The Skeptic's Guide to Sports Science

by Nicholas Tiller

The global health and fitness industry is worth an estimated $4 trillion. We spend $90 billion each year on health club memberships and $100 billion each year on dietary supplements. In such an industrial climate, lax regulations on the products we are sold (supplements, fad-diets, training programs, gadgets, and garments) result in marketing campaigns underpinned by strong claims and weak evidence. Moreover, our critical faculties are ill-suited to a culture characterized by fake news, social media, misinformation, and bad science. We have become walking, talking prey to 21st-Century Snake Oil salesmen. In The Skeptic’s Guide to Sports Science , Nicholas B. Tiller confronts the claims behind the products and the evidence behind the claims. The author discusses what might be wrong with the sales pitch, the glossy magazine advert, and the celebrity endorsements that our heuristically-wired brains find so innately attractive. Tiller also explores the appeal of the one quick fix , the fallacious arguments that are a mainstay of product advertising, and the critical steps we must take in retraining our minds to navigate the pitfalls of the modern consumerist culture. This informative and accessible volume pulls no punches in scrutinizing the plausibility of, and evidence for, the most popular sports products and practices on the market. Readers are encouraged to confront their conceptualizations of the industry and, by the book’s end, they will have acquired the skills necessary to independently judge the effectiveness of sports-related products. This treatise on the commercialization of science in sport and exercise is a must-read for exercisers, athletes, students, and practitioners who hope to retain their intellectual integrity in a lucrative health and fitness industry that is spiraling out-of-control.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction

222 pages, Hardcover

Published April 17, 2020

Reviews

[Julia Fahrbach · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book!! You'll get tons and tons of useful information. The writing style is so beautiful I had a hard time putting it down. I definitely recommend it!

[Christopher Benfer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I originally heard about this book because the author was a guest on The Skeptics Guide to the Universe Podcast (https://www.theskepticsguide.org/podc...). For those who aren't familiar with it, it is a podcast based on science communication and critical thinking, and I would highly recommend it. With that being said, the author came on and said that he had recently completed a book focusing on myths in sports science, which I thought sounded interesting.

The first part of the book was some basic info about quackery in sports science and medicine in general. Tiller reviews some history, talks about critical thinking and logical fallacies, and how to properly do your own research (as in, read scientific papers, not watch a couple of YouTube videos). While I had never seen something specific on how to read papers, most of the rest of this portion of the book was already familiar to me in one form or another so while I felt it was fine, it wasn't anything new.

The next (larger) portion of the book is divided into general themes. Within each theme (Nutrition, Supplements and Drugs, Training, and Complementary and Alternative Medicine) he gives a brief overview of some of the history and current knowledge, then examines a couple of specific examples and whether they have a basis in reality or not. This was more in line with what I was hoping to get out of the book. Unfortunately, Tiller chose to focus on mostly things that to me are pretty obviously garbage - power bracelets, cupping, detoxing, etc. There were a couple of items that were more interesting, but in general I didn't pick up a lot new. I would personally have preferred things like stretching methods, training schedules, etc. where I hear things that sound plausible on the surface but I don't have enough knowledge of to understand if they truly make sense.

Overall, the book was decently well written. It felt a little clunky at points and I think the author could have used a better editor, but the writing was clear and he got his message across. It was also a very conversational style, so it was a pretty quick read and easy to understand.

If you are new to the skeptical movement or critical thinking in general I would recommend something more like The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe book, but this book was generally fine and kept me occupied and interested.

[SH · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an important book. It is very well written and well-organized, starting with outlining how the health and fitness industry exploit peoples desire for better health by selling products that has little evidence for efficacy. It helps us consumers in making educated decisitions in order to spend our money and efforts on products and programs that has a proven impact. This is not just advantageous for us as individuals but by demanding the health industry put proper research behind their claims, consumers help cradle one of the corner-stones of sociatal progression, namely the scientific method.

I was a bit dissapointed by the end of the book because I expected more direct-health related claims rather than the "do you own research" vibe that it gives off. But then again, that is the whole point of the book. The author states that the current science and understanding of health is constantly evolving and hence a book on the topic would become outdated. Instead he suggests to read up on the latest scientific littature or consult with a professional who has. If that is not an option, at least remain sceptical of the claims given to you. I think its fair to mention that the book does contain some advice on improving health but its main focus is on evaluating the litterature on topics which has little evidence for efficacy yet somehow remain popular.

A bit of an anecdote, but when I was almost finished with the book, I watched a youtuber whom I have been following for quite a while. You can tell from his videos that he has gotten more energized over the past year, so when he claimed that a supplement was key to his transformation I got curious. I looked up the product who had a really shining website but quickly noticed some of the red flags covered by the book. For example, the product did have some research backing their claims but it was based on studies very low sample sizes (less than 10 participants) or no control group.

To sum it up, I would really recommend the book for people who are interested in improving their health and performance but feels overwhelmed by the claims made by the industry.

[Charlie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly dry academic writing style that feels like a text book targeted at undergrads. Feels more like an education in critical thinking than the review of the sport science approaches that work (and don’t). Generally interesting though.