Sports Science Fitness

Threshold training is one of the key running workouts to improve endurance performance. It is a type of training that consists of running long intervals at a “comfortable/uncomfortable pace,” between 85-90% of your maximum heart rate. As a running coach and runner myself, I swear by this type of tough training session to improve speed, … Read more

Even experienced distance runners, cyclists, and other endurance athletes may not know what aerobic decoupling is or why aerobic decoupling matters as an endurance athlete. After all, unless you regularly study exercise physiology or have a background in endurance training, there’s a good chance that aerobic decoupling is not a metric or concept you have … Read more

If you have ever worked out with a personal trainer or taken an exercise class before, the instructor or trainer may have told you to engage a certain muscle group when performing an exercise. For example, when performing a back squat, your trainer may have said, “Engage your core or abs to support your spine.” … Read more

In order to lose weight, you have to burn more calories than you are consuming, so we are often interested in what sorts of situations help us burn the highest number of calories. So, do you burn more calories being hot or cold? In other words, do you burn more calories in the heat, or … Read more

We tend to think of stress as a bad thing; after all, we are constantly in pursuit of ways to decrease stress. However, there can be positive types of stress, called eustress, that can actually provide benefits to your mental health and potentially even physical health.  So, what is eustress, and is it a good … Read more

Because keeping tabs on measurable variables can provide insight into your training status and fitness, athletes often pay close attention to biometrics such as blood pressure, body fat percentage, and resting heart rate. Another key heart-related biometric is your heart rate variability or HRV. HRV is a measure of the differences or fluctuations in the … Read more

Understanding muscle anatomy and how the neuromuscular system works can be confusing, but many of the basic principles of muscle anatomy and physiology can be useful in helping guide your workouts to achieve your specific fitness goals better. One of the most important concepts to understand in anatomy and exercise physiology is the differences between … Read more

Tangentially related to the concept of stronger vs weaker muscles is the idea of overactive vs underactive muscles. What are overactive muscles? What are underactive muscles? What are the most common overactive and underactive muscles, and how do you determine if you have an overactive vs underactive muscle? In this article, we will discuss what … Read more

If you were to survey a group of people, the majority of the individuals would likely assert that stress is bad. After all, stress has been associated with a number of adverse physical and mental health consequences. However, some amount of stress can be healthy, and even desirable, for the body. Your body has the … Read more

Once you start working out, you will likely be introduced to a number of fitness concepts, or you will overhear people talking at your gym about training principles. For example, you might hear about progressive overload or physiological adaptations. Another term that you may encounter in the context of working out is muscle memory. But, … Read more