The Science of Running: How to Find Your Limit and Train to Maximize Your Performance
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The Science of Running: How to Find Your Limit and Train to Maximize Your Performance Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Steve Magness (Author), Stephen R. Thorne (Narrator), Tantor Audio (Publisher)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 644 ratings
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If you are looking for how to finish your first 5k, this book isn't for you. The Science of Running is written for those of us looking to maximize our performance, get as close to our limits as possible, and more than anything find out how good we can be, or how good our athletes can be. In The Science of Running, elite coach and exercise physiologist Steve Magness integrates the latest research with the training processes of the world's best runners, to deliver an in depth look at how to maximize your performance.

It is a unique book that conquers both the scientific and practical points of running in two different sections. The first is aimed at identifying what limits running performance from a scientific standpoint. You will take a tour through the inside of the body, learning what causes fatigue, how we produce energy to run, and how the brain functions to hold you back from super-human performance. In section two, we turn to the practical application of this information and focus on the process of training to achieve your goals. You will learn how to develop training plans and to look at training in a completely different way. The Science of Running does not hold back information and is sure to challenge you to become a better athlete, coach, or exercise scientist.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

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  1. Listening Length
    15 hours and 57 minutes
  2. Author
    Steve Magness
  3. Narrator
    Stephen R. Thorne
  4. Audible release date
    November 19, 2019
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Tantor Audio
  7. ASIN
    B07ZZH9C6B
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 15 hours and 57 minutes
Author Steve Magness
Narrator Stephen R. Thorne
Audible.com Release Date November 19, 2019
Publisher Tantor Audio
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B07ZZH9C6B
Best Sellers Rank #130,595 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#19 in Track & Field (Audible Books & Originals)
#113 in Running & Jogging (Audible Books & Originals)
#220 in Track & Field Sports

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
644 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Geoffrey J. Wilhelmy
5.0 out of 5 stars Running With Science
Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2014
Verified Purchase
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.
102 people found this helpful
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Anon for this one
4.0 out of 5 stars Good info, needs an editor
Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2014
Verified Purchase
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.
32 people found this helpful
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Ryan
5.0 out of 5 stars Helpful for learning about training, but skim 1st half if your like me
Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2024
Verified Purchase
I liked this book a lot to learn more about training, although the first half is difficult to get through if you’re more interested in the application of training rather than science. Obviously the book has science in the title so this may come off as stupid, but I was more focused on the practical application rather than information of a very specific part of the body without much purpose for improving running. Therefore, I’d recommend skimming that part if your like me.

There were also a fair amount of more creative ideas or arguments that you don’t see in other books which I found especially refreshing/ enjoyable.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Philip
5.0 out of 5 stars Great
Reviewed in Sweden on March 10, 2024
Verified Purchase
Love this informative book
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fabrizio corbucci
5.0 out of 5 stars Un pozzo di infirmazioni
Reviewed in Italy on January 24, 2023
Verified Purchase
Libro interessantissimo, pieno di informazioni scientifiche sull’universo del running. Consigliato per podisti evoluti ed esperti.
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Juliano Freitas
5.0 out of 5 stars Muito tecnico, muito bom
Reviewed in Brazil on December 22, 2020
Verified Purchase
Um dos livros mais técnicos que já li. Aborda fisiologia do exercício, biomecânica, e treinamento de corrida. Apesar de já ter lido muitos livros nesses temas, aprendi muito com esse, um dos que mais gostei com certeza.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars This book is people interested in High performance sports and Sciences.
Reviewed in India on August 14, 2022
Verified Purchase
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.
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Amazon Kunde
5.0 out of 5 stars Gute Anregungen für die Trainingsgestaltung
Reviewed in Germany on July 25, 2017
Verified Purchase
Das Buch ist in zwei Teile aufgeteilt. Die erste Hälfte ist ein Literaturüberblick über die aktuelle Forschung zum Thema Ausdauertraining. Im Nachhinein hätte ich diesen Teil auch überspringen können. Er mag zwar für Leute interessant sein, die bis ins kleinste Detail wissen wollen, warum und wie genau eine Trainingseinheit wirkt.

Für die meisten Leute dürfte der zweite Teil deutlich interessanter sein. Hier beschreibt er die Erstellung eines individuellen Trainingsplans. Anders als zum beispiel bei Daniels in der "Running Formula" gibt er aber keinen konkreten Plan vor, sondern will den Leser in die Lage verstetzen, einen eigenen Plan zu schreiben, der komplett auf den Läufer abgestimmt ist. Dazu gibt er einem allerhand Werkzeuge an die Hand, beispielsweise erklärt er verschiedene Arten der Progression von Intervallen und geht auf die Periodisierung (angefangen auf dem Level "Läuferleben") ein.

Mir hat das Buch sehr geholfen, einen eigenen Trainingsplan zu erstellen. Aber auch wenn man lieber einen vorgefertigten Plan nimmt, kann dieses Buch helfen, diesen noch etwas auf sich selbst anzupassen.
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