Performance Advantage Podcast

The marathon is the most iconic distance event in running, and this week Dr Will takes you through his top tips for training for a marathon including the dos and don'ts of pacing, nutrition and shoes.  The boys talk through the impacts of COVID-19 on the sporting world and the probability that the Olympics will be cancelled. Thank you to Fernglen Farms for sponsoring the show. Check out their...

XC racers need to be fit, skilled and able to dig deep. Matt and Will discuss some of the common mistakes riders make when training and racing and take a unique spin on how to approach your own program. As a podcast listener, you get access to all training plans on SmartMTBTraining.com for only 9.99/month www.smartmtbtraining.com/mtb-training Thank you to Fernglen Farms for sponsoring the show. Ch...

Do you need carbohydrate for optimal endurance performance? YES. Do endurance athletes need carbohydrate all of the time? NO. There are numerous nuances and caveats that need to be considered when talking about "Low Carb and Endurance Performance". Dr Will O'Connor spent 5 years researching the biochemical and physiological response of men AND women to chronic low and high carbohydrate diets. To s...

The guys look back at their fails and wins over their first year of podcasting and talk about what is to come in the future of the Performance Advantage podcast.  Will reports back on his Tarawera Ultra race.  This Week in Sports That We Talk About; ebike racing,  and cheater running shoes (Nike AlphaFly). Dr Will's new YouTube channel https://link.drwillo.com/youtube ---- Go look a...

Tom Evans is a RebBull sponsored professional ultra runner form Great Britain. Tom is in Rotorua for the 2020 Tarawera Ultramarathon, so we sat down together to discuss training, sponsorship, social media, and the state of trail running. Dr Will updates about his feelings before the biggest trail running race he's ever entered, the Tarawera Ultramarathon. Follow Tom on Instagram https://www.instag...

Good race or bad race, we love to have a few drinks after a big event. As athletes, we have been known to apply our 'all or nothing' approach to alcohol consumption. Dr Matt Barnes is a world renowned expert and pioneer of alcohol in sport research. He talks to us about what alcohol is doing to our bodies and how that relates to exercise performance. Win a training plan by sharing the podcast on y...

Dr's Matt and Will talk trough how to use a six-step process to get athletes to the start line knowing that their preparation has ticked every box. When an athlete is confident in their preparation, they get to the finish line with a sense of accomplishment knowing that they did all they could during the lead-up and within the event to achieve their best performance. Also in the the show, Dr Matt'...

There are a few small changes you can make to be the best version of yourself this year, and we show you the best things you can buy, eat and do to make it stick. We discuss World Cup rider Jolanda Neff’s injury and why it may have a silver lining, and offer a Strava Premium membership to one lucky member! Congratulations J.M.! Email Steve@endurancetarininghub.com OR message on Instagram or Facebo...

Robert Stannard rides for pro tour team Mitchelton Scott and happened to grow up in the same town that Matt and Will did their PhD's. In fact, Rob is the son of Dr Steve Stannard who supervised Matt and Will throughout their studies and appeared on episode 25. Rob is 23 y/o and making a name for himself on the world tour as one of the future stars. Listening to Rob speak about how he manages himse...

Strava, social media for endurance athletes. Last week, Matt crashed chasing a Strava KOM (King of the Mountain), and Strava released their annual report, so we thought we'd go through the pros and cons of using Strava. There's no doubt Strava has a lot of great benefits, but the social media side of things can cause athletes to train for others rather than for themselves. Will became a Dad!! Will...

This week we talk about our favorite intervals and the gifts you should and shouldn't buy for the athlete in your life. The brake power meter explores motocross, Will did another crazy run, and we give away a free training consultation worth $199!!! Congratulations J.D. from Smart MTB Training! Email matt@mtbphd.com to claim your prize. Go look at our ** Website and eLearning Course** https://www....

How much training did you do last week? Most people will answer in terms of time or distance. Unfortunately, time and distance are not the best indicators of training load. We discuss how using training stress score (TSS) on trainingpeaks or Relative Effort on Strava can help you to improve and avoid injury. The international governing body of cycling, the UCI, have announced the “bike olympics” t...

