·5 min read
The SteadyPractice Blog
Personal science, in practice.
Guides on running experiments, understanding your own data, and making decisions based on evidence — not averages.
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·7 min read·Experiment Design
The Confounding Problem: Why Your Experiments Can Fool You
You logged 60 days of data. The intervention looks like it worked. But something else changed at the same time — something you didn't track. Here's how confounding sneaks into personal experiments and what to do about it.
Read·9 min read
You Can't Blind Yourself: The Placebo Problem in Personal Experiments
In a clinical trial, neither the patient nor the doctor knows who got the real drug. In a self-experiment, you always know. This creates a systematic bias that can make useless interventions look like they're working — and explains why 'I feel better' is not evidence.
Read·11 min read
The Hidden Variable: Why Most Self-Experiments Give You the Wrong Answer
You started taking magnesium and slept better for a week. Was it the magnesium? Or was it that you also stopped drinking on weekdays, had fewer late meetings, and got a cold that knocked you to bed by 9 PM? Confounders are why most self-experiments mislead you.
Read·10 min read
Sleep Debt Is a Performance Tax You're Probably Not Measuring
After two weeks of sleeping six hours a night, your cognitive performance is as impaired as someone who has been awake for 24 hours straight. The alarming part: you don't feel that impaired. Your subjective sense of sleepiness adapts. Your performance doesn't.
Read·11 min read
The Average Patient Doesn't Exist: Why the Same Intervention Works Differently for Everyone
A drug that reduces blood pressure by 10 mmHg on average might lower yours by 20 and your colleague's by zero. The reasons are specific, measurable, and more common than most health advice acknowledges.
Read·10 min read
The Research Was Wrong: Medical Reversals and the Replication Crisis
Hundreds of standard medical practices have been overturned by later evidence. This isn't a scandal — it's science working. But it means population research is a starting point, not an answer.
Read·6 min read
Causal Inference for Everyday Life
Did this change actually cause the result? The logic behind causal inference isn't just for statisticians — it's the most useful thinking tool most people never learned.
Read·10 min read
What p < 0.05 Actually Means (And Why You're Probably Misreading It)
Statistical significance is the most misunderstood concept in health research. It doesn't mean the effect is real, large, or relevant to you. Here's what it actually means — and the three numbers that matter instead.
Read·9 min read
The Best Books for Self-Experimenters: A Category-by-Category Guide
The books that treat their subject the way J. Kenji López-Alt treats cooking — with controlled tests, honest failure reports, and a refusal to take anything on faith.
Read·6 min read
How to Design a Personal Experiment That Actually Teaches You Something
Personal experiments don't need to be complicated. But they do need structure. Here's a practical framework for running self-experiments that produce real answers.
Read·5 min read
Stop Guessing: Why Self-Improvement Needs Personal Experiments
Generic self-improvement advice fails most people not because the advice is wrong, but because it was designed for someone else. Here's a better approach.
Read·6 min read
The Quantified Self: What the Movement Got Right — and What It Missed
The Quantified Self movement changed how millions of people think about their own data. But 'self-knowledge through numbers' turned out to be harder than it looked. Here's what the movement taught us — and where personal science picks up.
Read·6 min read
How to Run Your First Sleep Experiment (Without a Lab)
Sleep is the perfect first experiment: it's easy to measure, quick to respond to interventions, and most people have a gut feeling about something that might be affecting theirs. Here's how to test it properly.
Read·5 min read
The Wearables Trap: Why Tracking Your Data Isn't Enough
Millions of people wear fitness trackers and smartwatches, but most never learn anything actionable from the data. The problem isn't the devices — it's confusing observation with experimentation.
Read·5 min read
N-of-1 Trials: Why Your Own Data Beats Population Averages
N-of-1 trials compare conditions within a single person over time. They're more informative for personal decisions than any population study — and you can run them yourself.
Read·4 min read
What Is Personal Science? A Beginner's Guide to Studying Yourself
Personal science applies scientific thinking to your own life — forming hypotheses, running experiments, and drawing conclusions about what actually works for you, not what works on average.
ReadWhat the research says
Deep dives into the peer-reviewed evidence on each topic.
Zone 23 min read
What the Zone 2 Training Research Actually Shows
Zone 2 training has become the centrepiece of endurance base building. The evidence on mitochondrial adaptations, fat oxidation, and the right intensity is clear and specific.
VO2max3 min read
What the VO2max Research Actually Shows
VO2max is the single best predictor of longevity and fitness we have. The research on how to improve it, how much is possible, and what it actually measures is deeper than most discussions suggest.
