1 % Better - Hidden Stories in Sport

After some updates and a quick bit of what’s been happening we are straight into the interview with Pete McKnight.  Pete McKnight is a performance consultant who advises a variety of professional teams and elite sporting organisations. In a career of over 25 years he has worked with organisations like Hiintsa Performance and Red Bull as well as having coached athletes for five Summer Olympics and...

Jonah Rosner is an Elite Running scientist and founder of Athletes Built in Science where he helps runners and hybrid athletes achieve their best performances.  He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Boston and a Masters in Exercise Physiology from the University of Texas in Austin. He is known for efforts in educating the running community where he posts science based content on inst...

We have lots of happenings to catch up on and to help with this Dave is joined by a previous guest host Dan Squires. The guys chat about Strava’s IPO and its implications, NN Running’s rebrand, the Houston marathon and thoughts on race frequency. They then touch on some track news, Winter Olympics via Quinn Simmons’ aspirations there, review the Valencia 10k and discuss Molly Seidel’s trail debut....

This week we discuss the absolute carnage that is the professional coaching realms at the moment. Coaches seem to be on the hot seat from the minute they’re hired and we seem to see a continuous merry-go-round of coaches and jobs. We are joined by Hein Kriek to discuss what has changed in the world and the factors that are driving the phenomenon.  Hein Kriek is a Professional rugby coach, currentl...

Dr Peter Tierney is a performance consultant who is currently consulting & advising a range of health & performance oriented individuals & companies. Peter has previously worked with Leinster rugby, the FA, Lululemon and Chelsea football club. He holds a BSc Health & Performance Science, MSc in Research and a PhD all completed from University College Dublin. In addition to this he...

In this episode we are joined by Professor Brinnae Bent to discuss AI in sport.  Brinnae is a faculty member teaching AI and Cybersecurity at Duke University, director of the Duke TRUST Lab , and Executive Director of Tensor & Trust a trustworthy AI strategic consulting firm. (00:00) Introduction (00:17) Medical Question (09:32) Interview Starts  (11:40) What are Projects in the AI Realm in Sp...

We are thrilled to be joined by Mario Fraioli on this episode. Marios is a running coach, author, podcaster and runner. Mario has coached at the highest levels, been a lifelong runner and has been writing and podcasting about running for decades.  We discuss many parts of running with Mario, from the running booms to the state of US distance running to great races and books for listeners to check...

In this episode we are joined by Dr Marco Altini, an entrepreneur, data scientist, endurance coach and runner. He is the founder and head of product at HRV4Training, a tool that is today trusted by more than 200 000 users, including olympic medalists, professional teams and the hosts of this podcast. Additionally Marco is a data science advisor to Oura and a Guest Lecturer at Vrije Universiteit Am...

After a listener question about Hyrox cannibalizing triathlon numbers we touch on a big marketing push for high school mile runners. We then get into our review of 2025 and of our predictions for it as well as looking forward to 2026 and making our predictions.  (00:00) Introduction (00:19) Medical Question (02:41) 2026 Initial Plans While Xylon is Away  (06:21) Xylon’s Update   (08:44) David’s Up...

In a huge episode, we discuss Courtney Dauwalter’s marathon efforts as well as Valencia marathon. Additionally we discuss rule changes and proposed rule changes in long jump and from FIFA. We also talk about a new sponsor for Hyrox and the implications of it as well as the IM 70.2 women’s WR being broken and why triathletes taking ‘gap years’ is helpful.  We then get to our interview with Dan Jone...

We have a few announcements, including a competition this week. Following this we follow up on the Premier League salary cap measures which have been put in place and then discuss a paper on adoption of wearables by coaches. We then move to our interview with Alfie Manthorpe, a professional distance runner who was the top British finisher at the Valencia half marathon.  (00:00) Introduction (00:19...

After recapping some of Xylon’s life choices, we discuss some outrageous Lebron James stats before a quick cricket discussion. We then move on to some discussion of refereeing and following this discuss a paper on the evolution of endurance performance and coaching. Finally Dr Jose Areta joins us to discuss a paper of his.  Jose Areta is an Associate Professor in Exercise metabolism and nutrition...