Base training is an old-school method for improving endurance performance. Matt and Will discuss whether this is still valid in the current day and if it can help high intensity performance. Alberto Salazar, legendary distance running coach and head of the now dismantled Nike Oregon Project is appealing his 4-year ban for doping violations. We give you an insight into the new school of doping for...

Pacing in endurance sport is one of the most essential aspects of performance. Regardless of your ability, if you start the race beyond your level of fitness you will slow down at the end. The severity of how much you slow down (blow up) will depend on the race duration and how far beyond your ability you went at the start. We discuss different pacing strategies and how to implement them in your n...

Carl is a two-time Ultraman winner. Ultraman is a 3-day triathlon consisting of; 10km swim - 140km bike - 281km bike - 84.3km run. Carl started endurance sport late in life and found the longer he went the better he did. Carl recently tried his hand at ultra trail running and won the Taupo 100km in 8hr27min! Carl talks about how he got his start in the sport and how ironman triathlon and ultra tra...

History was made this week as Eliud Kipchoge was the first human to ever run a marathon in less than 2 hours. Beyond being just a feat in athletic performance, the sports science behind the performance was also second to none. Will and Matt discuss some of the marginal gains behind the scenes that added up to make this performance possible. Go look at our ** Website and eLearning Course** https://...

You’ve spent hours training your body but have you ever taken time to train your mind? Jay Barrett was a professional mountain biker and now works as a mental skills coach. Jay talks to us about applying mental skills to your training and racing to help you to be a faster athlete. Contact Jay Barrett: https://www.jbperformanceservices.co.nz/ Go look at our ** Website and eLearning Course** https:/...

Will and Matt catch up with New Zealand mountain bike phenom Caleb Bottcher on what it's like as an up-and-coming racer, the rigours of training and life in the junior ranks, and the chaos of competing on the world stage. Will talks about his insecurities as an athlete and Matt is stumped with computer programming.  Visit our new website on PerformanceAdvantagePodcast.com for a 30% off early...

Heart rate training is Will’s favourite way to monitor training intensity. Matt disagrees but concedes heart rate has its place. Using heart rate to help guide your training can be one of the most cost-effective and efficient ways to improve your performance. Heart rate gives you an objective insight into your intensity, level of stress and progress. Link to Matt’s article: http://bit.ly/2mkIkDZ G...

Harlan Price was a top ultra endurance MTB racer, but even on the simple courses, he felt like his skills helped him win races. After fathering enduro in the eastern USA, he's focused 100% on helping riders gain more skill. Will won his 100km ultramarathon and set a new course record (8hrs 38min). He talks through the race and how it played out. Get in contact with Harlan: https://www.facebook.com...

Matt is back from the Eurobike trade show, and he has some stories to tell!  Will has his 100km ultramarathon run this weekend, so the boys discuss tapering and what Will is doing to ensure he turns up fresh on race day. Tapering can be a hard concept for athletes to grasp since it requires you to do less. The key to a good taper is to focus on your race and what is required to race well. Get...

I did an experiment to find out if I could run a 2:40 marathon using the run-walk method. Being a sports scientist I broke down the physiology, psychology and mathematics of the run-walk theory to design my own protocol. In this episode, Dr Matt quizzes me on the who, what, where and why of my run-walk system. Go look at our ** Website and eLearning Course** https://www.performanceadvantagepodcast...

In this episode, we catch up with Dr Steve Stannard, parent of successful athletes, a world-leading sport scientist and coach. Dr Steve is a successful athlete himself, representing Australia. Steve tells us the aspects that can improve a developing athlete’s chances of success from his own experience. Go look at our ** Website and eLearning Course** https://www.performanceadvantagepodcast.com/ Fo...

Dr Matt is giving you the very best advice on training for enduro mountain bike events. Enduro mountain biking consists of multiple timed downhill segments that add up to the riders overall time. Not only do riders need to be fast down the hill but they also need to ride from one section to another. When these events are held over two days, this can amount to some very big days on the bike. ...

 Matt and Will discuss the five fundamentals for creating better athletes; consistency, structure, specificity, guidance and being realistic. The boys review why they had a week off, what Will got up to on his birthday holiday, how Matt missed the start of his MTB race and much more. Go look at our ** Website and eLearning Course** https://www.performanceadvantagepodcast.com/ Follow Dr Matt o...