Fueling Endurance - Nutrition for Runners, Cyclists & Triathletes

Sounds like a simple question, but for runners, cyclists & triathletes, accurately estimating calorie needs is anything but simple. We're joined by Fuelin co-founder Scott Tindal to discuss how it's done, and the challenges he and I faced trying to accurately predict calories needs for users of the Fuelin app based on their training schedule, when they vary from complete novices to professiona...

In the first episode of this special 6 part podcast series, we meet our athlete guest Brett Kennedy and begin the process of preparing him for the 100km UItra Trail Australia (UTA) race in 12 week's time. We discuss his daily training nutrition, and start with a look at race logistics - accomodation, support crew and drop bags. If you're racing UTA or another event in May or June you can follow al...

For the last 15 years, we've recommended that athletes space out protein evenly across the day, in 20-40g serves. But is this based on poor assumptions? A new study, published in December 2023, put this narrative to the test. The lead author, Jorn Trommelen, joins us to discuss the results and what it means for you.   Podcast guest: Assistant Prof. Jorn Trommelen - Maastricht University M3 Researc...

When things go pear-shaped on race day, it's one thing to keep your head and come up with a plan, but how do you know it's the right plan that's going to work? In this episode we're joind by sports dietitian and ultra-runner Erin Colebatch to talk through strategies you can use when disaster strikes mid-race, from bonking to flavour fatigue, gut issues and cramping.  This episode follows on from o...

Ever been deep into the second half of a race, when things start falling apart? It could be bonking, cramping, gut issues or flavour fatigue. In the space of just a few minutes, your carefully constructed nutrition plan goes right out the window.  It’s easy to lose your head in situations like this, so in this podcast we welcome back legendary trail and ultra-running coach Jason Koop to share his...

Does replacing the sodium lost in sweat actually influence our thirst, our drinking and our hydration? If so, how much is enough? And do we need to measure our sweat sodium losses to give us the answers? In this episode Alan describes his recently published study where ultra-runners replaced 100% or 0% of their sodium losses during 5 hours of running in the heat, and what happened.   The study: Mc...

Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs) has reached significant awareness in recent years amongst runners, cyclists and triathletes. In late 2023 the International Olympic Committee (IOC) released an update to ther REDs Consensus Statement, the first in 5 years. It's based on the growing body of research and experience working with athletes in this area and provides more nuance, new insights an...

It’s our final podcast of 2023, and the follow up to our 3rd birthday special episode. And as we do each year, we’re going to look back and provide a brief summary of every question we’ve answered on the podcast, from “Should I eat like the pros?” to “What’s the deal with magnesium”, and “How do I work out my fluid needs during exercise?”. So if you’re new to the podcast and don’t have time to go...

From preventing food poisoning to optimising performance. From doctors demanding supplements be added to food, to food being the performance enhancer. In this special 3rd birthday episode, you'll learn how nutrition has evolved in pro cycling in the past decade, and what it takes to feed a team of riders at the Tour de France. Our guest is Nicki Strobel, a performance chef (and now dietitian) who'...

Triathlete Jenny Zenker joins us to describe how she manages double sessions alongside managing a major scientific research group at Monash University. From (very) early morning starts, commuting to and from work by bike, and managing the risk of gut issues in the evening session, Jenny tells the story of her journey to optimising her nutrition for these complex training days. Also listen out for...

The double-session day. It's common amongst triathletes, but increasingly popular amongst runners and cyclists too. But are you running out of gas in the second session, or even in the afternoon at work? In this episode, Alan & Steph explain the nutrition priorities for double-session days, as well as some practical tips on how to make it happen when you're flat out at work between sessions.

With a single genetic variation, some of us are fast, moderate or slow caffeine metabolisers. So should competitive athletes be doing genetic testing to inform their race day caffeine strategy? Just last week, a new meta-analysis was published that tries to answer this question by bringing together all the studies published to date. Two of the authors, Gabriel Barreto and Dr Bryan Saunders from th...

