Fueling Endurance - Nutrition for Runners, Cyclists & Triathletes: Recent Episodes
Stephanie Gaskell and Alan McCubbin
Nutrition podcast for runners, cyclists & triathletes. Sports dietitians Steph Gaskell & Alan McCubbin answer the most common nutrition questions the runners, cyclists & triathletes ask, with help from guest researchers, practitioners, athletes & coaches.
Anyone who’s ever done an interval session, or a hard effort in a race, knows that feeling of fatigue setting in as you hold on for dear life. But is this really all the result of lactic acid, or is something else going on? Can the nutrition strategies used in shorter, more intense events like track cycling or rowing now be applied in longer endurance sports to get more out of ourselves during those hard efforts in training or race day? And why, at this years’ Tour de France, are we hearing stories emerge of cyclists consuming lactate, the very thing we’re told is the root cause of all that suffering?
Timestamps:
05:14 - Intro and Bryan's change in workplace
10:42 - Lactate vs lactic acid, and its role in the body
17:08 - Lactate testing, thresholds and what it means for physiology
25:36 - The roles of lactate in body
30:12 - Fueling Endurance Practitioner Membership, T-12 course for athletes, eBook
32:38 - What are buffering supplements and why are they now being used in endurance sports?
40:33 - What is sodium bicarbonate and how does it work?
42:50 - Does the form of sodium bicarb matter (drink vs tablets vs capsules vs mini-tablets/hydrogel)?
49:07 - Sodium bicarb and gastrointestinal issues - how to avoid
54:22 - Dose of sodium bicarb for a performance effect
57:51 - Timing of bicarb for performance - why are cyclists taking it during exercise (rather than before)?
1:03:06 - Is there evidence that bicarb can work for performance in endurance training or competition?
1:05:24 - What is beta-alanine and how does it work?
1:06:50 - Dose and form of beta-alanine and potential side effects
1:09:33 - Need for prolonged supplementation with beta-alanine
1:12:58 - Evidence for beta-alanine or bicarb + beta-alanine combined for endurance performance
1:18:16 - Exogenous lactate supplements/gels
1:20:37 - Is the concept of exogenous lactate supplements new?
1:23:07 - Are the ways exogenous lactate is being used new in professional sport, and is there evidence it works?
1:26:44 - What's likely to happen next with exogenous lactate?
1:28:59 - Bryan's other current research
1:31:45 - Follow up re. exogenous lactate products
1:41:34 - Wrap up
Guest - Dr Bryan Saunders - University of São Paulo
ResearchGate: researchgate.net/profile/Bryan-Saunders-2
X: @Bicycle_Bryan
Studies mentioned in this episode:
- Farias de Oliveira L et al. (2022). Extracellular Buffering Supplements to Improve Exercise Capacity and Performance: A Comprehensive Systematic Review and Meta‐analysis. Sports Medicine. 52:505-526. DOI: 10.1007/s40279-021-01575-x.
- Ewell TR. et al. (2024). The Influence of Acute Oral Lactate Supplementation on Responses to Cycle Ergometer Exercise: A Randomized, Crossover Pilot Clinical Trial. Nutrients. 16(16):2624. DOI: 10.3390/nu16162624
Fueling Endurance eBook | T -12 Race Nutrition Course | Practitioner Resources
The Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 84 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask, and contains insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes. The T -12 self-guided course will help prepare you for your next event, with online tools, guides, information and instructions to take you through the 12 weeks leading up to race day. And the Fueling Endurance Practitioner Membership provides access to online tools and calculators I use all the time when working with endurance and ultraendurance athletes. This includes working out the carbohydrate needs for runners (road and trail) and cyclists for different types of training sessions. For more into on each of these, check out fuelingendurance.com.
Starchy foods like pasta, rice and potatoes are an important part of the diet for most runners, cyclists, and triathletes. But in an era of pre-packaged meals and reheated leftovers, are we really getting in the carbs we think we are? Starch retrogradation is the process when cooked starchy foods cool down again. Does this reduce the availability of those carbs? And can it be reversed by reheating the food?
Timestamps:
01:44 - Listener question and background
04:41 - Understanding carbohydrates - sugars and starches
09:00 - Resistant starch
10:04 - What cooking does to starch
14:32 - What happens when starchy foods are cooked then cooled
15:55 - How big is the effect of cooling on digestible carbs?
19:34 - What happens when starchy foods are reheated?
21:07 - Summary
22:03 - Wrap up
Fueling Endurance eBook | T -12 Race Nutrition Course | Practitioner Resources
The Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask, and contains insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes. The T -12 self-guided course will help prepare you for your next event, with online tools, guides, information and instructions to take you through the 12 weeks leading up to race day. And the Fueling Endurance Practitioner Membership provides access to online tools and calculators I use all the time when working with endurance and ultraendurance athletes. This includes working out the carbohydrate needs for runners (road and trail) and cyclists for different types of training sessions. For more into on each of these, check out fuelingendurance.com.
