Science

The research the BLOCKS assistant answers from: 1,590 studies and 99 guides, each graded for how strong the evidence is and who it was measured on, with a link to the original paper.

Three kinds of entry: a principle is how the body works, agreed across reviews; a study is what one experiment measured; a guide is what to do.

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Stationary cycling strained the ACL little in 8 knee patients measured in vivo: peak strain ranged from 1.2% (175 W, 90 rpm) to 2.1% (125 W, 60 rpm) across six power and cadence conditions, neither power (75-175 W) nor cadence (60-90 rpm) changed it significantly, and the pooled mean peak of 1.7% was relatively low against other rehabilitation activities tested beforeMain caveat: 8 participants; their own ligaments, not grafts; seated riding at 75-175 W and 60-90 rpm only.Fleming 1998

In 106 pivoting-sport athletes followed for 2 years after ACL reconstruction, returning to level I sports went with a 4.32 times higher knee reinjury rate; each month return was delayed cut the reinjury rate by 51% up to 9 months after surgery, with no further fall after that, and more symmetrical quadriceps strength before return lowered it; passing all return criteria (38.2% reinjured among those who failed against 5.6% among those who passed, HR 0.16) fell short of significance (p = 0.075)Main caveat: An observational cohort of 106; the number of reinjuries, adjustment for other factors and confidence intervals are not in the abstract.Grindem 2016

The Dutch physiotherapy guideline for rehabilitation after ACL reconstruction, built on 90 studies and multidisciplinary consensus, sets a prehabilitation phase and then three phases each entered on criteria (impairment-based, sport-specific training, return to play), with strength, hop, movement-quality and psychological tests guiding each step and postoperative rehabilitation lasting 9-12 monthsMain caveat: The quality and grading of the 90 studies are not reported in the abstract, so how much of each recommendation rests on consensus is unknown.van Melick 2016

The Aspetar guideline on rehabilitation after ACL reconstruction makes exercise the core of rehabilitation and physical therapy modalities an early adjunct for pain, swelling and lost range of motion, but finds little evidence on how much exercise is needed, no evidence on which criteria should govern progression, return to running or discharge, and very low certainty for most components; most recommendations were agreed by expert cliniciansMain caveat: Read from the abstract only: the recommendations, their GRADE ratings, the trials reviewed and their risk of bias are not in it.Kotsifaki 2023

In a nationwide survey of 528 people with restless legs syndrome, more reported good than bad experiences of exercise (72% against 40%), 54% said exercise only eases their symptoms and 24% that it only worsens them, more than half found morning exercise helpful and evening exercise harmful, and respondents described abrupt changes of routine, stopping exercise included, as a triggerMain caveat: Self-reported perceptions in a cross-sectional survey; no exercise was assigned or measured.Cederberg 2024

The updated International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group criteria for restless legs syndrome, published in 2014, (Willis-Ekbom disease) added a fifth essential criterion, differential diagnosis, so that look-alike symptoms of other conditions are told apart; they also added a specifier for clinically significant cases and course specifiers (chronic-persistent or intermittent), and merged the paediatric and adult criteria into one setMain caveat: Expert consensus, not a graded systematic review; the abstract describes no search method or grading of evidence.Allen 2014

By topic

Physiology basics47 principles Endurance physiology2 guides · 204 studies Intervals & intensity135 studies Periodization, taper & overtraining106 studies Strength & power1 guide · 184 studies Nutrition & fuelling2 guides · 215 studies Heat, altitude & travel63 studies Sleep, recovery & monitoring3 guides · 138 studies Warm-up, pacing & the mind83 studies Running, injury & shoes143 studies Cycling, bike fit & indoor50 studies Women's health46 studies Masters, youth & para50 studies Health, longevity & sports medicine30 studies Other sports1 guide · 120 studies Frameworks & athlete types90 guides · 23 studies

Guides

A guide pulls the studies on one question into a decision: what to do by default, for whom, and what the evidence cannot yet say. All 99 guides →