Blog Post of the Week: The Science of Sport

Excerpt by Shawn Klosterman, originally posted on SwimmingWorld.TV

PHOENIX, Arizona, October 20. SWIMMINGWORLD.TV is excited to get the word out about the best blogs on the web so that we can all benefit from reading more swimming-related material. This week we take it in a different direction with a blog based not on the experience of being a part of our sport, but rather the science behind sports as a whole.

Since April, 2007 Jonathan Dugas and Ross Tucker have been giving sports enthusiasts and coaches a very informative and insightful resource with their blog, The Science of Sport. While both men admit that they have a natural bias toward covering their favorite sports, running and cycling, they have certainly not ignored competitive swimming, as they have 24 articles tagged for our sport so far. I turned to their site several times in the months surrounding the Beijing Games to hear what they had to say about suits, records, physiology and more. These guys have a way of explaining swimming concepts so that readers who are primarily involved in other sports can understand and relate, and since both have a Ph.D. in Exercise Science, their information is relevant and intelligently delivered.

This week's article is a perfect example of the way their blog can be relevant to swimmers, even when it is written with a focus on another sport. The article is called "Anticipatory Regulation of Exercise" and it delves into the mystery behind the complex brain processes that tell us how fast to start a race, help us manage the pace we intend to hold, and how hard we can push it to find our optimum pace. Their work takes into account factors such as previous experience, training, motivation, environment (like their extensive discussion on heat when running,) and physiological changes during exercise. It even includes a video of a presentation they gave on the subject. Swim nerds and coaches like myself couldn't really ask for more.

Read the rest of the story at SwimmingWorld.TV

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