It's been one of the most popular supplements of the last few years. A lot of endurance athletes take collagen regularly, but what is it for, how should it be taken, and is there evidence it lives up to the claims? We’re joined by Assistant Prof. Jorn Trommelen, a protein researcher whose lab has done some of the most recent work in this area, to answer our questions.
Timestamps:
04:00 - Intro and revisiting Jorn's previous episode (Ep. 73)
12:17 - What is collagen (in the body and as a supplement)?
16:53 - The different types of collagen - does it matter?
22:20 - How did collagen become so popular as a supplement?
30:10 - Why are the supplements always hydrolysed collagen or "collagen peptides"?
31:35 - Fueling Endurance Practitioner Membership, T-12 course for athletes, eBook
33:51 - What are the theoretical reasons for taking collagen supplements?
35:28 - Do you actually need collagen or would any source of these amino acids work?
40:56 - Do you need to take Vitamin C along with collagen?
44:53 - State of scientific evidence for collagen - muscle, tendon, bone tissue.
1:01:57 - Jorn's summary and practical recommendations
1:10:11 - Wrap up
Guest - Assistant Prof. Jorn Trommelen - Maastricht University
Lab Website: m3-research.nl
Research Profile: maastrichtuniversity.nl/j-trommelen
Instagram: @nutritiontactics
Studies mentioned in this episode:
- Aussieker T et al. 10.1249/MSS.0000000000003596.
- Aussieker T et al. The Effects of Ingesting a Single Bolus of Hydrolyzed Collagen versus Free Amino Acids on Muscle Connective Protein Synthesis Rates10.1249/MSS.0000000000003788.
- Buchalski A et al. Collagen Supplementation on Tendon-Related Structural and Performance Outcomes: A Systematic Review. J Funct Morphol Kinesiol. 2026. 11(1):130. DOI: 10.3390/jfmk11010130
Fueling Endurance eBook | T -12 Race Nutrition Course | Practitioner Resources
The Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 84 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask, and contains insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes. The T -12 self-guided course will help prepare you for your next event, with online tools, guides, information and instructions to take you through the 12 weeks leading up to race day. And the Fueling Endurance Practitioner Membership provides access to online tools and calculators I use all the time when working with endurance and ultraendurance athletes. This includes working out the carbohydrate needs for runners (road and trail) and cyclists for different types of training sessions. For more into on each of these, check out fuelingendurance.com.
If you’re planning an ultra-distance running or cycling event, there’s a good chance you’ll be relying on support crew to help get you through it. But what makes a great support crew when it comes to nutrition? How do you best prepare them to support you? And what does success look like? To find out, we're joined by ultrarunner, sport nutritionist, and experienced support crew member, Rachel White.
Timestamps:
04:11 - Rachel's experience as an athlete, crew member, and dietitian
13:20 - The main roles of support crew
21:08 - Preparing support crew before an event
39:46 - Fueling Endurance Practitioner Membership, T-12 course for athletes, eBook
42:02 - Challenges support crew may face during the event (theoretical and practical)
54:48 - Communication between athlete and crew during an event
1:02:09 - What does the optimal crewing experience look like to the athlete?
1:03:52 - Collecting athlete data during an event for post-event analysis
1:10:58 - Final thoughts from Rachel
1:13:26 - Bonus Round
1:19:34 - Wrap up
Guest - Rachel White:
Website: rachelwhitenutrition.com
Instagram: @rachelwhitenutrition
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rachel-white-96102896
Fueling Endurance eBook | T -12 Race Nutrition Course | Practitioner Resources
The Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 84 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask, and contains insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes. The T -12 self-guided course will help prepare you for your next event, with online tools, guides, information and instructions to take you through the 12 weeks leading up to race day. And the Fueling Endurance Practitioner Membership provides access to online tools and calculators I use all the time when working with endurance and ultraendurance athletes. This includes working out the carbohydrate needs for runners (road and trail) and cyclists for different types of training sessions. For more into on each of these, check out fuelingendurance.com.
Wearable sweat sensors have entered the market promising easy, accurate, repeatable, and in some cases, real-time feedback on sweat fluid and sodium losses. But do the claims live up to the hype? In this episode, we’ll unpack who these devices might be relevant to, the options currently available on the market, how they work, and most importantly, are they accurate?
Timestamps:
01:01 - Fueling Endurance updates - eBook, Practitioner Membership, Podcast
05:31 - What are wearable sweat sensors?
12:08 - The first step - smart sweat patches
13:39 - Reusable, wearable sweat sensors
20:31 - Nix Biosensor device
22:38 - hDrop
23:09 - Flowbio - newly published validation study
28:47 - My own experiences and comparisons
35:06 - Where does this leave us now?
