Posts by stevemagness
Long term development: Coaching HS, college, and professional runners
I was fortunate enough to give a presentation for the Gulf Coast Scholastic Track Coaches Association Clinic this weekend. In the talk, I focused on the keys to long term development. I don’t like giving generic talks on training, so my hope was to explore some of the differences between coaching at different developmental ages.…
Read MoreWhat do Orthotics and shoes actually do? Looking at data from a professional runner
Often times in research we focus on norms. We look at the average effect of different interventions and then apply them to everybody. In this way, as a whole we get what the effects are for most people. By doing this, sometimes we miss the individual effects. So in today’s first blog of 2013, I…
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Ice baths, Cryosaunas, foam rollers, muscle stim, recovery shakes, special pills, and on and on… What actually works? When should we use them? What if I’m feeling tired, lethargic, “flat”, or sluggish? Should I use different techniques? Tired of getting overwhelmed by all the choices? Frustrated by the amount of misinformation out there and…
Read MoreRevisiting Singles vs. Doubles- This time with Mice
Back in the day, the importance of a distance run was thought to be that of putting constant pressure on the heart so that it will adapt. In other words the theory went that you wanted to keep your heart rate up for a prolonged period. So the logic went, the further we can go…
Read MoreA Scientific look at Viagra enhancing endurance performance? No, not that kind, actual running performance…
Chicago Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall made a little bit of noise in the news when he said: “I know guys, it’s such competitive league and guys try anything just to get that edge…I’ve heard of guys using Viagra, seriously, because the blood, it’s supposed to thin . I don’t know. Some crazy stuff. It’s…
Read MoreStimulus and Adaptation- A complex and simple look at the training process
I’m going to be a bit ambitious here and try and break down the process that is training. If you read my last post on stress, hopefully you realized the myriad of factors that might affect training and adaptation. What I want to try and potentially accomplish is to break that process down and look at…
Read MoreThe Stress of Life: How stress can impact your workout
The Stress of Life: Adaptation is a fairly simple process. You apply a stimulus, or a “stressor” to the body and it adapts. Go lift weights, break down some muscle, and your body responds by making the muscle stronger. The actual process along that path is very complex and we’ll go into that shortly, but…
Read MoreRethinking the cool down AND XC coach at University of Houston
The Cool down- what does it do? I’ve contemplated for a while writing about the role and function of cooling down after a workout or race, but never I have never fully been able to put all the pieces together to do so. The cool down seems like such a normal/given thing. It’s a rite…
Read MoreMoving on
Brief intermission from normal blog stuff for an interruption from my real life. Most have probably seen but I’m moving on from the Nike Oregon Project. It’s been a great learning experience for the last almost 2 years, but it’s time move on and do my own thing. Thankful to Nike for giving me the opportunity…
Read MorePhysiological Model of Training- Why it and “zone training” are outdated
I hate zone training. It’s a pet peeve of mine. I hate the idea and the concept behind it. But so many coaches out there use it, and in actuality we all tend to classify workouts into different zones. I’ve wrestled with trying to explain my hatred for zone training and what I’d call the…
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