The Principles of Performance Podcast 045 – Endure: Exploring the Boundaries of Human Performance with Alex Hutchinson
Alex Hutchinson is an author and journalist in Toronto. His primary focus is the science of endurance and fitness, which he covers for Outside magazine (where he is also a contributing editor and writes the “Sweat Science” column), The Globe and Mail (where he writes the Jockology column), and Canadian Running magazine. Alex has also covered technology for Popular Mechanics, where he earned a National Magazine Award for my energy reporting, and adventure travel for the New York Times, and was a Runner’s World columnist from 2012 to 2017.
Alex’s book ENDURE: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance is an exploration of the science (and mysteries) of endurance. Before that, he wrote a practical guide to the science of fitness, called “Which Comes First, Cardio or Weights? Fitness Myths, Training Truths, and Other Surprising Discoveries from the Science of Exercise”, which was published in 2011, as well as the book “Big Ideas: 100 Modern Inventions That Have Transformed Our World”, in 2009.
Alex actually started out as a physicist, with a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge then a few years as a postdoctoral researcher with the U.S. National Security Agency, working on quantum computing and nanomechanics. During that time, he competed as a middle- and long-distance runner for the Canadian national team, mostly as a miler but also dabbling in cross-country and even a bit of mountain running. Alex still runs most days, enjoy the rigors of hard training, and the occasionally race.
Links:
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/sweat_science/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/sweatscience/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/sweatscience