Self-handicapping means creating or claiming obstacles before a test so that failure comes with an excuse. In sport experiments, goals about avoiding failure increased it; athletes with low physical self-esteem claimed more handicaps; and a brief self-affirmation reduced them. Its cost to performance is contested.

Researchers now measure body image inflexibility alongside exercise dependence. In a profile study of 756 active adults, an appearance-focused group clustered with exercise addiction while an equally active group did not. Whether rigid body image causes compulsive exercise has not been shown.

A meta-analysis of healthy people found a small, consistent link between physical activity and well-being, strongest for positive mood and absent for negative mood. A survey of 1,012 college students suggests the route to life satisfaction runs through feeling capable and feeling connected.

Watching an expert model plus feedback on your own video improved Olympic-lift technique in three novices, and video feedback helped young lifters' snatch. Watching alone, without feedback, has barely been tested in lifting.

In 30 trained weightlifters, performing their main snatch error on purpose, exaggerated, improved technique more than direct instruction, and the gain held at one week. It is untested on the squat, bench press or deadlift.

Small studies, small effects, flexible analyses and vested interests all make a finding less likely to be true. Questionable research practices are documented in exercise science itself.

Sport research describes resilience as a process. Work with Olympic champions points to five families of protective factors, interviews describe how athletes bounce back, and a meta-analysis of 11 trials, not specific to athletes, found a moderate effect of resilience training (0.44, 95% CI 0.23 to 0.64).

Left to choose their own weights, novice lifters picked 42–57% of 1RM, and trained women picked about 42.3% alone versus about 51.4% with a personal trainer. What self-selected effort tells you about your own training.

Chatbots now write training plans. Rated by personal trainers and topic experts, ChatGPT beat personal trainers on six of nine common questions; yet AI exercise recommendations for clinical groups were 41.2% comprehensive and 90.7% accurate, and riskier where movement disorders were present.

An audit of the 20 most highly cited strength and conditioning meta-analyses found statistical errors in 85%. Other reviews report suboptimal reporting and methodological standards in physical activity and sports medicine meta-analyses.

Only eight obesity treatment studies met strict criteria of at least three years' follow-up without continued intervention, and they showed a trend of regain toward pre-treatment baseline. Across 67 studies, behaviours that reduce intake, raise expenditure and monitor the balance predicted maintenance; demographics did not.

In an analysis of sport, deliberate practice accounted for 18% of the variance in performance overall and only 1% among elite-level performers. Practice matters, but it explains a minority of the differences between athletes.

In first-year students at Norwegian elite-sport high schools, athletes used snus, cigarettes and alcohol less than controls, but competing in team sports was linked to snus use (odds ratio 2.8, 95% CI 1.6 to 4.7). Practitioners report oral nicotine spreading in elite sport despite no proven performance benefit.

Across 218 trials in people with major depression, walking or jogging, yoga and strength training produced moderate reductions in depression compared with active controls, with larger effects at higher intensity. A separate meta-analysis found resistance training reduced depressive symptoms regardless of training volume.

A systematic review of 69 studies found health misinformation widespread on social media, highest for smoking products and drugs. A meta-analysis of 24 studies found corrections reduce its impact (d = 0.40, 95% CI 0.25 to 0.55), more so when experts rather than non-experts debunk it.

A meta-analysis favouring bands and chains for strength was retracted after a transcription error in its data. Later meta-analyses disagree, and retracted papers continue to be cited after retraction.

Fitspiration content is frequently accessed on social media. Content analyses of 600 Instagram images and 415 posts across four platforms found mostly thin-and-toned women, muscular men and frequent objectifying or sexualised elements.

Across studies of young soccer players, Paralympic athletes and 443 coaches, autonomy-supportive coaching was linked to athletes' psychological needs, self-determined motivation and enjoyment, and coaches' own need satisfaction and wellbeing predicted how autonomy-supportive they were.

In a crossover study of 20 college students, using a phone for everything during 30-minute lifting sessions did not significantly change volume load or intensity compared with using it only for music, but enjoyment and perceived productivity fell. A 2024 review links heavy phone use to mental fatigue and longer rests.

Across two monitoring studies, athletes' perceived effort and completed training differed from the coach's plan. Agreement was weakest for sessions intended to be easy, and in junior speed skaters those who approached or exceeded the plan reported more success and better recovery.