36:20 - Additional considerations
41:39 - The problem interpreting individual validation studies
43:29 - Wrap up
Research mentioned in this episode:
Baker LB. et al. (2020). Skin-interfaced microfluidic system with personalized sweating rate and sweat chloride analytics for sports science applications. Sci Adv. 6:eabe3929. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abe3929
Bandiera D. et al. (2026). Sweat sodium composition and sweat loss estimation through wearable sensors and predictive equations in dry and humid hot conditions. Front Physiol. 16:1717275. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2025.1717275
Fueling Endurance eBook | T -12 Race Nutrition Course | Practitioner Resources
The Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask, and contains insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes. The T -12 self-guided course will help prepare you for your next event, with online tools, guides, information and instructions to take you through the 12 weeks leading up to race day. And the Fueling Endurance Practitioner Membership provides access to online tools and calculators I use all the time when working with endurance and ultraendurance athletes. This includes working out the carbohydrate needs for runners (road and trail) and cyclists for different types of training sessions. For more into on each of these, check out fuelingendurance.com.
It's the end of 2025, and like each previous year we’re looking back and providing a brief summary of every question we’ve answered on the podcast in the past year, from “Are high carb diets a health concern for athletes?” to “Do I need a multivitamin?”, and “Can I trust AI with my sports nutrition questions?”. So if you’re new to the podcast and don’t have time to go through the whole back catalogue, or you just want a refresher and the key points from the past year's episodes, this is the place for you.
Timestamps:
01:15 - Are high carb diets a health concern for athletes?
03:43 - How does sports nutrition evolve?
05:47 - What is periodised nutrition, and is it beneficial?
10:12 - Can GLP-1 agonists work for runners, cyclists and triathletes?
12:55 - Does nutrition have a role to play in injury prevention?
15:00 - Should I go gluten-free?
17:53 - Can I predict my sweat losses without actually measuring them?
20:13 - Can I trust AI with my sports nutrition questions?
25:03 - Can menthol improve my performance in the heat?
26:57 - Do I need a multivitamin?
30:22 - Is there an optimal drink mix composition?
34:32 - How should I use the new TrainingPeaks carbohydrate and fat calorie metrics?
37:22 - Are omega-3's important for athletic performance?
40:53 - Can my nutrition reduce the chances of getting sick?
44:44 - How much sodium do I need before, during, and after exercise?
48:49 - Can I change my gut microbiome, and will it help me as an athlete?
51:46 - How do I manage exercise, nutrition, and Type 1 Diabetes?
54:05 - 5th anniversary special - Data-driven nutrition planning for ultra-distance events
54:52 - What is exogenous carbohydrate oxidation testing, and how would it benefit me?
59:37 - Wrap up
Fueling Endurance eBook | T -12 Race Nutrition Course | Practitioner Resources
The Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask, and contains insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes. The T -12 self-guided course will help prepare you for your next event, with online tools, guides, information and instructions to take you through the 12 weeks leading up to race day. And the Fueling Endurance Practitioner Membership provides access to online tools and calculators I use all the time when working with endurance and ultraendurance athletes. This includes working out the carbohydrate needs for runners (road and trail) and cyclists for different types of training sessions. For more into on each of these, check out fuelingendurance.com.
In the past decade, we've gone from low carb to high carb. Are we now heading towards a new era of personalised carb? In this episode I speak to two experts about exactly what exogenous carbohydrate oxidation is, how the testing works, who might benefit from this type of testing, and how to interpret the results.
Timestamps:
04:09 - Tim and Gareth's background and research
10:50 - What is exogenous carbohydrate oxidation?
11:41 - How do you test exogenous carbohydrate oxidation rate?
16:26 - How should an athlete prepare for exogenous oxidation testing?
19:10 - The importance of doing the test properly
22:50 - Are we testing maximal oxidation capacity, or replicating race conditions?
23:44 - What's the real-world benefit of exogenous carbohydrate oxidation testing?
28:17 - Making this testing available to athletes
33:58 - Assumptions, caveats and limitations to exogenous oxidation testing
37:33 - The difference between relative and absolute exercise intensity - does it matter here?
40:52 - What happens when you overfeed carbohydrate during exercise
43:59 - Why Tim and Gareth only test for glucose (and not fructose) oxidation
47:13 - How carb intake recommendations are made based on test results
50:58 - Can you improve exogenous oxidation through exercise or gut training?
57:26 - The (very) high carb trend - will testing help prevent unnecessary carb intake?
1:00:48 - Who might benefit most from testing, and do gut issues predict oxidation abiilty?
