Posts by stevemagness
The Myth of losing speed
The Myth of losing speed The 800m is perhaps the most interesting distance to coach. It’s always intrigued me from a coaching standpoint because, unlike the 10k for example, the ways in which an athlete can train to cover the same distance in about the same time varies tremendously. There are successful 800m runners who…
Read MoreEpisode 10- Knowing your athlete- Understanding what behavioral patterns tell us
In this episode of the Magness & Marcus podcast we explore one of the most basic but important concepts in coaching: understanding your athlete. Not in the traditional terms of where their strengths lie or their physiological make up, but instead by their mannerisms, behaviors, motivations and a slew of ‘soft’ characteristics that help define…
Read MoreEpisode 9-Interview with Vern Gambetta- Magness & Marcus Show
In our longest episode yet and our first with a guest, Jon and I have an hour long conversation with renowned coach Vern Gambetta. Vern has a unique background as his coaching career spanned from coaching High School all the way to coaching some of the world’s best athletes. Similarly, his background is in Track…
Read MoreThe Sub 2hr marathon- Why Coaches and Scientists don’t understand each other.
This past week at UH I had the pleasure of sitting in on a talk by Dr. Ed Coyle on ‘how fast could we run a marathon.’ Coyle is a well-established researcher, but he’s most well known for his infamous research on Lance Armstrong that showed improved efficiency over his career. Coyle still maintains the…
Read MorePodcast- Drills, Skills, and Sprinting- The role of the neural component in running
In this episode of Magness & Marcus on Coaching, we take on one of the oft-forgotten and misunderstood items in the world of running: the Neural component. Starting off with defining the CNS and motor programming in coaches speak, we take a look at how to integrate this type of work in the realm of…
Read MoreA brief rant against VO2max and vVo2max
Excuse me while I go on a brief seemingly anti-science rant. Which might be a bit surprising given the name of this blog and my background, but since the topic is VO2max, it might be expected. You see, I have a long history with VO2max, as evidenced by this article here. It’s not that I…
Read MoreEpisode 7- The Evolution of a Coach- How to figure out what actually matters
After a one week hiatus, Jon and I are back for our longest episode of the Magness & Marcus podcast yet. In this one, we meander through a wide range of topics with the central theme of looking at how we have evolved as coaches and to try to take away lessons from what that…
Read MoreResetting your set point- Changing perspectives to get to the next level
That ‘barely keeping it together’ feeling that we normally expect to come and go as our life becomes a little chaotic, doesn’t really go away in life. At first this was a bit concerning, as I think we have this idealized image in our head of having everything go according to plan and for us…
Read MoreEpisode 6- Self Importance and the myth of the perfect workout
In today’s episode of Magness & Marcus, we take on the myth of self importance. As coaches we put a large emphasis on the items which we can control and in coaching terms that means the workout schedule. There’s this idea that creating the perfect workout schedule is the key to success. For years, we…
Read MoreEpisode 5-Handling Transitions- What separates people from making the jump to the next level
Whether it is going from high school to college or from college to professional, we’ve all know stories of those who transitioned well and those who went through a rough patch. In this episode, Jon and I delve into these transitions. In our longest episode yet, we initially look at some of the roadblocks and…
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