Bogle 1

Daniel Bogle

Professor Gardiakos

ENC1102

28 October 2022

Research Proposal

Purpose:

The research that is being considered is seeking to find the discrepancies between the

language used in the research community versus three specific YouTube channels that are in the

resistance training community. This researcher became interested in the topic because he enjoys

resistance training and he has family that has taught him some medical terms, which meant he

understood some of the research language. However, not everyone has that background with

medical terms which led to the question of how people in the discourse community speak versus

how researchers speak. The resistance training community contains multiple communities and

ideas which contradict each other, with some people relying on research to build muscle and

strength while others say research is a hindrance to a person’s ability to grow in strength and

muscle. One important thing to know, is the difference between bodybuilding and powerlifting.

“Bodybuilding” is when someone is trying to maximize their muscle size to look a certain way,

often this means having a lower bodyfat percentage while maintaining a lot of muscle mass.

Lifting weights to get stronger, or “powerlifting”, is when someone lifts weights to be able to lift

even heavier weights; this style of training does not focus on having a lower bodyfat or looking a

certain way typically. That is not to say that bodybuilders are not strong or that powerlifters do

not have a lower bodyfat, it is a difference in their goals. This study will focus on three different

YouTube channels that have different approaches to resistance training including bodybuilding
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and powerlifting.

The first channel which will be analyzed is the Jeff Nippard channel which is run by Jeff

Nippard. He has 3.38 million subscribers, and his most popular video has 11 million views. In

his own words he is “a Canadian [,] natural [,] pro bodybuilder and internationally-qualified

powerlifter with a BSc in biochemistry/chemistry and [has] a passion for science.” (Nippard).

His channel in his description is “dedicated to providing science-based training and nutrition

information and journaling my own fitness journey” (Nippard). In the resistance training

community on Youtube, Nippard is known for breaking down research done in the resistance

training community in terms that are easier to understand. He was chosen because of his

connection between the discourse and research sides of the resistance training community and

his expertise.

The second channel is Greg Doucette which is run by Greg Doucette. On his channel,

Greg Doucette described himself as “a Canadian IFBB Pro bodybuilder, published author,

influencer, and Guinness World Record holding powerlifter with a [b]achelor’s and [m]aster’s

[d]egree in Kinesiology” (Doucette). He has 1.61 million subscribers, and his most watched

video has 3.1 million views, but his most watched YouTube short has 7.2 million views. He is

known for his resistance training advice, nutrition advice, and reaction videos. His reaction

videos are critiques of the advice or content in the other video, or it is him supporting the content

of the video.

The third channel is ATHLEAN-X™ which is run by Jeff Cavaliere. He has 13 million

subscribers, and his most viewed video has 34 million views. Cavaliere is a physical therapist

and strength coach who has coached “professional athlete[s] and celebrity clients” (Cavaliere),

according to his “about” section on his YouTube channel. He says that his channel is about
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putting “the science back in strength to build muscle” and it is meant to teach people how to

“keep your muscles and joints healthy and improve your overall athleticism” (Cavaliere).

Cavaliere is known for his weekly new workout plan videos, workout advice, and stretching

advice.

All three channels are run by experienced lifters in their own ways, but they occasionally

contradict each other and agree with each other. Sometimes some of them use medical and

research terms but sometimes they use generic gym slang which showcases the variety and

diversity of resistance training vocabulary and the YouTube channels that cover the community.

Methods:

The study will compare the language used in resistance training videos on the platform of

YouTube versus the language used in resistance training research communities. Secondary

research will be found using research papers to provide more context and ideas behind the rest of

the research this study will do. The background will provide a basis of understanding for the

audience. The way the comparison will be done is by examining the language used in YouTube

videos and seeing if they are the same medical and scientific terms used in the research

communities. The research papers will provide a database of scientific words that can be referred

to when watching the videos; the videos will be chosen according to the similarity in topic to the

research paper. For example, if the research papers and all the channels have a video on how to

do a proper bench press then those videos and research paper will be chosen because of their

similarities. A spreadsheet with the scientific terms used in the research papers will be used, and

each one will be given a row. There will be three different columns, one titled “Research”, one

titled “In-Between”, and one titled “Discourse”, and each video will be given their own

spreadsheet. The “Research” column will be used if the scientific term is used; the “In-Between”
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column will be used if the scientific term is used but also defined; and if the scientific term is not

used but instead a form of slang or simple term for the same term then it would be placed under

the “Discourse” column. Each instance that a scientific term is, or could have been used, will be

logged and whichever column has the most instances logged will then be used as a label for the

video. Each channel will have three labels and whichever label shows up the most for the

channel will be used to label the channel.

