danv's review
3.0
more like a 3.5, as it's filled with interesting facts and ideas, but sometimes the writing style is tiring and you just have to give reading it.
lauren_endnotes's review
3.0
Some well known truths, backed up in the laboratory and the field. I liked the genetics chapter, and the stats on families who have played in professional sports vs. the general population.
I especially liked the chapters on the role of nutrition and supplements in performance (Beet juice! Coffee! Creatine!) and the final chapter about long-held records and the way they are broken over time.
Interested in data and sport science? You'll definitely get something out of this.
I especially liked the chapters on the role of nutrition and supplements in performance (Beet juice! Coffee! Creatine!) and the final chapter about long-held records and the way they are broken over time.
Interested in data and sport science? You'll definitely get something out of this.
jpswoon's review
4.0
Me? Read? Nonfiction? This was a very interesting read. I was wondering what crazy things the elite athletes I love have to go through to be the top of their field. Now I can picture them chugging sodium bicarb in an ice bath while they review data from their game 😂 I loved the charts and graphs to help visualize the results of some of these sports science studies. And how some of the Olympians answered ads in the paper to start their training!
ravuri's review
3.0
Interesting if somewhat flawed book. I do like that McClusky is conservative in the claims he makes about the science of performance, but there are so many open questions that I'm not sure if I gained much insight.
davidr's review
5.0
I enjoy reading about the science of sports, and this book really hit the spot! It is fun, well-written, and truly up to date on the latest research. My only gripe is with the subtitle, “How sports science is creating a new generation of superathletes—and what we can learn from them.” While the first part of the subtitle is accurate, the second part “and what we can learn from them” is not really appropriate for this book. I did not learn much from this book that would be at all helpful for average athletes, and even less helpful for the average Joe.
Athletes nowadays are truly coming to the upper edge of human abilities. Only a few sports have room for significant improvements in performance. So, much of the improvements that scientists are search for are incremental; tiny, subtle variations in training, technique, and equipment that add a hundredth of a second here, a hundredth of a second there, and all-in-all may add up to enough improvement to win a race.
And, quite a few aspects of sports training were quite surprising to me. The mechanism of lactic acid accumulating in the muscles, leading to fatigue is a myth. Lactic acid is not a cause of fatigue, but is actually used as a fuel for energy! Instead, fatigue is not a physical state, but is actually an emotion felt by the brain. This really floored me, and I urge interested readers to read the evidence in the book for better understanding.
I learned lots of interesting things. For example, the book points out that it is quite difficult for world-class athletes to get enough sleep. And, the best superathletes are those who did not train from an early age in one particular sport; the best ones are those who tried out a variety of sports, before settling down into one specialization. Of all the food supplements for improved performance, the one that is best is simply caffeine!
I have just one more gripe about the book. Sometimes the language style is a bit too conversational. For example, use of the word, “well”, and the phrase, “you know” is off-putting to me, in a nonfiction book. Other than that, the book was very enjoyable; highly recommended!
Athletes nowadays are truly coming to the upper edge of human abilities. Only a few sports have room for significant improvements in performance. So, much of the improvements that scientists are search for are incremental; tiny, subtle variations in training, technique, and equipment that add a hundredth of a second here, a hundredth of a second there, and all-in-all may add up to enough improvement to win a race.
And, quite a few aspects of sports training were quite surprising to me. The mechanism of lactic acid accumulating in the muscles, leading to fatigue is a myth. Lactic acid is not a cause of fatigue, but is actually used as a fuel for energy! Instead, fatigue is not a physical state, but is actually an emotion felt by the brain. This really floored me, and I urge interested readers to read the evidence in the book for better understanding.
I learned lots of interesting things. For example, the book points out that it is quite difficult for world-class athletes to get enough sleep. And, the best superathletes are those who did not train from an early age in one particular sport; the best ones are those who tried out a variety of sports, before settling down into one specialization. Of all the food supplements for improved performance, the one that is best is simply caffeine!
I have just one more gripe about the book. Sometimes the language style is a bit too conversational. For example, use of the word, “well”, and the phrase, “you know” is off-putting to me, in a nonfiction book. Other than that, the book was very enjoyable; highly recommended!
missybird's review against another edition
funny
informative
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse
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