Science and Understanding
Altitude babies, Rats, and Epigenetics
New born rats, altitude, and epigenetics: Over the past few years, the term epigenetics has kind of exploded in the popular science world. I’ve discussed it at length in this blog and how it might have implications with a wide range of topics from obesity to African running dominance to how we adapt to altitude.…
Read MoreHow to spot bad science and fads- Determining whether an idea is worthwhile:
This is a blog straight from email requests. It’s not exactly about training, but one of the most frequent and perhaps most important question I get asked is how the heck do you spot the good stuff from the crap… A while back I read the book Bad Science: Quacks, Hacks, and Big Pharma Flacks,…
Read MoreHydration- A lesson in interpretation
I’ve used the example of hydration during running to demonstrate the natural cycle of under/over emphasizing until we kind of naturally move towards the sweet spot. What I’d like to do now is use hydration as a way to show error in interpretation. When we rely on scientific data, we tend to look at the…
Read MoreThe history of Hydration : A lesson in the scientific method and the Hype cycle.
The history of Hydration during running: A lesson in the scientific method and the hype cycle. The history of drinking during endurance exercise is an interesting one. It serves as a wonderful lesson for two reasons. First, it demonstrates a concept I’ve discussed at length before called the Hype cycle where a particular concept or method…
Read MoreThe Genetics of Obesity: The Thrifty Gene Hypothesis
While this topic has little to do with running, it is pertinent and interesting. For one of my grad school classes I had to explore the genetic side of Obesity, in particular the Thrifty Gene hypotehsis. The paper and presentation is below. My take away from all the research is that the genetic side is…
Read MoreEpigenetics in Athletics Part 2: African dominance explained?
In Part 1 on Epigenetics, we looked at some of the science behind the new field. This we’ll take more of a theoretical look and try and explore some of the possible implications. As I said in Part 1, the major finding is that these epigenetic changes can potentially impact subsequent generations. Your behavior can…
Read MoreEpigenetics in Athletics Part 1: What the heck is epigenetics?
The study of epigenetics has exploded in the last few years and the amount of new research dedicated to the field is staggering. But what exactly is it in laymen’s terms? As you are probably aware, traditionally we all thought the sequence of the actual DNA was the be all end all. Depending on what…
Read MoreCompression Socks
If you’ve been at a road race recently or watched Pro’s like Chris Solinksy or Paula Radcliffe race, you might have noticed the extremely long compression socks that are seemingly popping up everywhere. While Radcliffe was probably the earliest adopter to the compression socks while racing trend, it seems like in the last year the…
Read MoreSEARCHING FOR STABILITY: The efficacy of unstable training
With the popularity of the strength training posts, I’ve gotten many questions on both my and Matt’s comments on unstable training. People want to know why we both generally oppose the use of such devices as swiss balls, bosu balls, and dyna discs. Matt has once again been kind enough to let me post his…
Read MoreHow hypoxia/altitude works
Below is a paper I wrote for school on a hypothetical training situation. I thought I’d share it because it gives the underlying science of how altitude/hypoxia works. Remember that it’s a hypothetical, so it doesn’t mean that I think intermittent hypoxic training works. Generally, the exposure is way too short for a lot of…
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