1:07:35 - Unanswered questions in this area
1:10:37 - Bonus Round
1:13:42 - Summary, unanswered questions and wrap up
Research mentioned in this episode:
Podlogar T, Cooper-Smith N, Gonzalez JT, Wallis GA. (2025). Personalised carbohydrate feeding during exercise based on exogenous glucose oxidation: a proof-of-concept study. Performance Nutrition. 1:2. doi: 10.1186/s44410-025-00003-9
Dr Tim Podlogar:
University of Exeter: experts.exeter.ac.uk/43996-tim-podlogar
Instagram: @tpodlogar
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timpodlogar
Prof Gareth Wallis:
University of Birmingham: birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/sportex/wallis-gareth
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gareth-wallis-8291a441/
Oxidation testing service (Fuel Sync) coming in Jan 2026
Fueling Endurance eBook | T -12 Race Nutrition Course | Practitioner Resources
The Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask, and contains insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes. The T -12 self-guided course will help prepare you for your next event, with online tools, guides, information and instructions to take you through the 12 weeks leading up to race day. And the Fueling Endurance Practitioner Membership provides access to online tools and calculators I use all the time when working with endurance and ultraendurance athletes. This includes working out the carbohydrate needs for runners (road and trail) and cyclists for different types of training sessions. For more into on each of these, check out fuelingendurance.com.
It’s the fifth anniversary of the podcast! In this special episode, we’re joined by Paul Booth, who put together the nutrition plan for both the men’s and women’s winners of the 2025 Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc, or UTMB. We’ll hear how lots of different topics from previous podcasts came together for these two world class athletes, how lab testing helped inform their nutrition strategies, and how it pays to personalise your strategy based on the athlete’s own data, and not just follow the trends that all the top guys and girls are doing.
Timestamps:
05:42 - Paul's background and PhD research
11:04 - Paul's role as lead nutritionist for Salomon
18:03 - The evolution in the professionalism of nutrition in ultra trail running
23:46 - Working with the men's and women's winners of UTMB
28:32 - The use lab testing to inform carb intake strategies
38:30 - Understanding the demand for carbs across the event and how the course terrain shapes this
43:30 - Beyond just a grams per hour target - planning carbs and food/fluids for ultra-distance events
54:44 - Gut training for Ruth and Tom
58:09 - Hydration and sodium replacement testing and planning
1:06:32 - Crewing at UTMB
1:09:41 - Reflections on nutrition planning for UTMB and other ultra-distance events
1:11:20 - Applying the lessons from elite athletes to the everyone else
1:16:36 - Bonus Round
1:18:43 - Summary and wrap up
Paul Booth:
Instagram: @ultra.endurance.nutritionist
Website: performancegainsnutrition.com
If you're interested in participating in Paul's research (in the UK): performancegainsnutrition.com/contact
Fueling Endurance eBook | T -12 Race Nutrition Course | Practitioner Resources
The Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask, and contains insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes. The T -12 self-guided course will help prepare you for your next event, with online tools, guides, information and instructions to take you through the 12 weeks leading up to race day. And the Fueling Endurance Practitioner Membership provides access to online tools and calculators I use all the time when working with endurance and ultraendurance athletes. This includes working out the carbohydrate needs for runners (road and trail) and cyclists for different types of training sessions. For more into on each of these, check out fuelingendurance.com.
Juggling training, nutrition, and day-to-day life can be a challenge. But throw in the complexities of Type 1 Diabetes, and it’s a whole new ball game. In this special episode to coincide with World Diabetes Day, I'm joined by co-founder of Enhance-d and former head of research at Team Novo Nordisk, Sam Scott. Sam gives us a peek into the world of diabetes management for the endurance athlete. We’ll discuss what Type 1 diabetes actually is, how it’s managed, the impact of exercise, and the innovations in devices and data management that are making life a little easier to make this all work. Whether you’re an athlete with Type 1, a nutrition practitioner, or you’re just curious what it’s all about, there’ll be plenty in this episode for you.
Timestamps:
03:13 - Sam's background and how he came to work in diabetes and exercise
13:07 - What is Type 1 Diabetes and how is it managed?
25:57 - How does exercise affect blood glucose control with Type 1 Diabetes?
35:26 - Giving insulin with a pen vs a pump for athletes
41:38 - 'Closed loop' systems for glucose monitoring and insulin delivery in athletes
45:41 - Does high volume endurance training make diabetes management harder?
50:11 - Sam's role at Team Novo Nordisk (professional cycling team where all riders have Type 1 Diabetes)
56:59 - Tech and data insights, including Sam's role in founding Enhance-d, and the role of AI in diabetes management
1:08:28 - Very low carb diets and the very high carb (during exercise) trend in athletes with Type 1 Diabetes
1:11:33 - The future of nutrition, exercise and Type 1 Diabetes
1:14:13 - Summary and wrap up
Sam's work:
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sam-scott-phd-620a97a2/
Sam's book: Empowered: The Science of Exercise with Type 1 Diabetes (available from Amazon)
Enhance-d (bringing together data on exercise and diabetes management): enhance-d.com
Fueling Endurance eBook | T -12 Race Nutrition Course | Practitioner Resources
The Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask, and contains insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes. The T -12 self-guided course will help prepare you for your next event, with online tools, guides, information and instructions to take you through the 12 weeks leading up to race day. And the Fueling Endurance Practitioner Membership provides access to online tools and calculators I use all the time when working with endurance and ultraendurance athletes. This includes working out the carbohydrate needs for runners (road and trail) and cyclists for different types of training sessions. For more into on each of these, check out fuelingendurance.com.
