1 % Better - Hidden Stories in Sport

Before our guest joins us, Xylon learns to tie shoelaces, we cover a listener question on heart rate during warm up and we review the Diamond League in Silesia. We then touch on the records from the Leadville 100 before a look at the Chicago and Sydney Marathon fields.  Our guest, joining us to discuss her upcoming Sydney Marathon is Lisa Weightman is a 4 time olympic marathon representative, qual...

We have a huge episode this week. Most importantly we discuss yoghurt gate but we also touch on a bunch of community shoutouts, some NFL, Crossfit, T100, UK & US track & field and the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift all before we get to our interview.  Our guest is Kristi Storoschuk who is a PhD Candidate in Muscle Physiology at Queen’s University with the goal of contributing to our unde...

This week starts with some absolute abhorrent behviour from Xylon before we get into some great community shoutouts. We then touch on athletes and accelerated recovery rates, why the NFL is hard to transition to for rugby players and Jan Frodeno’s chances at the OCC race at UTMB. We discuss the beer mile world record, and then our big topics; injuries and illness in cycling (how common are they?)...

Gary Fahey is a mental strength and performance specialist, mental health and addiction counsellor, public speaker and bestselling author. He currently works across the corporate and sporting spaces helping high-performing professionals and teams overcome crises, build resilience, and achieve sustainable success through his unique blend of experience and qualifications.  Gary’s story is a fascinat...

We tackle a number of listener questions in the episode covering topics like stress balance and coping, recovery nutrition, diet, microbiome and nutrition for sleep. We also discuss the value of training on the course you will race on and why this may be helpful.    (00:00) Introduction (00:19) Medical Question (05:23) David’s Update (06:15) Xylon’s Update (07:06) Why Are You So Hungry Post Swimmi...

Prior to our interview which is all about crewing and marginal gains we discuss Tracksmith’s new marathon team, why Nerd Clusters are gaining popularity for fueling and athletes changing countries.  Our guest is Dr Sam Shepherd is the head of sports science at Precision Fuel & Hydration and co-director and sports nutritionist at total endurance nutrition. Sam joins us to discuss his experience...

It’s been a huge week in endurance sport and specifically for Hiroki Kai who we talk about. We also discuss changes to qualification for the Ironman world championships, Challenge Roth result and private jet sponsorship controversy. We then recap the Eugene Diamond League with some insights and observations. Of course all our regular segments are here too.     (00:00) Introduction (00:19) Medical...

A big weekend in endurance sport sees us recap Western States, Ironman Frankfurt, the breaking of the backyard ultra world record and a quick discussion into East Africans in Trailrunning. We also touch on Sydney Marathon Elite fields and Challenge Roth drug testing age groupers.   Our guest is Robby Ketchell, a sports scientist and aerodynamics expert who helped engineer the Ineos 1:59 project wi...

After some quick updates and community shoutouts we hear from previous guest Matt Marquardt about his IM Cairns win. Before discussing the Paris Diamond League, Tyreek Hill vs Noah Lyles and the value of running a hard mile for long distance runners.  Our guest is Colleen Quigley is a professional middle distance runner representing the USA in the Rio 2016 Olympics. She joins us to discuss Meridia...

Aside from our normal segments we quickly discuss Grand Slam Track cancelling their LA slam, some friction issues at the Hyrox world champs and the Dauphine. We touch on the new Boston Marathon qualifying changes, Diamond League Stockholm and then the new tech Visma Lease a BIke are Using. We then get into the interview about determinants of tennis success following on from Roland Garros.  Our gue...

In a huge episode, we cover a large range of things this week, mostly around fast performances and how sport evolves. We announce our new sponsor, update listeners on ourselves and the evolution of some things we covered previous and have our community shoutouts. We then discuss fast Ironman performances, Killian Jornet, Diamond League, Sydney McLaughlan-Levrone and the Giro d’Italia. We also disc...

Emily Hawgood is a Professional trail runner for team Adidas Terrex. Hot off the heels of a high profile win at the 100k Canyons endurance run by UTMB she’s been top 10 at western states & UTMB for the last 4 years, though in 2023 this was in the CCC race at the UTMB festival. She has also previously won ultra trail Cape town. In this chat we discuss Canyons, prep for UTMB & Western states...

