"Superstitious gimmicks...?"
I would not call it that, Alberto has a long history of embracing the new...checking it out, seeing if it helps.
Everyone laughed at the arm warmers, now they are standard.
Alberto is a totally conservative guy in his personal life, for him to be a progressive in athletic training and performance...to me makes him a more courageous personality.
He doesn't care what you think, whether he looks silly while being an innovator...he cares about results. He tracks results. And when he finds things that help - through data - through results - they become part of his tool kit.
He is in this way -- the Oregon runner Most Like Bowerman.
Yeah, you people throw a lot of crap and accusations his way -- the Alberto I know and ran with for years -- is a completely Ethical and Conservative guy.
He also cares 100% about his athletes health and safety.
Call him ""superstitious. Meh.