The gut microbiome is a term that's thrown around a lot. But what does it actually mean? Is there a particular gut microbiome that's more common in athletes? And should athletes be trying to shape their microbiome to benefit their health or performance?
Timestamps:
02:10 - What is the gut microbiome?
13:50 - What are short chain fatty acids, and what's their significance?
18:00 - How do you determine someone's microbiome?
23:59 - Species vs strain of microbiota
30:08 - Is there an "athletic microbiome" that's common to most athletes?
32:00 - Effect of pre/pro/syn/postbiotics on performance
42:38 - Effect of pre/pro/syn/postbiotics on illness prevention and treatment
45:44 - Effect of pre/pro/syn/postbiotics on gut issues during exercise
52:12 - Practical advice for using pre/pro/syn/postbiotics
55:30 - Bonus round and Monash University study
59:14 - Summary and wrap up
Read the research paper (open access):
Gaskell S et al. Gut microbiota and exercise: A systematic review of interventions and evidence limitations. Int J Sports Med. 2025: doi: https://doi.org/10.1055/a-2705-2210
Current study recruiting at Monash University (looking for distance runners aged 18-55): https://www.monash.edu/medicine/scs/nutrition/research/volunteer#Pre-Exercise
Fueling Endurance eBook | T -12 Race Nutrition Course | Practitioner Resources
The Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask, and contains insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes. The T -12 self-guided course will help prepare you for your next event, with online tools, guides, information and instructions to take you through the 12 weeks leading up to race day. And the Fueling Endurance Practitioner Membership provides access to online tools and calculators I use all the time when working with endurance and ultraendurance athletes. This includes working out the carbohydrate needs for runners (road and trail) and cyclists for different types of training sessions. For more into on each of these, check out fuelingendurance.com.
There’s been a lack of clear guidelines around how much sodium to take before, during and after exercise, to optimise health and performance. That created a vacuum, which anyone with a vested interest was more than happy to fill with suggestions. But we’re now getting to the stage where we can make some more specific, quantifiable recommendations about sodium for endurance athletes, before, during and after exercise. I had the privilege of being invited to put these recommendations together, so in this episode, I’ll walk you through them.
Timestamps:
02:37 - Do athletes need more sodium on a day-to-day basis?
14:42 - Sodium before exercise
25:25 - Sodium during exercise
44:32 - Sodium after exercise
49:28 - TLDL: Summary
52:13 - Unanswered questions
Read the research paper (open access):
McCubbin AJ. Sodium intake for athletes before, during and after exercise: review and recommendations. Performance Nutrition. 2025; 1:11. doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s44410-025-00011-9
Fueling Endurance eBook | T -12 Race Nutrition Course | Practitioner Resources
The Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask, and contains insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes. The T -12 self-guided course will help prepare you for your next event, with online tools, guides, information and instructions to take you through the 12 weeks leading up to race day. And the Fueling Endurance Practitioner Membership provides access to online tools and calculators I use all the time when working with endurance and ultraendurance athletes. This includes working out the carbohydrate needs for runners (road and trail) and cyclists for different types of training sessions. For more into on each of these, check out fuelingendurance.com.
There seems to be two types of endurance athletes - those who are always getting sick when their training volume increases, and those who don’t. But why? In this episode we investigate the evidence around nutrition, the immune system, and illness in athletes, and come to a conclusion of what you can do to prevent getting sick during those hard training blocks, and bounce back quickly when illness does strike.
Fueling Endurance eBook | T -12 Race Nutrition Course | Practitioner Resources
The Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask, and contains insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes.
The T -12 self-guided course will help prepare you for your next event, with online tools, guides, information and instructions to take you through the 12 weeks leading up to race day.
And the Fueling Endurance Practitioner Membership provides access to online tools and calculators I use all the time when working with endurance and ultraendurance athletes. This includes working out the carbohydrate needs for runners (road and trail) and cyclists for different types of training sessions.
For more into on each of these, check out fuelingendurance.com.
Fish oil, or omega-3 supplements, are one of the most widely used supplement among the general population. But there's also been suggestions of specific benefits for athletes.
So what exactly are omega 3’s? What do they do in the body? What foods and supplements do they come from, and most importantly, do the benefits live up to the marketing hype when it comes to health and performance?
