Training & Performance
ArchiveAnd how to avoid them
And what you can do to avoid them
You're dreading workouts, easy days aren't easy, and other signs that you're spending too much time on the trails
The line between being undertrained and perfectly fit is thin. Here's how to ensure that you don't end up on the wrong side.
Streamline your endurance-training data for less stress and better results
Your mental checklist to decide if you really need to take a rest day or if you’re better off just toughing it out
Three explosive drills for better race-day performance
To take your skills next level, you'll likely need a little coaching. Turn to these instructional vlogs for expert techniques, advice on how to improve quickly and effectively, and pro-approved training plans.
The best endurance athletes push their minds and bodies as far as humanly possible—a practice that might not actually be good for them
One man's quest to treat the matrimonial ceremony as what it is: the greatest endurance event of your life
One move is all it takes for a strength-building workout that also leaves you breathless
Despite the chronic doping scandals, the sport still has a lot to teach us about fitness
This skill doesn't just belong in gymnastics competitions. Use it to clear obstacles on the trail and move deftly around nature's roadblocks.
Elite competitors have long practiced meditation and mindfulness. But neuroscience shows that it’s the true believers who are finding that higher gear—through prayer.
The hardest part about your athletic pursuits may be building a long-term relationship with them
Beau Kittredge is fittest athlete you’ve never heard of. Here’s what a day in his life looks like.
After decades of being thought of as a pseudo-sport for longhairs, ultimate Frisbee is attracting elite athletes who are landing professional contracts. The hero of this new breed is Beau Kittredge, who looks like an NFL wide receiver, sprints like an Olympian, and jumps like Jordan.
Master this basic move to build a strong core and stabilize your movement
Mastering ground movement—crawling, rolling, and standing—is a vitally important, often overlooked aspect of becoming a well-rounded, injury-free mountain athlete
The well-known exercise physiology expert likes to keep it simple
Cory Richards and Adrian Ballinger summited the highest mountain in the world last month—Ballinger without supplemental oxygen. Here's how they trained their minds and bodies to accomplish one of mountaineering's most difficult feats.
Yelling at the right moment has been linked to boosts in power and pain tolerance
The hive mind weighs in on what to buy
From rafting trips to big-wall climbs, here's how to do it just about anywhere outdoors
The best performers in the world share a few key habits, and a new book helps you implement them
Nail this move to create a solid base for your endurance feats
This summer in Bermuda, the Australian-born sailor will lead Oracle Team USA’s bid to retain the oldest trophy in international sports. The 37-year-old’s secret to staying on top? Stepping away from the boat.
Last year, Kim Ciolli, a longtime fixture in Texas cycling, got busted for doping. Her case is evidence of the fact that maybe the anti-doping system for older athletes—and especially for women—is broken.
Exercise is as good for your brain as it is for your body, and researchers are just beginning to discover why
Your expert-backed plan to kick one of running’s most nagging injuries
Though created with older athletes in mind, these items are essential for every athlete—regardless of age
There's nothing quite like breaking up the workday with a run, but logistics can make it tough to pull off. Here's how to execute flawlessly.
Every world-class performer—from athletes to chess players to musicians—follows these rules to keep improving at their disciplines
Take your gym sessions seriously.
Make any time sweatin’ time
Quality gear to make you feel like a million bucks no matter how hard you’re pushing it
Sitting can be lethal, right? We asked the experts how to stay healthy while doing the one thing that, for the most of us, takes up the majority of the day.
These exercises are perfect for the outdoor athlete looking to get stronger and faster while staying injury-free
After most MCL and ACL surgeries, doctors focus on treating and rehabbing the soft-tissue, while almost completely ignoring motor patterns and biomechanics
What does it mean to have a body that's ready for a music festival? Nate Dern heads to the gym—and then Coachella—to find out.
For an athlete, being injured is often harder psychologically than it is physically. But the elites have developed a few key tools to help stay happy and sane while healing.
It takes one piece of equipment to build strength, endurance, and total-body power
An entire industry is trying to curb our boredom while running. But if you can harness that feeling of restlessness, you may find yourself stronger and faster than ever.
Many assume extreme-sports athletes are, at best, irresponsible and, at worst, suicidal. New psychology research tries to unpack their true motivations.
Hack your indoor training to help you set new PRs in the wild
Pair your regular workouts with this outdoor-friendly routine for superior strength, stability, and endurance
We switched up our dogsledding training plan and rode our way to dead last on a husky-powered bus. I loved every minute.
Turns out extending your lifespan is pretty damn easy. Just follow these definitive, scientific, time-tested methods.
Self-talk—repeating a phrase in your head—is a practical, proven strategy to push your limits
Long-distance swimmer
High-performance kit for daily sun salutations
This routine will make you faster and stronger and help keep you injury-free
In honor of Outside's 40th anniversary, we're selecting our all-time favorite gear, places, accomplishments, and people. This month, we rounded up 40 women who have made the biggest impacts on our world.
At the outer edges of endurance sports, something interesting is happening: women are beating men
From 1926 to 2016, the expeditions—and the women behind them–that have rocked our world
At the cover shoot for the May issue of Outside, we asked 10 of the most influential women in the outdoor world a handful of questions about life, success, and happiness.
At the cover shoot for the May issue of Outside, we asked 10 of the most influential women in the outdoor world a handful of questions about life, success, and happiness.
At the cover shoot for the May issue of Outside, we asked 10 of the most influential women in the outdoor world a handful of questions about life, success, and happiness.
Their go-to exercises to build muscle, athleticism, and strength
Researchers say that when Paula Radcliffe ran a world record 2:15:25 marathon in 2003, she broke the female equivalent of the two-hour marathon
Six athletically inclined people—regular folks with regular jobs, just like you—divulge how much money they spend on their fitness routines
Once Joe Stone learned to use his paralyzed body, he decided he’d race an Ironman. Then he went even bigger.
Ultrarunning is as tough on the mind as it is on the body, so the sport's best have developed mental strategies to reframe their darkest moments. Their techniques can help us all get more from our training.
How to put in the work now to ensure that you will go for it later
Just a few quick moves will set up your body to perform at its best in any sport and keep you injury-free while you work
It goes without saying that Meagan Martin is an astonishingly talented athlete. This video from Kyle Berkompas, Meagan Martin - Motivation, displays how in order to achieve greatness, she's training harder than ever before.
These workouts will help you decide
It's not just about our bodies. It's also about our minds.
You don't have to summit mountains bare-chested or meditate on a snowbank to train your body to reap the benefits of one of the world's most extreme approaches to health
A new building standard has your health and fitness in mind
From turtle blood to contact highs, our favorite PED "explanations," ranked
More than a century ago, strongman Adrian Peter Schmidt published a book claiming he could get you fit with just 15 minutes of work per day. We put that claim to the test.
Our devices are increasingly taking us out of reality, even when we're in nature. Here's how to get back into it.
Last November, Conrad Anker suffered a heart attack at 20,000 feet. Did the altitude have something to do with it?
In 2010, entrepreneur Jesse Itzler invited Navy SEAL David Goggins to live with him for a month, completely upending his life and fitness routine. We wondered: what habits have stuck with him?
The days may be getting longer, but weekends are few, and there are many adventures to cram in. So follow the lead of ambitious mountain towners across the West and put it all together into a multisport sufferfest.