The Real Science of Sport Podcast

Support us on Discourse Discourse is our "sponsorship", our sole source of income. But it's way more than that - it's a community of experts and enthusiasts who share knowledge on everything sports science related. To become part of that, become a Patron of the site and join the conversation Travis T. Tygart is one of the most outspoken and controversial figures in anti-doping. As the Chief Execut...

In this Spotlight, we pick out some of the sports science topics that our listeners are sharing in our Discourse community. You can become a Real Science of Sport Supporter here , and a small monthly pledge gets you access to the community that discusses today's, and many other, topics! (00:00) We begin with a look at some of the reaction to our most recent podcast on Endurance , and the Central G...

Become a member of The Real Science of Sport Supporters Club to show your support and have your say. A perk of membership is Discourse, our community that chats about training, sports science, physiology and news. Show notes A midweek whip around the world of sport, with some sports science and management insights on stories making headlines this week. We cover: The LA 2028 Olympic Track and Field...

Support us on Discourse Discourse is our "sponsorship", our sole source of income. But it's way more than that - it's a community of experts and enthusiasts who share knowledge on everything sports science related. Oh, and it also inspires these Spotlight shows. To become part of all that, become a Patron of the site and join the conversation In today's show, we run the Spotlight over news stories...

Endurance has been one of the most hotly debated topics in sports science for over three decades. From early research in the 1930s to the ground-breaking 1996 address by Prof. Tim Noakes to the American College of Sports Medicine, understanding the principles of what keeps the body going during prolonged exercise is more complex than you think. In this episode, Mike and Ross take a look back at th...

Join Discourse! A small monthly pledge gets you access to the best Sports Science community on the interwebs . For opinions, insights on sport, advice on training and diet, Discourse is the place to be. A Spotlight dedicated to the news, as we split the Spotlight show into a news segment and a science segment. Today is the news segment, which covers: 3:02 A look back at the New York City Marathon,...

Discourse Support the show by becoming a Patron, which means a monthly pledge that is equal to buying us a cup of coffee! That gets you access to our Discourse community, where listeners share views and tips on sports science, health and training, and the chance to become part of the Sports Science conversation! Show notes In this Spotlight, we kick off with three doping stories in Discourse Diges...

Join Discourse! No pitch, just a link to sign up and show your support! In this week's show, we tackle intriguing physiological questions raised by listeners, explore whether different types of exercise interfere with one another to undermine training benefits, and run the Spotlight across stories from the sports world. In Digest this week (10:02): One of the great swimmers of the last decade, Ari...

Forty-year-old lawyer Andrew Feather hit the news headlines recently when he 'beat' Tadej Pogacar in an exhibition handicap uphill cycle race. Even though Feather may not have actually ridden the Pogi challenge faster than the world number 1 (he won by three minutes after getting a six minute head start with the rest of the amateur field), his performance was still staggering given that he is an a...

Support us on Discourse As Gareth mentioned, Discourse is our "sponsorship", our sole source of income. But it's way more than that - it's a community of experts and enthusiasts who share knowledge on everything sports science related. To become part of that, become a Patron of the site and join the conversation Show notes This week on Spotlight, we dive DEEP into the world of physiology, pacing,...

Discourse Support the show, and get way more fascinating insight than the Bros deliver on the pod! Everything in Spotlight is discussed, dissected and debated on Discourse, and membership is judge a small monthly pledge away Show notes It's a Bro-Science discussion today, as listener David inspired debate with a post on his epic Zone 2 indoor ride, and got us thinking - how do we spot Bro Science?...

Join Discourse and contribute to the Spotlight, and join the conversation - a small monthly donation gets you membership to our community, and that allows you to drive discussion around these shows, and get even more value and insight from what other listeners are sharing. Show notes In Spotlight this week, we look back at a packed weekend of sports action and offer insights on the big events. We...

The 2025 UCI World Road Cycling Championships in Kigali, Rwanda, delivered plenty of drama and debate, and SOS host Mike Finch was there to witness the action first-hand and ask if this was the best championships of the century. We also have the post-race interviews with the big stars and discuss whether Remco Evenepoel can really upset the two-time World Champion Tadej Pogacar at the upcoming Eur...

Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio is one of the most experienced riders in the women's pro peloton and, in 2025, celebrates her 15th appearance at the UCI World Cycling Championships in Kigali, Rwanda. This year the 39-year-old South African lines up as one of the favourites on a course that suits her strengths. But she will be up against the best in the world including powerful French and Dutch outfits led...

Spotlights are our weekly show that wraps up the news and the topics that you, the listener, are discussing in our VIP Discourse community . To become a member, to join the conversation, learn from the best online sports science community, or simply to show your support for the pod, you can make a small monthly pledge at Patreon . Show notes The Spotlight is back! This week, our Discourse Digest k...

Join the conversation on Discourse. Have your say and read what fellow listeners think of the Tokyo 2025 action. A small monthly pledge on Patron gets you that , and so much more, and is a way to show your support for what we do. On the Track today Tokyo 2025 is a wrap! On the final day, the surprises continued, as Kenya's Lilian Odira beat favourite Keely Hodgkinson to win the 800m title, securin...

Join the conversation on Discourse. Have your say and read what fellow listeners think of the Tokyo 2025 action. A small monthly pledge on Patron gets you that , and so much more, and is a way to show your support for what we do. On the Track today In track action today, the middle and long distance titans clashed, as Faith Kipyegon raced Beatrice Chebet over 5000m. A tactically intriguing race wi...

Join the conversation on Discourse. Have your say and read what fellow listeners think of the Tokyo 2025 action. A small monthly pledge on Patron gets you that , and so much more, and is a way to show your support for what we do. On the Track today Having missed Day 6 due to travel woes, we take a look back the highlights from Tokyo on Thursday, which included a historically fast women's 400, won...

Join the conversation on Discourse. Have your say and read what fellow listeners think of the Tokyo 2025 action. A small monthly pledge on Patron gets you that , and so much more, and is a way to show your support for what we do. On the Track today The Race we’d all been waiting for, and it didn’t fail to deliver! It did, however, deliver a major surprise, as Isaac Nader became 1500m world champio...

Join the conversation on Discourse. Have your say and read what fellow listeners think of the Tokyo 2025 action. A small monthly pledge on Patron gets you that , and so much more, and is a way to show your support for what we do. On the Track today It was a day for the pre-event favourites to deliver in Tokyo. Faith Kipyegon produced a near- perfect display of front-running to win yet another majo...

Join the conversation on Discourse. Have your say and read what fellow listeners think of the Tokyo 2025 action. A small monthly pledge on Patron gets you that , and so much more, and is a way to show your support for what we do. On the Track today A remarkable day, with gold and silver split by 0.03s in one of the great marathons, surprise gold medals in the Men's Steeplechase and Women's 100m hu...

Join the conversation on Discourse. Have your say and read what fellow listeners think of the Tokyo 2025 action. A small monthly pledge on Patron gets you that , and so much more, and is a way to show your support for what we do. On the Track today The fastest man and woman in the world were crowned on track in Tokyo today. Could Lyles defend his 100m crown and continue the US dominance of the eve...

Join the conversation on Discourse. Have your say and read what fellow listeners think of the Tokyo 2025 action. A small monthly pledge on Patron gets you that , and so much more, and is a way to show your support for what we do. On the Track today The first gold medals were contested on track today, with the women's 10000m and mixed 4 x 400m relays kicking off the gold rush. We dissect those race...

Become a Discourse member Join our community on Discourse - predict, pontificate, ponder and pledge - a small monthly donation gets you into the VIP room for the "best content on the internet!". Your support keeps us going! Show notes In this (supposed to be) quick Spotlight we look back and forward at the Women’s Rugby World Cup (02:08) and how the lack of competitive matches may be dulling the a...

The Tokyo World Athletics Championships kick off on September 13, and while the team are not there in presence, we will be bringing you recaps, insights and analysis through the 8 days of action. In this Preview show, we are joined by Guardian Chief Sports Writer, Sean Ingle , for a look ahead at the week of athletics. We discuss the placement of these World Championships in the calendar, and why...