Discussion and Implications:

The research collected from this study can showcase whether there is a large disconnect

from the language used in research versus the discourse community of resistance training. The

larger the discrepancies between language, the bigger of a chance that the research community

might not be reaching the audience of that specific channel. It will not be an accurate depiction

of the because it is only studying an extremely small portion of the gym community and it is a

portion that has three experts in the field of fitness and/or the human body. This study is specific

only to the communities created by these channels according to the three videos analyzed. The

language in each channel can give insight into what people in the gym community respond to

and understand. For example, if one channel uses “In-Between” terms more than the other

channels and it has the greatest number of subscribers, then it provides background for another

study to look into what rhetoric choices people in the gym community respond to the best. It can

also help the discourse community find out which of the three youtubers best links research to

the discourse language. This study simply seeks to find the differences in language. Finding

these differences can help the research and discourse communities grow closer and understand

each other better by taking the time to reduce the differences. Studying language gives a better

idea of how a specific audience thinks and their level of education on the topic. Every
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community has an audience and the way each audience should be addressed or communicated

towards should be adapted to them. Language choice is an important part of creating rhetor and

that is why it is so important.

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Annotated Bibliography

Antoinette M. Fage‐Butler, and Nisbeth J. Matilde. "Medical terminology in online patient–

patient communication: evidence of high health literacy?" Health Expectations, vol. 19, no.

3, 2016, pp. 643-653. ProQuest, https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/medical-

terminology-online-patient-communication/docview/2290590434/se-2,

doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/hex.12395.

Health care professionals have a specific medical language that is not commonly known to

those outside of the medical community. This can cause a misunderstanding or confusion

when a patient and professional are speaking about a diagnosis, however with the rise of

internet use for medical advice patients are possibly becoming more accustomed to these

terms. To figure out if patients are becoming more knowledgeable in the aspects of medical

terminology public forums with patients were analyzed for technical and semi technical

terms. It was found that e-patients have a high understanding of medical terms, and they use

them in public forums. I will use this to explain how the discrepancy between the

professional language of medicine vs the average gym goer language has been breaking

down. It also provides an example of a method looking to classify whether a term is medical

or not.

Ferland, Pierre-Marc and Comtois, Alain. "Classic Powerlifting Performance: A Systematic

Review." Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 33.(2019): S194-S201.

Journals@Ovid Full Text. Web. 25 October. 2022. <http://ovidsp.ovid.com/ovidweb.cgi?

T=JS&PAGE=reference&D=ovftu&NEWS=N&AN=00124278-201907001-00021>.

Powerlifting is a sport where competitors compete in 3 different exercises, the squat,

deadlift, and bench press. There are no articles that summarize regulations and provide
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information for those looking to coach drug-tested classic powerlifters. Articles were

organized and analyzed to determine how to best become a powerlifter and what the

average powerlifter is like. Weight, body fat, etc. were all considered and analyzed. It

was determined that for a powerlifter, they must focus on what loads to use to increase

strength and how to properly breathe. This article systematically approached the prior

articles to determine the best techniques to become a powerlifter. This article gives an

overall view of the three exercises I plan on looking at in my research.

Hahn, Erin R, and Lisa Gershkoff-Stowe. “Children and Adults Learn Actions for Objects More

Readily than Labels.” Taylor & Francis, 12 Oct. 2010,

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15475441003635315.

Hahn and Gershkoff-Stowe begins the article by explaining that children are incredibly fast

learners through observation and connections. A child will observe how an object is used

and referred to in order to learn what the object is called and how to use it with context

clues. The researchers decided to see whether the actions or labels were learned faster.

They placed multiple objects in a room with subjects and told them the labels of the objects

while also showing them what to do with it. They did this test with children and adults. The

results were that both children and adults alike learn actions faster. Results from this study

will be used to showcase why people are using YouTube to learn how to properly perform

exercises. It also provides another reason as to why people go to YouTube to understand

what the new research in the community is saying.

Jerrentrup, Andreas, et al. “Teaching Medicine with the Help of ‘Dr. House.’” PLOS ONE,

Public Library of Science, 13 Mar. 2018, https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?

id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0193972.
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Jerrentrup begins the article by explaining that “House MD” and other medical shows have

a broad audience, and despite their intention for entertainment, there appears to be people

learning medicine from these shows. The question set up was whether you could teach

sound medicinal practices through a show such as “House MD”. Seminars were held where

clips of the show was played and the seminar had a discussion on what is fact vs fiction

and proper patient care. The students then received a survey to ask whether they felt like

they learned and a number of other important information. It was found that the students

benefitted from the seminars and the discussions on what was fact. The students easily

acknowledged the entertainment portions of the show vs actual medicinal practices. These

results can be used in my paper to showcase that there are multiple instances of people

learning information in mediums typically meant for entertainment whether it is a show or

a YouTube video.

Kompf, Justin, and Ognjen Arandjelović. “The Sticking Point in the Bench Press, the Squat, and

the Deadlift: Similarities and Differences, and Their Significance for Research and

Practice.” Sports Medicine (Auckland, N.z.), vol. 47, no. 4, 2017, pp. 631–40,

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-016-0615-9.

