Posts by stevemagness
Your Brain on Altitude- How altitude can cause or prevent depression?
Altitude has this great mystique and allure in the world of distance running. The mystique has grown over the years. It started when we saw the impact altitude had on performance at the Mexico City Olympics. But it really took off when the East African onslaught of records occured, where we saw the impact training…
Read MoreUnderstanding the Mechanics of Fatigue
When we think of fatigue, we generally think of burning muscles, lactic acid building up, and several other descriptors that have rightly or wrongly entered the lingo of endurance athletes and coaches over the years. In essence though, fatigue is all about slowing down, or preventing that from happening. From a coaching standpoint we often…
Read MoreWhy every person matters- Motivation Contagion
As a coach, I tend towards obsessing over the workout details and my first love has always been the physiology behind those details. The workout planning and details are what initially drew my to coaching. However, in a team environment, these details matter little unless everyone buys in and stays motivated to pursue the end…
Read MoreResearch Review- ACSM 2014
Every year I try to make it a point to go through all of the ACSM abstracts to see if anything stands out. If you can’t actually get to the conference, it’s a great way to at least get a glimpse of the latest research people are doing well before it ever comes out in…
Read MoreCoaching Conversations- Interview with coach Adam Didyk
I’m starting a new segment on the blog that I’m really excited about. I’ll be having conversations with some of the top young coaches, exercise scientist, and generally smart people in our sport. One of the things I’ve loved about expanding my coaching/science network is the talks I’ve had with some smart people. Whether it’s…
Read MoreInformation gathering-BS Detection and Big Words Syndrome
When I first got interested in learning more about coaching and the science behind it, one of my mentors, Tom Tellez, told me about the process of learning. When you are new to a particular topic, everything seems intriguing and complex. You don’t have a built in filter, as you don’t know what is right,…
Read MoreNew Gadget- RunScribe allows for inexpensive biomechanics tracking on the go
As a self-proclaimed science nerd, I enjoy the data junkie side of our sport. We can track and measure more parameters now then we ever have been able to. While this satisfies the science nerd and research junkie side of me, I’m always left with asking the question of so what? What actionable change do…
Read MoreWhat’s your bias?
What’s your bias? There’s an interesting phenomenon that occurs when we start discussing what is important to a particular outcome, which is very much a result of our innate psychological need to value our knowledge and our selves. As someone who has his hat in many different areas of sports performance and who recently has…
Read MoreWhat happens when we take a break from running?…Depression?
In high school, my coach would often laugh at the duration of my post-season breaks. It normally would constitute a day or two and then back to the mileage grind. In college, things didn’t change much as I became notorious for taking maybe 4-5 days off after the season and then being at a 100…
Read MoreThe Process of Endurance Training
One of my favorite conferences to attend and present at every year is Vern Gambetta’s GAIN symposium. The reason I love it so much is simple. It challenges you. You don’t just go to GAIN to nod along and get a pat on the back to reaffirm what you are doing. Instead, you go there…
Read More