How to Identify Good Research Studies as a Fitness Coach

My literal life goal is, and always has been, to bring research to the real world.⁣

I realize that most people have zero formal training on how to sift through the endless amount of available research and identify quality research studies.

I see this all the time with fitness coaches⁣ who want to take an evidence-based approach to their coaching practice but don't necessarily know how to determine the overall quality of a study. (Hint: Just because it's the first result that pops up doesn't mean it's the best research available.)

As a fitness coach, it can be challenging to sift through all the available research, especially if you don't know what kind of information you should look for.

Here's a breakdown of the different types of research you can find. I hope this will help you identify strong research studies and better understand what you're reading (and the quality of it!) to help make you a better fitness coach with more successful clients.

Finding Good Research

When looking for research studies to inform your coaching practice, one of the first criteria to consider is publication in reputable peer-reviewed journals specific to the field of fitness, exercise science, or sports medicine.

Reputable journals follow strict editorial standards and peer review processes to ensure the integrity and validity of published research. Studies undergo rigorous scrutiny by experts in the field, who assess the study's design, research methodology, analysis, and interpretation.

Reputable journals also provide access to tons of high-quality research literature, including original research articles, reviews, meta-analyses, and editorials. Subscribing to or accessing reputable journals keeps you aware of the latest advancements, trends, and debates in the field.

Tips for Accessing Good Research

Use academic databases and institutional libraries to access full-text articles from reputable journals. Many universities and research institutions provide access to online journal subscriptions, allowing you to explore a wide range of peer-reviewed literature.

You can also explore open-access journals and repositories, which offer free access to research articles and scholarly publications. Open-access platforms such as PubMed Central, PLOS ONE, and Google Scholar provide valuable resources for accessing quality research without subscription barriers.

The Research Pyramid

This pyramid presents the various levels of evidence you can find in published research studies you'll come across as you're working to increase your knowledge on any given topic.⁣

As you move from top to bottom, the AMOUNT of evidence increases, but the QUALITY decreases.⁣ So, whenever possible, focus your efforts on the types of studies near the top of the pyramid. 

That's not to say that background information and expert opinion aren't ever valid or useful, but the types of research closer to the top of the pyramid hold more merit and might provide you with better and more accurate information for your research question. 

Remember, just because something is in an international journal doesn't guarantee that it's good research. You'll want to look for things like how reputable your source is for any research topic using any research methodology.

⁣Let's start from the top of the research pyramid!

Meta-Analyses

A meta-analysis combines the numerical results from all relevant studies in a new statistical framework to test hypotheses.⁣ This is considered the pinnacle of research and tends to have the best research findings.

A meta-analysis looks at previous research and combines relevant qualitative and quantitative study data from the various studies. The statistical framework has even greater power than any single study because there are more subjects, greater subject diversity, or accumulated effects and results. 

As someone looking at health research, you should especially appreciate the importance of subject diversity since that will help you make meaningful decisions that will apply to a greater variety of your fitness coaching clients.

Meta-analyses help establish statistical significance when you're faced with conflicting results or want to get a better “consensus” on a topic, which is important as a fitness coach trying to run an evidence-based practice. 

This is the most robust research methodology due to the amount of data collected from the studies the researchers analyzed to answer their research questions, so it has high external validity (real-world application), and it's most likely your best bet to find solutions to those issues you and your clients are struggling with.

Systematic Review

⁣Next comes the systematic review, which is a formal, systematic, and structured approach to review all the relevant literature on a topic. In other words, a systematic review gets rid of all of the poorly done studies and focuses on gathering data from a group of high-quality studies. 

A systematic review might look at factors such as how many studies have used certain methods and where they were carried out.

It's important to note that a systematic review is written by a panel of experts who do a comprehensive review to determine which studies should be included. They look at both published, peer-reviewed studies and unpublished studies and then summarize their findings.

This type of research is helpful because the study's findings can be generalized more broadly than any individual study. The comprehensive summary of the available evidence makes them incredibly valuable for informing your coaching practice.

Systematic reviews are also considered more reliable and accurate because of the extensive research and review process, which gives them higher external validity.

⁣You'll often find that a systematic review is combined with a meta-analysis.

Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs)

Randomized controlled trials have randomly assigned participants into an experimental group to receive what is being tested or to a control group(s) where they receive no treatment or perhaps a placebo. 

In this type of study, researchers compare the experimental group to the control group(s).⁣ They are considered the gold standard for evaluating the effectiveness of interventions because they minimize bias and confounding variables.

Confounding variables are those that affect other variables, which may distort the data. 

An advantage to a well-conducted randomized controlled trial is that it will remove population bias (when the sample population used in a research study is not representative of the broader population it aims to generalize to).