The sticking point is a part of an exercise that a person struggles the most at. It often can

happen in the squat, bench press, and deadlift, and a lot of those who work out often

experience the sticking point. The biomechanics and scientific research behind muscle

recruitments of each exercise were analyzed along with observational research to

determine where most people experience the sticking point. The research also was

looking for a way to overcome the sticking point by observing people performing the

lifts. There is no significant change between muscle activation in and out of the sticking
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point. There is a large variability between athletes on where the sticking point is but the

more advanced the lifter, the more they understand how to perform the exercise to best

suit them. This article will be used for its incredibly scientific detailing of how each

exercise is performed.

Mausehund, Lasse, et al. "Understanding Bench Press Biomechanics—The Necessity of

Measuring Lateral Barbell Forces". Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research,  vol.

36, no. 10, October 2022, pp. 2685-2695. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000003948.

Understanding the bench press biomechanics is an incredibly important piece of

knowledge because certain people have specific necessities that could be catered towards

if they know how a body responds to a bench press. The study was to see how different

types of bench press variations affected muscle activation. Each participant was

connected to medical and scientific instruments that collected data about the participants

muscle activation. Each participant was instructed to use different variations of the bench

press in a specific repetition range, to determine muscle activation in different situations.

It was found that the lateral barbell force increased with grip width, and that elbow and

shoulder effort was always high no matter the bench press variation. The chest and

triceps were activated in all grips, but the biggest difference found between the grips was

the elbow and shoulder activation. Both were constantly putting in effort, but they

typically had the biggest difference when changing the variations. The bench press is one

of the three exercises that will be used in my research so this paper gives an in depth view

into what the bench press is.

Ronai, Peter, . "The Deadlift". ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal, vol. 24, no. 2, March/April

2020, pp. 31-36. doi: 10.1249/FIT.0000000000000559.

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The deadlift is an exercise which incorporates multiple muscles and joints in order to

perform properly. There are multiple variations of the deadlift and they all need to be

done properly in order to avoid injury. The method behind this article was analyzing the

different deadlifts variations and how each portion of it is performed, through different

mediums that explain how to perform a deadlift. The deadlift works to improve multiple

body motor skills and stability. This exercise can be an extremely beneficial but only if it

is performed correctly. This article is going to be used to explain how a deadlift is

performed, in research terms. It will also be used to narrow down what a traditional

deadlift is so it can be compared to the discourse community explanations of the exercise.

Stone, Michael, H., et al. "Weightlifting". Strength and Conditioning Journal, vol. 28, no.

1, February 2006, pp. 50-66.

Resistance training is the proper term when talking about training with added resistance

or load, instead of weightlifting because resistance training is a strength and power sport

in the Olympics. Strength, endurance, rate of force development (RFD), and high-

intensity exercise endurance (HIEE) all are ways to measure a person’s relative athletic

performance. The researcher looked at the history of resistance training, analyzed the way

two exercises are performed, and analyzed the statistics behind them. The exercises were

specific to the weightlifting sport. The statistics sometimes includes things like average

body fat percentages, age, weight, and height between the competing males and females.

The article is providing an overview of what weightlifting is as a sport and which athletes

tend to excel in the sport. This article gives a list of terms used in the research community

while also showcasing one of the multiple ways research papers describe how to properly

do an exercise.
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Suffolk, Mark T. "Competitive Bodybuilding: Positive Deviance, Body Image Pathology, or

Modern Day Competitive Sport?". Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology 8.4 (2014): 339-

356. <https://doi.org/10.1123/jcsp.2014-0044>. Web. 26 Oct. 2022.

Bodybuilding is a competition where people compete against other in a competition of

muscle size, muscle proportion, and posing. This has led to many of those in the

community believing they do not have enough muscle and feelings of inferiority which

damages the self-esteem of those in the competition. Bodybuilding was analyzed as a

sport and as a positive and as a negative thing. All aspects of bodybuilding were

analyzed to determine if it is a negative thing. It was determined that the comparison

found in between bodybuilders cannot be directly connected to the competition and its

regulations, and it was also found that bodybuilding can not be classified as a sport

currently. I plan on using this research to provide context as to what bodybuilding is and

the goals of those looking to body build vs those looking to powerlift. It will be in the

introduction when my research is explaining the different goals of resistance training.

Swinton, Paul, A., et al. "A Biomechanical Comparison of the Traditional Squat, Powerlifting

Squat, and Box Squat". Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, vol. 26, no.

7, July 2012, pp. 1805-1816. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e3182577067.

The squat is a great exercise which has multiple variations that affect the muscle

activation in the legs. The main three analyzed are the traditional squat, box squat, and

powerlifting squat. Twelve subjects were told to perform a certain number of repetitions

using the different squat methods with different weights. The subjects were also

connected to instruments meant to measure biomechanical information. Implementing

different styles and variations of squats means that different athletes can utilize different
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squats according to how much mobility they have. This article provides a background on

different variations of the squat which I can use to create context as to what will be

considered a “traditional” squat in my research. It will be beneficial as well to provide a

context as to why a certain variation may be chosen over another.