Steve Magness
Performance coach/author; posts research-backed commentary on training, self-talk, psychology, and endurance performance.
Two Weeks Off Exercise Triggers Depression Spikes
What happens when you make people take a break from doing what they love? In one study, researchers took regular runners and triathletes and made them take 2 weeks completely off. No exercise. No cross-training. Just rest. The result? Big spikes in feelings of depression,…
Turning Playdates Into Full‑Body Cardio Sessions
My new favorite workout: 1mile hard with stroller to lake 5min break feeding ducks 1.5mile hard to playground 10min active recovery on swings and slides 1200m to pond. 5min Feed turtles Jog home
Negotiate with Self‑doubt Instead of Fighting It
We all have doubts, a voice in our head pushing us to quit. It's normal. The key is learning how to deal with it, not by trying to push it away, but by negotiating with it. The best learn to live...
Build Mental Toughness in 14 Free Daily Lessons
We all face pressure. We all need resilience. We need to develop our mental game. It's hard to do. That's why I created a FREE 14 day course on mental toughness. A new video every day explaining a key concept that helps you...
Seek Real Challenges to Feel Truly Alive
We need to feel alive. To challenge ourselves in meaningful tasks. In a world that numbs us out and pushes us to superficial feeling, we need deep, real experiences. An essay on the magic of doing real things in the real...
Self‑awareness and Humility Drive Athletes' Biggest Improvements
The athletes who improve most all have: Self Awareness to understand their weakness and the humility to accept and do something about it.
Stop Over‑Optimizing: Embrace the Messy Middle
Are we optimizing our way out of joy? When we try to optimize everything, we stop living and experiencing. We lose out of the messiness that makes life interesting, and work creative. The case for the messy middle: https://thegrowtheq.com/stop-over-optimizing-everything/
Even Elite Athletes Want to Quit—Training Overcomes It
Every world-class endurance athlete I've asked says the same thing: They want to quit during a race It's natural to want to quit. Your brain is looking for a 'better' alternative to escape the threat of pain. Doubts are normal The best...
Training Volume Predicts World-Class Running Success
What's the best predictor of world-class performance in runners? Volume of Training. You've got to spend a lot of time doing the thing if you want to get good at just about anything.
Quiet Inner Strength Enables Thoughtful Decisions Under Pressure
True toughness is quiet and comes deep from within. It’s about making the right choice under stress, uncertainty and fatigue. It requires emotional control: cultivating the power to respond—not react—and thus making thoughtful, deliberate decisions during pressure-filled situations.
Live Real Experiences with Real People for Mental Health
There are a lot of tips and tricks that can help our mental health. But after researching and writing about this for years, the best advice I can give is: Do real things in the real world with real people, occasionally hard,...
Design Smarter HIIT Workouts with Our Free Guide
With so much junk out there on HIIT and other interval training... I put together a free guide: How to Design Better Workouts. Filled with insights on writing creative workouts that get the right stimulus for the desired adaptation. Sign...
Joyful Deliberateness: The Secret to Elite Performance
What does a high-performance environment look like? Relentless work ethic, high expectations and standards, excellence, optimization, accountability? Maybe...it's simpler: Fun. How two elite teams emphasize "happiness" & being "joyfully deliberate": https://thegrowtheq.com/to-perform-better-be-joyfully-deliberate/
See Activities as Privileges, Not Obligations
You don't HAVE to run, you GET to. You don't have to write, you get to. Simple shifts in mindsets can make a big difference in the activity itself.
Train in Doubt, Emerge Stronger on Game Day
One of my favorite tools I learned from athletes I coached: Let your mind go to a dark place in practice, then see if you can get out of it. Instead of avoiding the doubts and insecurities, practice going there in a...