Aside from the usual segments, this week we touch on some contract related issues in rugby, the enhanced games and Akani Simbine sparks a longevity and GOATs discussion. We then discuss some differences in soccer vs NFL and coaching style based on pressure.    (00:00) Introduction (02:45) Doctor’s Question (04:23) Standalone vs Ironman Marathon (05:40) Hippocratic Oath (07:41) Xylon’s Update  (11:...

In episode 64, Xylon and David discuss sleep and breathing, the need for tendons to be loaded rather than completely rested and then touch on some listener questions on rest post event and planning race nutrition. They then discuss On sponsoring the ITA, Grand Slam track’s changes and then quantification of the energy expenditure in an ultramarathon. The finish off with how to overcome shirt aller...

We briefly touch on some community shoutouts, talk some hyrox and then review IM 70.3 St George as well as the Vuelta Espana Feminina before getting to this week’s interview.  We are joined this week by Barry Austin who is a Level 3 UCI Certified Coach & UCI Certified Sporting Director. His career as a cycling coach and performance specialist spans more than two decades at both national and in...

This week we are joined by Adjunct Professor Nicole Loher who is a climate scientist and communications expert to discuss an optimistic view on sustainability and sport.  Nicole is the founder of C3 Climate Communications Collective and an Adjunct professor of climate communications at NYU.  She holds a Bachelor's degree in marketing and communications from Fashion institute of technology and a Ma...

Another running heavy episode incoming. After some updates and a bucketload of shoutouts, we answer a listener question about breathing when running. Following this we review London marathon and some things we can learn from that, followed by reviewing Ironman Texas before discussing Faith Kipyegon’s 4min mile attempt. We finish off with the doctor’s office as usual.      (00:00) Introduction (00:...

Before we get to our main topic of the episode, time of day and how to optimise training and performance around it, we discuss other happenings in sport. Specifically we discuss the Amstel Gold race, London Marathon field changes, Quade Cooper’s flag football goals and the Boston Marathon. We then finish with Patrick Lange in the Doctor’s office.     (00:00) Introduction (01:42) Medical Question (...

We are joined by Tash Cooper-Smith from Precision Fuel & Hydration to discuss a paper she was an author on which covered the individualisation of carbohydrate requirements in athletes. Before we get to that, we cover a listener question and a tonne of community shoutouts before briefly discussing the Masters and Paris-Roubaix.    (00:00) Introduction (01:05) Xylon’s Update  (02:39) Exercise as...

On this week’s episode we discuss a fascinating listener question on blood donation and its impact on performance before reviewing some of the weekend’s sport and training of the elites heading to the London Marathon. We then look at a few papers on Infrared Sauna and Marathon Fueling before a quick discussion of Wout van Aert’s knee.    (00:00) Introduction (00:50) Medical Fact Checking (05:56) D...

Episode 57 is here and it brings all the regular segments and topics. We discuss some questions about pre race and marathon fueling as well as doing some community shoutouts. We move on to some happenings from IM South Africa and in the USADA world. Then we discuss an article about cyclists getting bigger before our main two topics; the torpedo bats the Yankees are using and a study examining the...

Xylon is back! He and Dave cover a bunch of ground including reviewing the World Indoor T&F championships, Chianti by UTMB and Milan San Remo. They also discuss Kirsty Coventry’s election to IOC presidency, some coaches caught cheating and an athlete signing a contract with Only Fans. They finish off with some interesting folks in the doctor’s office and discussing Martin Van Riel’s crazy raci...

Dave has a ring-in cohost in Xylon’s absence and this episode is quite running centric. Dave and guest host Dan review their recent race efforts with learnings, they then discuss fast running from Gout Gout, Jimmy Gressier and Jake Smith. They then touch on Eliud Kipchoge being used as a marketing tool, the Barkley Marathons and NYC Half Marathon results. Dave then interviews Rhodri Williams, who’...

After a brief chat about some recently cycling we are joined by journalist Mike Mehall Wood to discuss the origins of rugby league and rugby union, including the sociocultural factors that played into it, the week to week product and international expansion. Mike is a rugby league journalist currently writing for Roar Rugby League.  He has previously written for Forbes, VICE, LADbible, Dazed and H...

The birthday episode is here! Before discussing some listener questions on flexibility and Lionel Sanders’ recent health results, we discuss half marathon plans and fueling. Following this we spend some time on listener voice notes and finally discuss the Tokyo Marathon and the positive doping test of a professional triathlete.  (00:00) Introduction (06:30) David’s half Marathon Fueling Plan (07:1...