Studies/Websites mentioned:
AIS Sports Supplements Framework - Fish Oil (Group B): https://www.ausport.gov.au/ais/nutrition/supplements/group_b/other/fish-oils
Fueling Endurance eBook | T -12 Race Nutrition Course | Practitioner Resources
The Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask, and contains insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes.
The T -12 self-guided course will help prepare you for your next event, with online tools, guides, information and instructions to take you through the 12 weeks leading up to race day.
And the Fueling Endurance Practitioner Membership provides access to online tools and calculators I use all the time when working with endurance and ultraendurance athletes. This includes working out the carbohydrate needs for runners (road and trail) and cyclists for different types of training sessions.
For more into on each of these, check out fuelingendurance.com.
Fuelin:
This episode is supported by Fuelin, the world's first training-based nutrition app. It syncs with your training plan (in TrainingPeaks, Final Surge, TriDot, Run Dot or Humango) and creates a personalised nutrition plan, built around your training schedule and tailored to your goals. You’ll see adjustments in your fuelling both within and outside of training sessions, using a traffic light system to adjust your carb intake to fuel appropriately for your needs. The new-look Version 2 app has just launched, providing an even better user experience.
To get 20% off your first month, go to fuelin.com and enter the code FE20 at checkout.
TrainingPeaks just launched a new set of data fields that promise to give insights into carbohydrate and fat use during exercise - even predicted amounts for planned sessions if enough data is provided.
So where did this come from? What is it telling us? How should I use this information? And is it unique, or are there other ways to achieve the same thing?
Studies/Websites mentioned:
TrainingPeaks Fueling Insights: https://www.trainingpeaks.com/coach-blog/introducing-fueling-insights/
Rothschild J et al. A Novel Method to Predict Carbohydrate and Energy Expenditure During Endurance Exercise Using Measures of Training Load. Sports Med. 2025; 55:753-774. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-024-02131-z
Fueling Endurance eBook | T -12 Race Nutrition Course | Practitioner Resources
The Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask, and contains insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes.
The T -12 self-guided course will help prepare you for your next event, with online tools, guides, information and instructions to take you through the 12 weeks leading up to race day.
And the Fueling Endurance Practitioner Membership provides access to online tools and calculators I use all the time when working with endurance and ultraendurance athletes. This includes working out the carbohydrate needs for runners (road and trail) and cyclists for different types of training sessions.
For more into on each of these, check out fuelingendurance.com.
Fuelin:
This episode is supported by Fuelin, the world's first training-based nutrition app. It syncs with your training plan (in TrainingPeaks, Final Surge, TriDot, Run Dot or Humango) and creates a personalised nutrition plan, built around your training schedule and tailored to your goals. You’ll see adjustments in your fuelling both within and outside of training sessions, using a traffic light system to adjust your carb intake to fuel appropriately for your needs. The new-look Version 2 app has just launched, providing an even better user experience.
To get 20% off your first month, go to fuelin.com and enter the code FE20 at checkout.
If you’ve ridden a bike or run more than an hour or so in your life, you’ve probably considered the composition of what you’re drinking during those efforts. But what actually makes a good sports drink? Is it taste, carbs, electrolytes, osmolality, colouring, or all of the above? And is there actually an optimal drink mix that we should be looking for? Or is that a well spun marketing myth?
Fueling Endurance eBook | T -12 Race Nutrition Course | Practitioner Resources
The Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask, and contains insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes.
The T -12 self-guided course will help prepare you for your next event, with online tools, guides, information and instructions to take you through the 12 weeks leading up to race day.
And the freshly released Fueling Endurance Practitioner Membership provides access to online tools and calculators I use all the time when working with endurance and ultraendurance athletes.
For more into on each of these, check out fuelingendurance.com.
Fuelin:
This episode is supported by Fuelin, the world's first training-based nutrition app. It syncs with your training plan (in TrainingPeaks, Final Surge, TriDot, Run Dot or Humango) and creates a personalised nutrition plan, built around your training schedule and tailored to your goals. You’ll see adjustments in your fuelling both within and outside of training sessions, using a traffic light system to adjust your carb intake to fuel appropriately for your needs. The new-look Version 2 app has just launched, providing an even better user experience.
To get 20% off your first month, go to fuelin.com and enter the code FE20 at checkout.
Multivitamins. About half of endurance athletes use them. There’s often an assumption that if you’re doing a lot of training, then you need a multivitamin. Or at least you should take one just in case.
But is that actually true? Do runners, cyclists and triathletes actually need a multivitamin? And if so, how do you choose? And what should you look for?
AIS Sports Supplement Framework: https://www.ausport.gov.au/ais/nutrition/supplements
Fueling Endurance eBook | T -12 Race Nutrition Course | Practitioner Resources
The Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask, and contains insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes.