Another advantage is that the results can be analyzed with well-known tools, meaning there is a clear interpretation of the data. 

However, remember that randomized controlled trials suffer from volunteer biases, so some populations may not be represented in the data. This makes it harder to generalize the results.

Cohort Studies

Cohort studies are where one or more groups of people with a similar characteristic (e.g., birth year) are followed over time to determine what risk factors are associated with a particular outcome (e.g., obesity).⁣ Participants are typically categorized based on exposure to a risk factor or intervention, and their outcomes are compared over time, providing information about these risk factors and paving the path for future research.

Cohort studies can provide valuable insights into the natural history of diseases, the effects of interventions, and the identification of risk factors, all of which are especially useful to a fitness coach.

These studies can achieve standardization of criteria and outcomes, but cohorts can be difficult to identify because of confounding variables. 

Cohort studies also suffer from a lack of randomization, so there could be imbalances in participant characteristics.

Case-Control Studies

⁣A case-control study compares one group of people with a particular outcome (e.g., obesity) to a group without it and looks back in time to compare risk factors (e.g., exercise frequency).⁣

The goal of a case-control study is not to change the course of a particular outcome but to determine what caused that outcome. It is designed to estimate the odds of something occurring. 

A case-control study can be especially useful for studying rare conditions or diseases while looking at various possible risk factors. It can also answer questions that may be unanswerable through other types of studies.

However, case-control studies are lower on the pyramid because they rely on people's memories. Relying on participants' memories results in recall bias, which means that participants may not accurately recall past experiences and events. 

So, while case-control studies are useful for investigating rare diseases or outcomes, they may have limitations in establishing causality.

Case Reports

A case report describes an individual case. This type of study is often used with unique or rare conditions that are difficult to study.

They are often at or very near the bottom of the research pyramid, but case reports are where new issues come from and can be the basis of future research if there are enough case reports that show similar data or issues. 

While these studies can offer insights into rare conditions or novel interventions, they are limited by their observational nature and lack of control groups.

Background Information and Expert Opinion

⁣Background info and expert opinion are the anecdotal evidence or information put out there by your favorite fitness influencers (if you can confidently call them experts).⁣

There is often little to no scientific evidence behind these opinions, as they are based on individual experiences. 

These often don't include formal data collection (instead relying on opinion and experience) or a literature review to answer your research question. But like I said, just because this approach lacks empirical evidence doesn't make it entirely useless.

Background information and expert opinions can provide context, insight, and credibility to research to gain a foundational understanding of the topic in the early stages of a research project or research question.

You will, of course, want to do further research rather than rely solely on this method, but good research can stem from talking to people with experience (kind of like how you use testimonials to establish yourself as a credible fitness coach who can help people achieve their goals).

Good Research for Your Coaching Practice

When looking at research studies as a fitness coach, one key aspect to consider is the relevance of the study's findings to your coaching practice and client population.

While scientific rigor is essential, the practical application of research findings in real-world coaching scenarios is equally important for creating meaningful change and optimizing client outcomes.

Look for studies that investigate interventions, strategies, or outcomes relevant to client needs, preferences, and objectives.

In other words, if all of your clients are between the ages of 20 and 35, don't spend hours poring over research on hormonal changes of menopausal women. Unless you're looking to shift your entire client demographic, that research will be largely irrelevant to your clients and your coaching practice.

By prioritizing research that aligns with the needs and goals of your clients, you can tailor your coaching interventions and strategies to address specific challenges, optimize performance, and enhance overall client satisfaction, retention, and adherence.

Using Good Research as a Fitness Coach

Now that you know how to identify strong research studies, it's time for you to learn how to apply that knowledge to practical problems in your coaching practice. 

You'll find your client satisfaction, retention, and adherence are significantly higher after you learn to do more research on relevant topics and once you can differentiate good research from random opinions on the internet.

I want to help you take your research skills to the next level.

The Health Mindset Coaching Certification was designed to teach coaches like you how to apply mindset psychology and research to their coaching practice to help their clients with increased adherence and success. 

Not only that, but you will also learn how to cultivate a growth mindset in your clients and guide them to sustained behavior change using evidence-based practices in psychology.

You will develop the skills to effectively help clients stick to the plan, stick with you, and achieve long-term success in their health and fitness goals.

This 13-week program for health and fitness professionals equips you with the skills you need to help your clients end self-sabotage, break through mindset barriers, and make behavior changes for good.

If you're ready to improve your coaching practice, CLICK HERE to join the waitlist for the Health Mindset Coaching Certification and receive 5 FREE lessons in mindset and psychology to get started right away.

Connect with us!

Email: [email protected]

IG: @coachkaseyjo @healthmindsetcert ⁣