Training Science Podcast

Ten years ago Dan Plews and I did ten-minute geek-outs on Bevan McKinnon’s Fitter Radio as Plews and Prof. Back then we were the two guys drinking ketone ester out of a bottle marked “not for human consumption.” This week we got the band back together. Dan is the Kona age-group record holder, now chasing a HYROX Worlds podium, Science Lead at Pillar Performance, lead author on the Sports Medicine...

What separates a good coach from a great one? Sometimes, it comes down to the words they use, the systems they build, and their ability to connect with athletes. In this episode, Dr Nick Winkelman joins us to reflect on his journey from helping develop EXOS into a globally recognized coaching education platform to leading athletic performance within Irish Rugby. Nick shares how the EXOS training p...

What does it actually take to become a faster HYROX athlete? Dr Charlie Davids joins us to explore the physiological demands of HYROX, combining his research in muscle physiology and strength training with his own experience competing in the sport. The conversation examines why aerobic capacity provides the foundation for HYROX performance, how lactate threshold and critical speed influence race p...

Developing a footballer is about more than preparing them for the next match. It means understanding what that individual player needs to keep training, developing, and ultimately reach their potential. Mattia Modonutti joins us to share his approach to player development and performance within elite football. Rather than treating performance as a collection of separate disciplines and datasets, M...

For decades, VO2 max, movement economy, and fractional utilization of VO2max have been widely presented as three key determinants of endurance performance. But how strong is the evidence for that third piece? Yannick Sondermann and Dr Lars Schwalm join us this week to challenge some long standing assumptions around fractional utilization and explore whether it truly deserves the weight it has been...

We have more athlete tracking data than ever before. But are we actually measuring what matters? Dr Ted Polglaze joins the podcast to reflect on more than three decades in sports science, from manually tracking athletes on VHS tapes to the arrival of GPS and today's increasingly sophisticated approaches to measuring movement and load. His career has spanned multiple Olympic campaigns, elite f...

Top Episode Replay: HEAT🔥  training is ESTABLISHED, EASY ✅ and FOR EVERYONE! Get on it NOW! Brad Culp wants you to understand that HEAT training is not a FAD, and that PREPARING for your ENVIRONMENT is ESSENTIAL to your performance. Norwegians can do it, so can you! Plus, training is cheap🤑! In the 139th episode of The Training Science Podcast, Paul and Brad discuss: 🔎 the FULL SCOPE of the “N...

What actually happens to the body when an athlete enters dangerously cold water? Dr Jørgen Melau brings more than 20 years of experience as Safety Director and Chief of the Medical and Safety Team at the Norseman Extreme Triathlon, alongside a background in helicopter search and rescue and research into cold water swimming. In this episode, Jørgen breaks down the physiology of cold water immersion...

Athletes have access to more data than ever before. But more data does not automatically lead to better decisions. In this episode, Mollie Brewer explores the intersection of sports science, artificial intelligence, wearable technology, and human computer interaction. Drawing on her experience in professional cycling and her current research in computer science, Mollie explains why getting the fun...

HYROX is exploding in popularity, but the science behind what actually drives performance is only beginning to catch up. Dr Ludwig Rappelt joins the podcast to unpack new research examining the demands of HYROX and how performance has evolved across its first seven seasons. With running accounting for nearly half of total race time, endurance provides the foundation, but the data suggests strength...

What happens when you stop looking at performance through the lens of individual disciplines and start putting performance itself at the centre? Katie Slattery and Jamie Stanley unpack their Performance Centred Practice framework, developed from years of experience across the Australian high performance system. They explore how coaches, sport scientists, practitioners, and athletes can build a sha...

What can AI reveal about the training habits of the world's best distance runners? In this episode, we dive into groundbreaking new research that combines artificial intelligence with one of the most unique datasets ever collected from elite Ethiopian marathon and half marathon runners. From uncovering hidden training patterns to understanding why context matters more than raw data, this conv...

Breaking into elite football isn't always a straight path. For Daniel Caraça, it meant years of unpaid internships, balancing university with part time jobs, and never losing sight of the bigger goal. In this episode, Daniel shares his remarkable journey from studying sports science in the UK and volunteering across Scottish football to earning his first professional role with Pafos FC and he...