The T -12 self-guided course will help prepare you for your next event, with online tools, guides, information and instructions to take you through the 12 weeks leading up to race day.
And the freshly released Fueling Endurance Practitioner Membership provides access to online tools and calculators I use all the time when working with endurance and ultraendurance athletes.
For more into on each of these, check out fuelingendurance.com.
Fuelin:
This episode is supported by Fuelin, the world's first training-based nutrition app. It syncs with your training plan (in TrainingPeaks, Final Surge, TriDot, Run Dot or Humango) and creates a personalised nutrition plan, built around your training schedule and tailored to your goals. You’ll see adjustments in your fuelling both within and outside of training sessions, using a traffic light system to adjust your carb intake to fuel appropriately for your needs. The new-look Version 2 app has just launched, providing an even better user experience.
To get 20% off your first month, go to fuelin.com and enter the code FE20 at checkout.
We’ve all experienced that cool mint sensation from toothpaste, mouthwash, or mint flavoured foods before. So when you’re racing in a hot environment, can this cooling sensation change how hot you feel, or even help you perform better? And is there any downside to this? Or like a lot of things in science, is it maybe not that simple?
Podcast Guest:
- Dr Erica Gavel-Pinos - University of Alberta, Canada.
Erica's online presence:
-
- X: @EricaGavel
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/erica-gavel/
- Instagram: @gavelerica
Papers mentioned:
- Meta-analysis of menthol mouth rinsing: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40798-024-00679-8
- Erica's study of menthol in thermoneutral conditions: https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16071016
- Erica's study of menthol in female athletes: https://doi.org/10.1123/ijspp.2020-0414
AI in sports nutrition paper mentioned:
- Solomon T & Laye M. (2025). The sports nutrition knowledge of large language model (LLM) artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots: An assessment of accuracy, completeness, clarity, quality of evidence, and test-retest reliability. PLoS One. 20(6):e0325982. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0325982
Fueling Endurance eBook | T -12 Race Nutrition Course | Practitioner Resources
The Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask, and contains insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes.
The T -12 self-guided course will help prepare you for your next event, with online tools, guides, information and instructions to take you through the 12 weeks leading up to race day.
And the freshly released Fueling Endurance Practitioner Membership provides access to online tools and calculators I use all the time when working with endurance and ultraendurance athletes.
For more into on each of these, check out fuelingendurance.com.
Fuelin:
This episode is supported by Fuelin, the world's first training-based nutrition app. It syncs with your training plan (in TrainingPeaks, Final Surge, TriDot, Run Dot or Humango) and creates a personalised nutrition plan, built around your training schedule and tailored to your goals. You’ll see adjustments in your fuelling both within and outside of training sessions, using a traffic light system to adjust your carb intake to fuel appropriately for your needs. The new-look Version 2 app has just launched, providing an even better user experience.
To get 20% off your first month, go to fuelin.com and enter the code FE20 at checkout.
Artificial intelligence is quickly becoming many people's go-to for answers to their sports nutrition questions. It has a knack of taking your question, exactly as you asked it, and providing what seems like the perfectly relevant answer. But is AI really providing the answers you’re looking for? Is it telling the truth? And if not, how can you tell?
Fueling Endurance eBook | T -12 Race Nutrition Course | Practitioner Resources
The Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask, and contains insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes.
The T -12 self-guided course will help prepare you for your next event, with online tools, guides, information and instructions to take you through the 12 weeks leading up to race day.
And the freshly released Fueling Endurance Practitioner Membership provides access to online tools and calculators I use all the time when working with endurance and ultraendurance athletes.
For more into on each of these, check out fuelingendurance.com.
Fuelin:
This episode is supported by Fuelin, the world's first training-based nutrition app. It syncs with your training plan (in TrainingPeaks, Final Surge, TriDot, Run Dot or Humango) and creates a personalised nutrition plan, built around your training schedule and tailored to your goals. You’ll see adjustments in your fuelling both within and outside of training sessions, using a traffic light system to adjust your carb intake to fuel appropriately for your needs. The new-look Version 2 app has just launched, providing an even better user experience.
To get 20% off your first month, go to fuelin.com and enter the code FE20 at checkout.
Imagine being able to predict what your sweat rate is going to be at any given running pace or power output, in different weather conditions, with reasonable accuracy. Well, now you can. In this episode Prof Ollie Jay (Thermal Ergonomic Laboratory, University of Sydney), one of the brains behind this new tool, joins us to discuss how it all came together, how accurate it is, and how to best use it.
Have you gone to plan your fluid needs for training or race day, but weren’t sure how much sweat you’re going to lose? Do you train in a cool environment for an event in a hot environment? Or you just don’t have the time to measure sweat losses in multiple training sessions to understand your needs? This is the podcast for you.
