The Weekly Roundup is an opportunity to recap a week in news and/or share recently discovered journal articles that might be of interest.
THE NUZZO LETTER IN THE NEWS
“How DEI threatens exercise science”
Martin Center for Academic Renewal, 2023
Another academic field has been infiltrated by leftist radicals.
“Bias against women in exercise research?”
Men are Good, 2023 (57 min interview)
“Dissecting sex differences, women in research, and men’s health”
Sports Science Dudes, 2023 (52 min interview)
“Exercise science is weakened by gender ideology: an interview with Dr James Nuzzo”
Centre for Male Psychology, 2023 (written interview)
Psicologica, 2023
Abstract: The actual capacity to perform tasks, and actual fatigue, are concepts that have been thought of as inherently linked. These considerations also extend to their phenomenology, meaning the perception(s) of capacity or fatigue. The phenomenology of capacity or fatigue thus may be capturing the same underlying latent construct. Further, it is speculated that the actual capacity of a person to perform a given task, and their perception of that capacity, have a psychophysical relationship. The aim of this study was therefore twofold: 1) to explore the extensional equivalence of perceptions of capacity and fatigue, and 2) to explore the relationship between actual capacity and the perception of that capacity. We analysed secondary outcomes from two experiments where 21 participants performed various elbow flexion tasks with either a dumbell, or a connected adaptive resistance exercise (CARE) machine enabling measurement of actual capacity (i.e., maximal force). Mixed effects ordered beta regression models estimated the latent constructs during conditions from self-reports of perceptions of capacity and fatigue comparing the two operationalisations, and the relationship between actual capacity (i.e., % maximal force) and self-reports of perceptions of capacity. We hypothesised that, given their theoretical extensional equivalence, the latent constructs captured by self-report ratings as operationalisations of perceptions of capacity and fatigue would exhibit a strong negative relationship between each other reflecting strong identity, and a positive association albeit with weak as opposed to strong identity between actual capacity and perception of capacity. Our results appear to broadly corroborate both hypotheses. There was a very strong relationship indicating strong identity and thus extensional equivalence of perceptions of capacity and fatigue latent constructs (r = -0.989 [95% CI -0.994 to -0.981]). Further, a coarse grained directional relationship between actual capacity and the perception of capacity was present suggesting only weak identity at best. Future research should endeavour to identify conditions permitting testing of assumptions of the present work (i.e., the quantity assumption) and explore further possible psychophysical models relating actual, and perceptions of, demands, capacity, and effort to understand the impact of the former upon the latter given the conceptual relationships between them.
ARTICLES AND ESSAYS
Sex differences in self-reported infidelity and its correlates
Sex Roles, 2007
Abstract: We examined sex differences in the prevalence, incidence, reasons for, and consequences of infidelity. Participants (Study 1, 543 undergraduates in the Northwestern US; Study 2, 313 undergraduates and 233 community members in the Mid-Atlantic US), reported on infidelity by questionnaire. Using a broad definition of cheating, women reported being as unfaithful or more unfaithful than men. Men were more suspicious about cheating and more likely to discover the cheating than women. Women were more likely to break up with their partners, to begin new relationships after cheating, and to report reasons for cheating that may indicate a desire to switch long-term mates, such as being unhappy in the current relationship. Results are discussed in the context of evolutionary theory.
Exercise snacks: a novel strategy to improve cardiometabolic health
Exercise and Sports Science Reviews, 2022
Abstract: We define exercise snacks as isolated ≤1-min bouts of vigorous exercise performed periodically throughout the day. We hypothesize that exercise snacks are a feasible, well-tolerated, and time-efficient approach to improve cardiorespiratory fitness and reduce the negative impact of sedentary behavior on cardiometabolic health. Efficacy has been demonstrated in small proof-of-concept studies. Additional research should investigate this novel physical activity strategy.