What if one of the most powerful performance tools isn't a supplement, a training method, or new technology, but belief itself? In this episode, S&C specialist Assoc Prof Vince Kelly explores the science behind the belief effect and how athlete expectations, coach communication, environment, and trust can meaningfully influence performance outcomes. From placebo and nocebo effects to coac...

Supporting young female athletes requires more than great training programs. It starts with understanding the unique physiological, psychological, and developmental changes they experience throughout puberty. In this episode, Dr Julia Casadio shares her personal journey from aspiring Olympian to elite sport physiologist, and explains how those experiences inspired the creation of Her Strength. Tog...

How do you build stronger, more powerful footballers when there is barely enough time to recover between matches? In this episode, Nick Grantham shares how his approach to strength and conditioning has evolved after years working in elite Olympic sport and the English Premier League. The conversation explores why strength remains a cornerstone of elite football performance, how to individualize tr...

⚡ EVOLVING COACHING for MODERN ATHLETES: INSIGHTS with JONAS DODOO 🏃‍♂️🔥 From sprinting mechanics to AI-driven analysis, Jonas Dodoo is helping redefine what effective coaching looks like in today’s game ⚽💨 In this episode of The Training Science Podcast, Martin sits down with Jonas to unpack how coaches can stay ahead in a rapidly evolving landscape: 🧠 Balancing physical preparation with me...

Training isn't just about replicating race demands. It's about understanding the physiology that drives performance. In this episode, Dr Gabriele Gallo, founder of Knowledge is Watts, joins us to explore the concept of a physiology first approach to endurance training. Together, we discuss why successful coaching goes beyond chasing power numbers, how low and high intensity training work...

For decades, lactate was viewed as a waste product associated with fatigue and declining performance. Today, a growing body of research paints a very different picture. In this episode, sports scientist and researcher Aitor Viribay Morales explores the evolving science of lactate, from its role as a critical fuel source to its emerging importance as a signaling molecule that influences performance...

What happens when you study people who have spent decades consistently running marathons? In this episode, we sit down with researcher and multi marathoner Leo Lundy to explore what endurance athletes can teach us about healthy aging, longevity, and lifelong performance. Drawing from his PhD research on multi marathoners around the world, Leo shares insights into cardiovascular fitness, VO₂ max, a...

What does it take to build a high performance culture inside elite European football? In this episode, Martin sits down with Christian Clarup to discuss his journey from academy football in Denmark to leadership roles at FC Midtjylland, Sparta Prague, the Danish National Team, and the Bundesliga. Christian shares lessons learned from working across different countries, cultures, and football envir...

What should endurance athletes actually eat before training? Does fasted training improve adaptation? And why do some athletes thrive on high carbohydrate intake while others perform better with less? In this episode, Dr Jeff Rothschild joins the podcast to unpack the complexity behind endurance nutrition, recovery, and training adaptation. Drawing from his work as a sports dietitian, researcher,...

🥑 RETHINKING NUTRITION in ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE 💥🧠 Tim Noakes & Phil Maffetone aren’t afraid to challenge the status quo — especially when it comes to CARBS, FAT, and FUELING the brain 🧬 In this thought-provoking episode of The Training Science Podcast, Paul, Tim & Phil dig into what REALLY fuels performance: 🔥 How FAT OXIDATION supports endurance when carbs run low  🧠 Why the BRAIN—...

What if endurance performance is not so much about VO2max, lactate threshold, or running economy… but more about the muscular system itself? In this episode, Dr Marius Bakken shares the thinking behind his latest book The Norwegian Method Applied and the decades of experimentation that shaped his approach to endurance training. From double threshold training and lactate controlled intensity to mus...

What really happens to your neuromuscular system after different types of HIIT — and how do we know? This episode does something we've been building toward for years: puts real data behind the HIIT Science taxonomy. Using low-frequency fatigue measurements from Myocene technology, Martin Buchheit tested the taxonomy on himself — mapping how different interval types load and recover the neurom...