We have a bumper episode for you this week, starting with people running - Jim Walmsley in a road 10k and pro cyclists in their offseason. We touch on some previous topics which are back in the news; salary caps for cycling and Imogen Simmonds’ race plans. We then discuss hydration testing to prevent weight cutting in E-sports, the mes at T100 Dubai and Valencia Marathon fields. We finish with an...

In a wide ranging episode, we discuss people transitioning sports, review the Ironman 70.3 world championships and examine some research on carbohydrate intake in elite marathoners. We also discuss salary caps and their implications for global leagues as a few leagues evaluate them.  (00:00) Introduction (00:18) Medical Question (05:06) David’s Update (06:51) Xylon’s update (11:00) Community Shout...

Xylon and David give their updates before discussing the Women’s Cricket World Cup, Kipchoge’s plans going forward (and that shirt), they review NYC marathon and discuss the potential for weightloss drugs to be banned (including one on the horizon). They also discuss some interesting research on cooling and marathon durability.  (00:00) Introduction (00:18) Medical Question (03:33) David’s Update...

In a huge episode we cover a bunch of news, including changes to the NYC marathon fields, Molly Seidel’s running plans, Valencia half marathon results and Capetown Marathon happenings. We then discuss the Imogen Simmonds case verdict, some Rugby World Cup Qualification drama and Big’s Backyard Ultra World record. We then get into the more significant discussions of the episode; the Treadmill World...

In this episode we review some world records, look at another scathing doping survey and check in on Amsterdam marathon results - including looking at why cyclists struggle to convert to runners. We then chat about 2026 plans for both Athlos and the T100 as well as looking at an interesting article about US colleges recruiting Kenyan runners. We also chat to Eloise du Luart about her experiences w...

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We start off with a discussion of the performance cycle of sports teams before discussing a world class performance to break the SA 10k record. We touch on some Hyrox, Kilian Jornet’s States of Elevation and the potential for cross country to join the winter Olympics. In other Olympic news we discuss some events in the T&F being held outside of the stadium before more in-depth discussions of t...

We are back and covering off the latest happenings in the sporting world. We cover Jan Frodeno doing a 55k trail race, a hot day at the Berlin Marathon and a quick review of the world championships cycling in Kigali, Rwanda. Then we touch on the Boston Marathon cutoff time before some scientific papers. The papers look at traditional fueling vs CGM informed fueling and whether the benefits of supe...

We have a special guest host this week, Kristi Storoschuk joins the podcast again to help David while Xylon is away. After a listener question on fueling they jump into some research. They discuss some fascinating papers including the impact of heat on carbohydrate and glycogen utilisation rates, the effects of a 7 day fast on performance and a paper looking at whether endurance athletes have more...

We start this week off with some NYC Marathon news before diving into some recent doping happenings. After this we review the Ironman World Championships in Nice before a look at the World Track and Field Championships. Finally we have our interview with Joseph Mestrallet.  Joseph Mestrallet is a data scientist ,CEO and Founder of Enduraw. Additionally he is currently the team manager at Nutri-pur...

We start off with a listener question about recovery runs before diving into the Hayden Wilde shoe saga and a mess at the Tokyo World Championships track & field with the warm up track. We then discuss whether the women’s & men’s races being on the same day for Paris Roubaix is going to be good for the women or not before briefly previewing the Ironman World Championships. We finish with t...

Lots to review this week with many insights shared about what has been happening in the world of sport. We look at Sydney as the 7th World Marathon Major, UTMB takeaways, some interesting things to look for post the Diamond League Finals and things to look forward to at NYC Marathon.  (00:00) Introduction (01:10) The Dog Ate Xylon’s Homework  (03:37) Does Ballet Help Running?  (05:03) Xylon Learns...

Before our interview, we cover a listener question and then take a look back at some Diamond League and forward to UTMB. We also discuss teenage phenoms Cooper Luteknhaus and Gout Gout. Finally we hear from Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio and Hannah Walker regarding weight in the Women’s peloton.  Clara Koppenburg is a professional road cyclist known for her versatility and climbing strength. She was encou...