Five Reads for Friday July 15th 2016

This week will actually be SIX reads for Friday. I am away from school this week which probably allowed me to read a little more.

And it's also the week after the Olympic Trials so there have been lots of good articles for track nuts to read. Here is one that is track related that every sport coach should read. Thoughts and Lessons from the Olympic Trials -- Steve Magness -- Science of Running Blog

Jim Ryun was America's greatest miler and a sport hero of the 60's. Here is his reflection on how he bounced back from his greatest disappointment as an athlete I Tripped And Fell At My Final Olympics -- Jim Ryun

The "World's Greatest Athlete" Ashton Eaton returned to win the Olympic Trials in the Decathlon. Here is a great post by Coach Vern Gambetta on observing Eaton and hurdler / football star Devon Allen -- who won the 110m hurdles at the trials returning from ACL reconstruction --  workout in February heading into the Trials. Two Mornings in February -- Functional Path Training -- Vern Gambetta

You want to be an Olympian, or accomplished at any endeavor? What matters most may be the environment you live in. Interesting thoughts on growth and development Motivation is Overvalued. Environment Often Matters More -- James Clear

This one came out a while ago, but I just saw it and trying to take its lessons to heart. A lot of creative people were regular walkers. So not only will walking help you great your exercise it, you might become more creative too. Why Everyone From Beethoven, Goethe, Dickens, Darwin, to Steve Jobs took Long Walks and Why You should too -- Andrew Tate

It is summer time, so there are lots of athletes in our weight room trying to get stronger. This week there was an interesting review of a recent study on best practice for strength and mass gains. The study compared whether high loads with low reps vs. low loads with high reps were better. The conclusions were both gave athletes strength gains. The more significant conclusion seemed to be that in order to increase muscle mass and strength what is more important than load and reps is training to failure. Training to failure was the theory of the Nautilus fad of the 1970's and 80's. Nautilus was in part a technique but also a machine that entrepeneur Arthur Jones promoted and sold. Proving once again that ideas and thoughts on exercise are often "recycled" over time -- what is old becomes new again. Training Failure to Failure: Myth or Method to Muscle Mass and Strength Gain -- Dr. Michael Joyner -- SI