Metabolic adaptation, adaptive thermogenesis, metabolic compensation or even metabolic damage. These terms are thrown around a lot online, but what exactly do they mean, how much is science vs hype, and what's the relevance to runners, cyclists and triathletes? Dr José Areta (Liverpool John Moores University, UK) is a researcher and co-author of a recent paper looking at whether the metabolic adap...

In the last episode, Steph and Alan discussed how general nutrition advice may not always be suitable for runners, cyclists and triathletes. In this episode, we chat to distance runner Elise Beacom about her experience coming into the sport, trying to figure out sports nutrition vs general nutrition advice, and what she had to learn the hard way. And what it's like to run a half marathon in North...

Nutrition advice can be confusing for runners, cyclists & triathletes. With a firehose of information coming at you, from general nutrition professionals, sports nutrition experts, and wellness gurus, sometimes it can be hard to pick it all apart and work out what’s relevant to athletes, and what’s not. Today we’re going to look at those general nutrition messages, which whilst sensible for th...

It’s called the sunshine vitamin, and given we’re just coming to the end of winter here in the southern hemisphere, our Vitamin D stores should be at their lowest point of the year. So what exactly is this nutrient that we can get without eating any food? Why is it so important to runners, cyclists and triathletes? How much Vitamin D is enough, when should you get tested, and when, how much and wh...

In our last episode, we discussed with Dr Dana Lis how to decipher sports nutrition information you come across, and Dana shared with us her five step process for filtering that information. One of those steps was to figure out what is the cost and benefits of different nutrition strategies, your Return on Investment if you like. So today, we’re going to have a look at some of the most common nutr...

As runners, cyclists and triathletes, you often come across new information about nutrition for your sport. It can come from anywhere - a fellow athlete, a coach, an article you saw online, or even this podcast. But how do you filter that information and decide if it’s valid, useful, and most importantly, worth implementing for yourself? In this episode we’re joined by Dr Dana Lis, a Canadian spor...

We often hear the message that plant-based protein sources are inferior to animal sources, and recommendations from sports nutritionists often emphasise the use of dairy and other animal-based protein foods. In this episode we speak to protein researcher Dr Alistair Monteyne (University of Exeter) who’s done of the more recent animal vs non-animal protein comparisons. We’ll look at where this comm...

We’re joined by British ultra-trail runner and writer Damian Hall, who shares his personal journey to discovering the environmental impact of his running (including nutrition choices), the changes he's made as a result, and what he learnt along the way. We also chat about the Barkley Marathons which he ran earlier this year, and his recently published book, 'We Can't Run Away From This - Racing to...

We’ve answered almost 60 common questions about sports nutrition to date on this podcast, but one thing we don’t often consider is the environmental implications of our advice. Are we inadvertently contributing to climate change and destruction of the very environments we love to train and race in? Can we be good athletes and good global citizens, or are we facing an uncomfortable conflict of valu...

It seems every second runner, cyclist or triathlete you meet is taking, or talking about, magnesium. Ask them why and you often get some vague kind of answer - for recovery, for muscle function, or something a bit more specific like cramping. But when you delve into the sports nutrition guidelines, there’s no mention of magnesium in there. Literally nothing. So are athletes a step ahead of the sci...

Many runners, cyclists and triathletes, male and female, can find themselves struggling to perform, or to recover, from training. Or they may have other health complications, like loss of their menstrual cycle for females and low testosterone in males, loss of bone density, effects on mental health, and constantly getting sick all the time.  In this episode our guest is Tina Muir, former elite dis...

In previous podcasts we've talked about the issue of low energy availability and the health and performance problems it can cause for athletes. But what if you're in that situation right now? In this episode Bronwen Lundy (Rowing Australia) joins us to outline the strategies that athletes can use to recovery from Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S).

If you ever wanted to hear how strong is the link between nutrition and bone fractures, this is the story. We chat to Bobby Clay, former Under 20 European Champion in the 1500m, whose career took a sudden and unexpected turn. Many in the running community will already be familiar with Bobby's story after she wrote about her experience in Athletics Weekly in 2017 . With the benefit of hindsight Bob...