Effects of drop sets on skeletal muscle hypertrophy: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Sports Medicine Open, 2023
Abstract: Background: One of the most popular time-efficient training methods when training for muscle hypertrophy is drop sets, which is performed by taking sets to concentric muscle failure at a given load, then making a drop by reducing the load and immediately taking the next set to concentric or voluntary muscle failure. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to compare the effects of drop sets over traditional sets on skeletal muscle hypertrophy. Methods: This systematic review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. The SPORTDiscus and MEDLINE/PubMed databases were searched on April 9, 2022, for all studies investigating the effects of the drop set training method on muscle hypertrophy that meets the predefined inclusion criteria. Comprehensive Meta-Analysis Version 3 (Biostat Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ, USA) was used to run the statistical analysis. Publication bias was assessed through visual inspection of the funnel plots for asymmetry and statistically by Egger's regression test with an alpha level of 0.10. Results: Six studies met the predefined inclusion criteria. The number of participants in the studies was 142 (28 women and 114 men) with an age range of 19.2-27 years. The average sample size was 23.6 ± 10.9 (range 9-41). Five studies were included in the quantitative synthesis. Meta-analysis showed that both the drop set and traditional training groups increased significantly from pre- to post-test regarding muscle hypertrophy (drop set standardized mean difference: 0.555, 95% CI 0.357-0.921, p < 0.0001; traditional set standardized mean difference: 0.437, 95% CI 0.266-0.608, p < 0.0001). No significant between-group difference was found (standardized mean difference: 0.155, 95% CI - 0.199 to - 0.509, p = 0.392). Conclusions: The results of this systematic review and meta-analysis indicate that drop sets present an efficient strategy for maximizing hypertrophy in those with limited time for training. There was no significant difference in hypertrophy measurements between the drop set and traditional training groups, but some of the drop set modalities took half to one-third of the time compared with traditional training.
RUBBISH BIN
Queer futures? Forget it! Dementia, queer theory and the limits of normativity
Journal of Aging Studies, 2022
Abstract: This article, which takes inspiration from Sandberg and Marshall's (2017) critique of successful ageing futures, considers how dementia is framed, arguing that it needs to be queered beyond a simple challenge of the biomedical model. The article draws on ideas from Queer Theory to demonstrate how dementia is framed within normative tropes around loss, decline and forgetting. Using Membership Categorisation Analysis (MCA) the article undertakes a detailed reading of an advertisement produced by Alzheimer's Society, UK, an important cultural intermediary in framing how dementia is understood culturally. The analysis highlights three key features of categorisation work used in the advertisement: framing the multigenerational family; being isolated and alone with dementia; and recapturing hope/de-queering dementia. The articles show how cultural texts intended to educate the public about dementia, draw on and propagate normative tropes about the condition that frames it in heteronormative, reproductive, futurological terms. The ramifications of this are discussed in the analytic discussion and conclusions section.
Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 2023
Abstract: Athlete health and wellbeing requires a holistic, multidimensional approach to understanding, supporting, and treating individual athletes. Building more supportive, inclusive, and equitable environments for the health and wellbeing of women and gender expansive people further requires gender-responsive approaches that promote broader cultural change. Feminist sport and exercise medicine practitioners, sports scientists, and social science researchers are increasingly coming together in their efforts to do this work. However, working across disciplines inevitably includes an array of ontological, epistemological, and political challenges. In this paper, we offer a curated ‘dialogue’ with a group of feminist scholars engaged in research and practice across disciplines, bringing them together to discuss some of the most pressing gendered issues in sport today (i.e., ACL injury, concussion, menstruation in sport, mental health, gender categories). In so doing, we amplify the voices of those working (empirically and clinically) at the disciplinary intersections of gender, sport and health, and learn about some of the current and future possibilities for transdisciplinary innovations and strategies for building (responsiveness to) cultural change.
SUPPORT THE NUZZO LETTER
If you appreciated this content, please consider supporting The Nuzzo Letter with a one-time or recurring donation. Your support is greatly appreciated. It helps me to continue to work on independent research projects and fight for my evidence-based discourse. To donate, click the DonorBox logo. In two simple steps, you can donate using ApplePay, PayPal, or another service. Thank you.