Vitamin D3 min read
What the Vitamin D Research Actually Shows
Vitamin D deficiency is widespread, and supplementation trials have produced mixed results. Here's what the evidence actually shows — and why the story is more nuanced than the headlines.
Time Management2 min read
What the Time Management Research Actually Shows
Time management research has moved well beyond to-do lists. The evidence on scheduling, attention, and cognitive load is specific enough to change how you plan your day.
Run Recovery3 min read
What the Running Recovery Research Actually Shows
Recovery between runs determines whether you adapt or break down. The evidence on cold, tart cherry, compression, and timing is specific enough to change your post-run routine.
Run Fueling2 min read
What the Run Fueling Research Actually Shows
Carbohydrate intake during endurance running has one of the clearest dose-response relationships in sports science. Here's what actually holds up on gels, timing, and performance.
Topic highlights
·6 min read
The Blank Spots on the Map: Why Cooking, Gardening, and Art Have Almost No Science Behind Them
Read more·8 min read·Sunlight
Your Skin Burns More Easily at Night — And Your Chronotype Makes It Worse
A synthesis of 20 studies on sunlight — what actually works, what doesn't, and how to test it yourself.
Read more·7 min read·Stress
What the Research Says About Stress
A synthesis of 13 studies on stress — what actually works, what doesn't, and how to test it yourself.
Read more·7 min read·Strength Training
What the Research Says About Strength Training
A synthesis of 29 studies on strength training — what actually works, what doesn't, and how to test it yourself.
Read more·6 min read·Social Habits
What the Research Says About Social Habits
A synthesis of 10 studies on social habits — what actually works, what doesn't, and how to test it yourself.
Read more·8 min read·Music
What the Research Says About Music
A synthesis of 6 studies on music — what actually works, what doesn't, and how to test it yourself.
Read more·8 min read·Meditation
What the Research Says About Meditation
A synthesis of 25 studies on meditation — what actually works, what doesn't, and how to test it yourself.
Read more·7 min read·Learning
What the Research Says About Learning
A synthesis of 12 studies on learning — what actually works, what doesn't, and how to test it yourself.
Read more·6 min read·Language Learning
What the Research Says About Language Learning
A synthesis of 10 studies on language learning — what actually works, what doesn't, and how to test it yourself.
Read more·7 min read·Journalling
What the Research Says About Journalling
A synthesis of 6 studies on journalling — what actually works, what doesn't, and how to test it yourself.
Read more·7 min read·Fasting
What the Research Says About Fasting
A synthesis of 26 studies on fasting — what actually works, what doesn't, and how to test it yourself.
Read more·7 min read·HRV
What the Research Says About HRV
A synthesis of 17 studies on hrv — what actually works, what doesn't, and how to test it yourself.
Read more·8 min read·Commute
What the Research Says About Commute
A synthesis of 10 studies on commute — what actually works, what doesn't, and how to test it yourself.
Read more·7 min read·Cold Exposure
What the Research Says About Cold Exposure
A synthesis of 24 studies on cold exposure — what actually works, what doesn't, and how to test it yourself.
Read more·7 min read·Caffeine
What the Research Says About Caffeine
A synthesis of 25 studies on caffeine — what actually works, what doesn't, and how to test it yourself.
Read more·7 min read·Alcohol
What the Research Says About Alcohol
A synthesis of 24 studies on alcohol — what actually works, what doesn't, and how to test it yourself.
Read more·4 min read·Workspace
What the Research Says About Your Workspace
Standing desks, office temperature, noise levels, natural light — the controlled evidence on how your physical environment affects output, focus, and health.
Read more·7 min read
What the Research Says About Sleep
A synthesis of 9 studies on sleep — what actually works, what doesn't, and how to test it yourself.
Read more·3 min read·Nutrition
The MIND Diet Didn't Outperform a Healthy Diet: What That Means for Your Brain & Body
A synthesis of 15 studies on nutrition — what actually works, what doesn't, and how to test it yourself.
Read more·3 min read
What the Research Says About Gardening
A synthesis of 9 studies on gardening — what actually works, what doesn't, and how to test it yourself.
Read more·7 min read
What the Research Says About Focus
A synthesis of 5 studies on focus — what actually works, what doesn't, and how to test it yourself.
Read more·6 min read
Beyond the Hype: What the Research Actually Says About Your Well-being
A synthesis of 6 studies on health and well-being — what actually works, what doesn't, and how to test it yourself.
Read more·3 min read
What the Research Says About Exercise
A synthesis of 5 studies on exercise — what actually works, what doesn't, and how to test it yourself.
Read more·3 min read
Cooking Up Better Habits: What the Research Says About Designing Your Own Experiments
A synthesis of 3 studies on designing effective personal experiments — what actually works, what doesn't, and how to test it yourself.
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