Listen to this article on Spotify! Key Points: Many common fitness phrases contain implicit assumptions that make it less likely the people who use them will achieve their goals. For example, most people think, “toning up” implies exercise, but the result they want depends almost entirely on nutritional changes. Precision of language can make us … Read more
Listen to this article on Spotify! Estimated reading time: 9-18 minutes This week we’re taking a massive departure from the heaviness and headiness of the last two weeks. No existential, philosophical questions about meaning and purpose or life and death today. Nope, we’re going to focus on something so specific, so niche, that it’s actually … Read more
Key Points: Professional athletes in the U.S. enjoy WAY longer offseasons than European soccer players. Somewhat surprisingly, U.S. franchises are also valued significantly higher, despite playing shorter seasons and having far smaller global fanbases. This suggests that “less is more,” and if the soccer world wants to emulate this success, it will need to be … Read more
Key Points: Top-level professional footballers play too many matches, full stop. Only a couple weeks into this new season, many elite European teams have already seen key players ruled out for months due to preventable soft tissue injuries. The culture of overtraining runs deep within the soccer world, and needs to change, or the sport’s … Read more
Key Points: There are multiple facets of athleticism. Many sports fans tend to value some components of athleticism, like speed, more highly than others, like endurance. The NBA’s best player, Nikola Jokic, demonstrates the devastating combination of skill plus elite ability in some of the lesser-valued traits. Estimated reading time: 5-10 minutes Listen to this … Read more
Key Points: When I was growing up, athletes were encouraged to specialize in one sport from a young age. In reality, early specialization makes athletes more prone to injury and burnout, while hindering their overall athletic development. Playing multiple sports can even help a young athlete enhance skills in the sport they ultimately choose. Estimated … Read more
Key Points: Viewership of professional sports and enrollment in youth sports is on the decline. By contrast, esports are growing in popularity and financial strength. This makes sense, because esports undeniably have greater accessibility and a much faster “skill improvement curve” than traditional sports. Estimated reading time: 7-14 minutes Listen to this article on Spotify! … Read more
Key Points: Soccer is notoriously resistant to change. Advances in technology and analytics have highlighted key problems with the sport that hurt it as a spectacle. Accordingly, I discuss potential solutions for key issues like quarter-inch offsides decisions, time-wasting, and diving. Estimated reading time: 10-20 minutes Listen to this article on Spotify! As I’ve mentioned … Read more
Key Points: 1. Pain alters movement patterns. These adaptations can linger and trigger pain long after any structural damage associated with an injury has fully healed. 2. “Neuromuscular re-education” is a process by which we can retrain our brains and nervous systems to stop causing pain due to perceiving certain movements as threatening. 3. When … Read more
Key Points: 1. We think of pain as far too normal, particularly as we age. 2. At its core, pain is a message from the brain and nervous system. 3. The brain’s job is to keep us alive long enough to reproduce, and pain is one way it tells us that this job is under … Read more