Posts by stevemagness
Drugs in Sport- Is Track Screwed and how to clean it up
Today was drug Sunday. If you haven’t been living under a rock, the first big name to fall was American record holder Tyson Gay. The man who was supposed to challenge Bolt tested positive for an unknown substance. Following that up, 5 Jamaican athletes including former WR holder Asafa Powell will miss the world championships…
Read MoreA Peek Inside- Training log of Ciaran O’Lionaird in build up to 3:54 mile
In speaking at a couple coaching clinics this summer, one of the things that struck me was how many people came up to me and would talk about the HS training logs I posted on here. They’d talk about how after reading my training philosophies and then seeing the logs, it helped conceptualize things quite…
Read MoreBlind Feedback Workouts- Why feedback matters and how to ignore it
Times, splits, seconds, minutes. They are so ingrained in our head as runners, sometime cruelly, that we cannot escape them. We become slaves to watch and knowing exactly where we are during every workout and every race. But what happens if we take it all away? The role of feedback in performance is an intriguing…
Read MorePresentations: Training and How to Apply Science to Coaching
Over the past week, I had the privilege to speak at two different clinics/conferences that both presented unique challenges. I told everyone I would put my powerpoints online, and I hope that you guys who read the blog can get something good out of them too. The first clinic I had a chance to speak…
Read MoreResearch Galore!- Summary of 2013 ACSM research
Each year for the biggest sports science conferences, I try and go through all of the abstracts being presented. It’s the second best option, since attending isn’t an option due to my schedule. Besides seeing the new research that is out there, you get to notice trends. It gives you a good idea on where…
Read MoreNeuro-Doping: The intersection of neuroscience and performance
I’m a science junkie. For the past few months, my interest has been on neuroscience in particular, partly due to the fact that exercise, fatigue, and performance is increasingly being seen as an issue that needs to be looked at from a neuroscience perspective. A few months ago I was reading a book on the…
Read MoreThyroid madness- Everything you need to know
Thyroid disease has entered the public’s consciousness thanks to an article in the Wall Street Journal. I debated on whether to write a blog about it or let it be. In the end, I decided it was necessarybecause of the misinformation out there on the topic. The most important thing when discussing complex issues like…
Read MoreInflammation nation- Is inflammation good or bad?
Over the past year or so, the idea of making sure not to inhibit the training effect has risen in popularity. The old concept was that as soon as the workout was done, everything possible was done to recover for the next workout. In practicality, this made sense, as if we could recover for the…
Read MoreAttacking Adaption from Multiple Directions
The Multiple directions approach: One particular thing I notice from athletes or coaches, and a trap I fell into early in my coaching career, is you start to pigeonhole workouts to develop particular qualities. For instance, if high-end aerobic endurance (or in science speak lactate threshold) needs to be developed, the answer was always going…
Read MoreGenetics of sport- Does Doping change genes?
Genetics of sport- Are we searching in the wrong places? The topic of genetics of endurance sport is a fascinating one. For as long as I’ve been a competitive runner, the question of whether nature or nurture gave rise to the pocket of dominating distance runners in East Africa has been around. Researcher Yannis Ptisliadis…
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