The Science of Running: How to find your limit and train to maximize your performance

In the past year, there have been a number of excellent books on training distance runners published: Greg McMillan's You (Only Faster), Owen Anderson's Running Science, Jack Daniels third edition of his Running Formula, Pat Tyson's update of Joe Newton's classic Coaching Cross Country Successfully and now the most recent addition to this list is Steve Magness's The Science of Running. For those of us who remember when the only guidance on the subject was Fred Wilt's How They Train and a quarterly publication, Track Technique, we appreciate their efforts. Steve Magness's avowed purpose is to integrate the separate silos of coaching practices and research science. His own qualifications are impressive: high school phenom, disappointing college career followed by a quest to study the best coaches and coaching in the world and then his absorption of the science of running and exercise physiology (much of what appeared on his informative science of running blog). He also spent a stint with the Nike Oregon Project, seeing and supervising first hand the training of world class athletes. All this has been distilled into the Science of Running, a 331 page opus that is divided into two parts: the science and then the coaching. Mercifully, the 144 page science section is not a biology lecture on mitochondria, lactate threshold, and VO2 Max concepts.True to his promise, he attempts to use science to guide training. One learns that there is no rational basis for the current fixation on the emphasis of running at VO2 max. Other insights include that there are numerous signaling pathways activated by different types of training that can accomplish the same adaptation, that sprinting is the best plyometric, the importance of correct biomechanics to optimize the storage of kinetic energy. Before transitioning into the coaching portion of the book, the author concludes that the disconnect between science and coaching can be attributed to science's need to test a single variable in isolation vs. the integrated environment that the coach needs to actually train his athletes in. The coaching section's central premise is that the athlete's training should be oriented on his muscle fiber types with separate training programs created for the two types of athletes. He explains different types of training for both muscle fiber types, starting with the 800 meter runner progressing all the way to the marathon. This approach is also used when discussing supplementary training such as core exercises and strength training. Despite the fact that we are now into the coaching section, science insights are still injected when evaluating training. For example, the reader learns that probably the best core training is to run at various speeds. Steve Magness can be justifiably proud of his contribution to the literature of distance running training. And since this book is probably destined for several more editions, I would encourage him to improve his current edition in two ways. First, there are numerous typographical errors throughout the text, misspellings and missing letters, distracting but easily corrected. Secondly, there is no index, which makes retrieving some of his insights more difficult than necessary. Despite these shortcomings, this is an outstanding guide for any coach or runner, at any level, wishing to become better and / or faster.

This book is packed with information. Steve obviously knows his topic and I found the science and physiological details very interesting, although they may go over the head of people without a background in science. He really does a good job of explaining the science of training and how different stressors create different adaptations and how to use that information to design training. I hadn't seen his breakdown of athletes by muscle fiber type before and this section is very interesting because it explains how to adapt training plans and workouts based on whether a runner has predominately fast twitch or slow twitch muscle fiber for their event. This would help explain why, besides other genetic variations, different athletes respond to the same workouts differently. He definitely is not a fan of cooking cutter training plans and really gets into adapting training for the individual athlete. He's also doesn't seem to be a fan of zone training and advises to through it out of the window. His classification of workout paces makes a lot of sense and has been proven effective by coaches such as Renato Canova. Also his explanation of funnel training was new to me and varies quite a bit compared to Lydiard type training. So the fly in the ointment is the plethora of misspellings and grammatical errors and is the reason for not giving it 5 stars. They book just needs a good editor to go through it and help fix those basic errors and perhaps to refine the organization of the content and make it read better. The book is still quite readable, but it's been a long, long time since I've seen these kind of problems in the age of word processors.

Steve goes into much more detail from a science-based perspective than all the other Marathon training books. Also his YouTube Channel is worth following.

For sure, the greatest compilation of runners knowledge I've found on the general subject. From the 400m sprinter to the marathon runner, this book digs deep. Fist, it delves headfirst into the scientific concepts of running and basic kinesiology in the sport. Digging deep into the physiological process your body goes through from mile one to mile twenty+ between activating muscle fibers to pulling glycogen from the muscles, the marginal increase of muscle fatigue, etc... A bit of a read for someone uneducated in the subject such as myself, but read at a slower pace, soak in the information and take notes and it becomes less overwhelming. Second section is the training portion. First going into philosophy, theory and application then helping tailor a periodized training routine based on your own individual needs. It helps put perspective and focus on one's end goals and helps create a system in which you can attain those goals. Not simply by stating "Do X on Monday and Y on Wednesday for Z amount of weeks, invariably", no it goes deeper than that into theory and the application thereof to assist in developing a regimen specific to ones own needs. This is a great book and I will soon be utilizing it to create a new training regimen and hopefully be on my way to running a full marathon and even ultra's next year (not coming from a couch potato of course).

More interest research on the book I really enjoyed it

This book is very good. As anyone would suggest it is for High performance and Science freak. Not for normal "to-do" guidelines. It is having extremely intense content. And yes very outstanding practically helpful book vast out look to training.

Love this informative book

Excellent livre sur le sujet de la préparation athlétique qui couvre tous les aspects importants d'une bonne préparation à l'exercice physique en général même si un emphase particulière est mise dans le livre sur la course à pied. Notes importantes : - Il s'agit d'un ouvrage EXTRÊMEMENT technique qui nécessite des connaissances relativement avancées en biologie et physiologie pour pouvoir en tirer le meilleur. L'approche est extrêmement scientifique et appuyée par une masse de diagrammes, tableaux, courbes et chiffres. - Le livre est à ma connaissance uniquement disponible en anglais. - L'auteur (Steve Magness) est connu pour son approche multi-dimensionnelles de la recherche de la performance et le soin qu'il met dans la préparation psychologique de ses athlètes (dont certains multi-médaillés). Ce livre n'en reste pas moins une bible pour les amateurs de course à pied et de sport en général, que je recommande chaudement.

Every coach would find this really interesting enabling them to get a solid background on the physiological aspects of running. I personally found it really useful.. first class.

I absolutely love this book! It has really opened my eyes on how to look at exercise physiology for running. Highly recommend this book. One of the best out there.