The science behind sport
Why does training work? How does the body move, learn and adapt? Clear, educational explanations of the biomechanics, motor learning, physiology and training principles beneath every sport — connected to the qualities, movements and methods they explain.
Biomechanics & movement
How the body produces and controls movement — leverage, force, the kinetic chain and efficiency.
Biomechanics
The study of how the body produces and controls movement — the mechanics behind every technique in sport.
The kinetic chain
The idea that the body’s segments work as a linked chain, passing force from the ground up through the hips, trunk and limbs.
Movement efficiency
How economically the body performs a movement — achieving the goal with the least wasted effort.
Force and power
The difference between how much force the body can produce and how quickly it can produce it — the mechanics behind strength and explosiveness.
Range of motion
How far a joint can travel through its movement — the arc available at a joint, and the foundation of flexibility and mobility.
Proprioception
The body’s internal sense of where its parts are and how they are moving — the awareness behind balance and coordinated movement.
Motor learning & control
How skills are learned and controlled — practice, feedback, coordination and reaction.
Motor learning
The process by which practice and experience produce lasting improvements in how well a movement skill can be performed.
Motor control
How the brain and nervous system organise the muscles to produce coordinated, controlled movement.
Reaction time
The short delay between a signal and the start of the movement made in response to it.
The learning curve
The typical pattern in which a new skill improves quickly at first and then more slowly as it develops.
Energy & adaptation
How the body fuels and adapts to training — energy systems, recovery and getting fitter.
Energy systems
How the body supplies energy for movement — the different pathways that power everything from an explosive jump to a long, steady run.
Aerobic and anaerobic energy
The difference between energy the body produces with oxygen and energy it produces without it — a core idea behind why different efforts feel and last so differently.
Training adaptation
The process by which the body changes in response to repeated training — the underlying reason exercise makes you fitter, stronger or more skilful over time.
Supercompensation
A widely taught model of how the body, after a bout of training and enough recovery, can rebuild to a slightly higher level than before.
Recovery and adaptation
The idea that the body adapts during recovery, not during the effort itself — which is why rest is treated as part of training rather than a break from it.
Managing fatigue and load
The educational idea of balancing how much training you do against how well you recover, so effort turns into progress rather than into excess fatigue.
Training principles
The principles behind effective training — overload, specificity, variation and individual difference.
The overload principle
The idea that the body adapts to demands greater than it is used to — the foundation of why training works.
Specificity
The idea that the body adapts specifically to the kind of training it is given — you tend to get good at what you actually practise.
Training variation
The idea that changing elements of training over time helps keep the body responding and keeps training sustainable.
Reversibility
The idea that fitness gained from training tends to fade when training stops — often summarised as 'use it or lose it'.
Individual differences
The idea that people respond to the same training differently — so what works well for one person may not suit another.
Educational only
From theory to practice
The science that makes training work
Knowing why the body moves, learns and adapts turns training from guesswork into understanding.