Bryan Habana may have been rugby’s fastest man, but there are some eventualities even he can’t outrun. Fans of Cape Town’s DHL Stormers and South Africa’s national team the Springboks have repeatedly watched Habana explode into the open green, accelerating to a gear that leaves nothing but more and more gaping lawn between he and … Read more
It’s underway: the cascading fireworks, the soaring kite, the flaming cauldron, all the anticipation and pageantry of the Sochi Games have now given way to the speed, daring, and creativity of the competitors out on the ice and snow. Just weeks before sisters Justine and ChloĂ© Dufour-Lapointe took the podium for Canada’s first gold and … Read more
“In the current environment, there’s so much out there and people don’t know what’s good and what’s not good,” says Rob Stock, founder and owner of The Human Performance Initiative, a cutting-edge gym in Virginia Beach, VA. “So they just assume if they walk out of there beaten and bloody, then they did something good to … Read more
This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. That fast: the catastrophic blast flung Rob Stock off his position on an embankment in eastern Afghanistan, and as the soldier rose to spit out a mouthful of dirt and grit, he realized he was actually tasting his own shattered teeth. Worse, the Navy SEAL’s left arm … Read more
“Think about it,” says Jim Snider, the head strength and conditioning coach for the men’s and women’s ice hockey teams at the University of Wisconsin. “Guys are standing on an eighth of an inch of steel, they’ve got weapons in their hands, and they move at velocities and speeds faster than Usain Bolt. And then … Read more
After bringing home three Olympic bronze medals (one in 2006 and two in 2010), Finnish cross country skier Aino-Kaisa Saarinen heads into next month’s trip to Sochi with proven talent and a wealth of experience. Even so, on the verge of those 2014 Winter Games, the Rossignol-sponsored skier still describes the chase for Olympic gold … Read more
Before the pro-style gyms, before the full-time training staffs, young athletes need to survive one of the most crowded and competitive environments imaginable: high school. All those rapidly changing bodies, facing test after test with the entire future hanging in the balance. San Diego-based personal trainer Drew Cooper is devoted to bringing rational guidance and … Read more
Juggling multiple commitments is nothing new for Minttu Tuominen — while rising to her position as an alternate captain on the women’s ice hockey team for the Ohio State Buckeyes, Tuominen also maintained a key role on the Finnish national team that took home Olympic bronze in 2010. Tuominen graduated in 2013 — one of … Read more
“First and foremost, I think the biggest thing I came to grips with was that nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care,” says Jay DeMayo, talking about the many lessons he’s learned leading into his eighth year as the Strength and Conditioning Coach for the men’s basketball team at … Read more
You are looking at points on a graph. Numbers ascend one axis, dates cross the other, and to make sense of the plotting you connect the dots into a landscape of rises, dips, and plateaus. To understand the meaning of that picture, first you have to recognize the relevant terms and parameters. To go forward … Read more