Having looked at the influence of heat and altitude and travel and match demands at the 2026 World Cup, I’ll now turn my attention to the next topic in my World Cup preparation series: preparing for pressure.
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Every quarter we take a deep dive into the latest research in sports science. In this edition we look at the latest research on talent development environments, deliberate practice, reducing hamstring injuries, developing hardy coaches, and much more.
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I am a self-professed believer in “quality-over-quantity” in all things. This runs contrary to the American ethic, and the ethic in most cultures around the world. We are culturally hard-wired to ask quantitative questions: How much? How fast? How far? How soon? As Reinhold Niebuhr noted: “Americans seek a solution to practically every problem in life in quantitative terms.” Just look at teh Walmart sales pitch: save money, live better. It’s effective; getting more and paying less has to be better . . . right? I don’t think so. We need to consider a valuation system based on the innate quality of things.
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Every quarter we take a deep dive into the latest research in sports science. In this edition we look at the latest research on the current state of genetic testing in sport, talent detection, injuries in youth athletics, the effects of long haul travel, and more.
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Our mailbag is full, so it’s time to go through some listener questions about a variety of topics. On this week’s episode we dive into questions on the planning for truncated seasons, recovery, teaching the Olympic lifts, rest periods in circuit training, who do we want to grab a beer with, and more.
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Recently, it seems everyone has discovered the value of sleep. While we all know intuitively how important sleep can be, the science of sleep in sport has been slow to follow. Pat Byrne was a pioneer of developing sleep and fatigue programs in sports. On this week’s GAINcast he discusses what we know about sleep, and busts a few myths about sleep as well.
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When it comes to training, competing, and life all exert a significant amount of load on the athlete, through a variety of different mediums, including the physiological and psychological. In this article of the performance health series, I’ll explore what we can do to support our recovery from load. Read more
Every month we take a deep dive into the latest research in sports science. In the June edition we take a deep dive into several articles on building mental toughness and resilience in training. Mental toughness is a term that is thrown around a lot, but without many coaches knowing exactly what it is or how to train it. We then look at the importance of individualized recovery, and how coaches commonly monitor athletes. Read more
I have identified a new syndrome – the over-recovered athlete. I look at the landscape and I see athletes and teams spending as much or more time doing ice baths, cryotherapy massage etc. as they do in actual training. Rest and recovery are fine and necessary but only of benefit if you first do the necessary work. Read more
