halt – posts from dissenting viewpoints stopped getting through the filter, allowing the Real T-Men time to revel in their stupidity.

I honestly never thought I’d see so many people that are not just dumb, but truly proud of being that way. This certainly isn’t a new phenomenon, and as much as I’ve been exposed to it, it really shouldn’t shock me – yet it still manages to do so.

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Monday Morning Censorship Protest: The Real T-Men Speak Out

2009 August 24 | 9 Comments »

By Matt

Lately I’ve been pretty quiet with my hater posts. Most of my vitriol stays on the Monkey Island, which is probably for the best since it’s off the Google. On the flip of the coin, though, it’s a bad thing because there’s a lot of good righteous anger that probably should be known to the ‘net at large.

Today, I want to rant about this latest paragon of quasi-scientific supplement hustling that plays on the insecurities of males 16-30.

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Fitness Industry Peer-Review

2009 February 16 | Comments Off

By Matt

I’d like to rant for a minute about who you listen to, and more specifically, why self-proclaimed experts are taken as experts.

Let me lecture you about the scientific method for a minute. Arguably the largest strength of research and science in general is transparency. When a researcher or team of researchers submits a paper for publication, it’s expected to meet certain standards. The experiment has to be detailed – the subjects, the methods used, the data gathered (and how it was gathered and interpreted), all of that. The authors then have to discuss the results, how they fit into (or conflict with) existing data, and so on. If the paper passes the requirements and the critical eye of other experts in the field, a process called peer review, then it’s accepted into the journal and we can consider it to be solid research.

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