Every month we take a deep dive into the latest research in sports science. In the August edition we start off looking at some lessons we can learn from a recent editorial giving an elite athlete’s perspective on training and load management. We also look at the modern consensus on hamstring injury risk, coaching resilience, how the athlete biological passport has impacted performance, team comedians, and more. Read more
Caffeine is a performance enhancing drug. If you’ve been following my articles over the last couple of years, you’ll no doubt be aware of that, because I write about it a lot. Athletes, of course, know that caffeine has the potential to enhance their performance, which is why many of them consume it prior to training and competition. Additionally, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) know that caffeine is a performance enhancing drug and are, rightly, concerned about the abuse of caffeine in sport. Read more
In the world of sport, I doubt there is anything more loathed than national governing bodies. On the one hand, they have a difficult job since no matter how hard they try, it is impossible for them to make everyone happy with limited resources. But on the other hand, they often shoot themselves in the foot before they start to do anything. This is why it has been surprising for us to her near universal acclaim for what is going on at USA Weightlifting. On this week’s episode CEO Phil Andrews come on to discuss the organization’s strategy to grow the sport and some key lessons he has learned in three years on the job. Read more
The March edition of Sports Science Monthly focuses on the latest research on squats. Hopefully we can give some answers to the age-old debate about whether deep squats and shallow squats are the best. We also look at training frequency and session volume, several recent doping studies and much more. Read more
Last year, I wrote about gene doping, and the potential implications it might have within sport. Whilst we tend to think that our genetics are hugely important when it comes to determining our athletic talent (and we’re probably right), the common narrative is that this was static and unchangeable. However, the premise of gene doping is that we might be able to alter the hand we were dealt and change our DNA. As research progresses, we’re starting to get an idea of whether tha might actually be true. Read more
In the May edition of Sports Science Monthly we look at new research across a variety of areas including the latest research on caffeine, how genetics impact caffeine, pre-exercise stretching, recovery, muscular strength, and more. Read more
Just over 15 years ago, the Space Shuttle Columbia began its re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere at the end of its 28th mission. As it did so, Mission Control in Houston started to receive unusual readings from sensors within the left wing, with heat recordings higher than the usual 1370º celsius. These sensors then failed, as did the ones in the landing gear well on the left wing, puzzling the engineers. Read more
Athletes tend to be very proactive in searching out new performance enhancers, which is why the more recent substances which have broken through in the field of ergogenic aids tend not to be all that well-known, such as (-)-epicatechin. However, over the last ten years, research has started to emerge showing that a much more well-known, household drug may hold some surprising performance enhancing effects. It is so well known, in fact, that it is likely in your medicine cabinet. That drug is paracetamol, often known as acetaminophen or by it’s brand name in America: Tylenol. Read more
Sport has a doping crisis. It has been tainted with drugs scandals for as long as I can remember, from Ben Johnson being stripped of the 100m Olympic Gold in 1988, to the more recent issues surrounding more or less the whole of Russia in the lead up to the Olympics. Among the way, we have mini-scandals – Mo Farah’s doorbell, Alberto Salazar’s cream, British Cycling’s package in a brown bag – which, whilst not direct evidence of wrong doing, further erode public confidence in the cleanliness of sport. Read more
As we did to kick off 2017, the HMMR Podcast and the GAINcast join forces to co-host the first episode of 2018. As the new year gets underway we chat about the state of training for sports together with the team from the HMMR Podcast. Our discussion covers a variety of topics like recruiting, whether athletic development is still undervalued, functional training, doping, and more. Read more