Podcast Guest:
- Prof. Ollie Jay - Thermal Ergonomics Laboratory, University of Sydney.
Ollie's online presence:
-
- X: @ollie_jay13
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ollie-jay-793a1b11/
- Instagram: @thermalerglab
Sweat Rate calculator and papers mentioned:
- Sweat Rate Calculator: sweatratecalculator.com
- Validation - Indoor Exercise: https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.00829.2023
- Validation - Outdoor Exercise: https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.00831.2023
Fueling Endurance eBook | T -12 Race Nutrition Course | Practitioner Resources
The Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask, and contains insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes.
The T -12 self-guided course will help prepare you for your next event, with online tools, guides, information and instructions to take you through the 12 weeks leading up to race day.
And the freshly released Fueling Endurance Practitioner Membership provides access to online tools and calculators I use all the time when working with endurance and ultraendurance athletes.
For more into on each of these, check out fuelingendurance.com.
Fuelin:
This episode is supported by Fuelin, the world's first training-based nutrition app. It syncs with your training plan (in TrainingPeaks, Final Surge, TriDot, Run Dot or Humango) and creates a personalised nutrition plan, built around your training schedule and tailored to your goals. You’ll see adjustments in your fuelling both within and outside of training sessions, using a traffic light system to adjust your carb intake to fuel appropriately for your needs. The new-look Version 2 app has just launched, providing an even better user experience.
To get 20% off your first month, go to fuelin.com and enter the code FE20 at checkout.
One of the most common bits advice you see for runners, cyclists, and triathletes is to avoid gluten, either on a daily basis, or in the days leading up to competition. So where does this advice come from? Is it effective? And most importantly, is there a better approach?
Fueling Endurance eBook | T -12 Race Nutrition Course | Practitioner Resources
The Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask, and contains insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes.
The newly released T -12 self-guided course will help prepare you for your next event, with online tools, guides, information and instructions to take you through the 12 weeks leading up to race day.
And soon-to-be-released, the Fueling Endurance Practitioner Resources will provide access to online tools and calculators I use all the time when working with endurance and ultraendurance athletes.
For more into on each of these, check out fuelingendurance.com.
Fuelin:
This episode is supported by Fuelin, the world's first training-based nutrition app. It syncs with your training plan (in TrainingPeaks, Final Surge, TriDot, Run Dot or Humango) and creates a personalised nutrition plan, built around your training schedule and tailored to your goals. You’ll see adjustments in your fuelling both within and outside of training sessions, using a traffic light system to adjust your carb intake to fuel appropriately for your needs. The new-look Version 2 app has just launched, providing an even better user experience.
To get 20% off your first month, go to fuelin.com and enter the code FE20 at checkout.
When we think of injury prevention for runners, cyclists and triathletes we tend to focus on non-nutrition factors - training loads, shoes, biomechanics, stretching, foam rolling, strength and conditioning, and so on. But what about nutrition - does it have a role to play too? We're joined by sports dietitian and ultra-runner Erin Colebatch, whose current research seeks to answer this question.
Podcast Guest:
- Erin Colebatch - University of South Australia & Ultra Appetites
Erin's online presence:
- X/Twitter: @ErinColebatch
- Instagram: @ultraappetites
- Website: ultraappetites.com.au
Erin's research mentioned:
- Colebatch, EA et al. (2025). Diet, risk of disordered eating and running-related injury in adult distance runners: A systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. J Sci Med Sport. In Press. DOI: 10.1016/j.jsams.2025.02.001
Trail Running Food Resource Mentioned:
- This free online tool allows you to filter and compare over 180 different sports nutrition and real food options for endurance athletes. findtrail.co/food
Fueling Endurance eBook | T -12 Race Nutrition Course | Practitioner Resources
The Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask, and contains insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes.
The newly released T -12 self-guided course will help prepare you for your next event, with online tools, guides, information and instructions to take you through the 12 weeks leading up to race day.
And soon-to-be-released, the Fueling Endurance Practitioner Resources will provide access to online tools and calculators I use all the time when working with endurance and ultraendurance athletes.
For more into on each of these, check out fuelingendurance.com.
Fuelin:
This episode is supported by Fuelin, the world's first training-based nutrition app. It syncs with your training plan (in TrainingPeaks, Final Surge, and TriDot or Run Dot) and creates a personalised nutrition plan, built around your training schedule and tailored to your goals. You’ll see adjustments in your fuelling both within and outside of training sessions, using a traffic light system to adjust your carb intake to fuel appropriately for your needs. The new-look Version 2 app has just launched, providing an even better user experience.
To get 20% off your first month, go to fuelin.com and enter the code FE20 at checkout.
For the last few years the diabetes drug Ozempic has taken the weight loss world by storm. In this episode we’re looking at this class of weight loss drugs as they apply to runners, cyclists and triathletes. We know plenty of non-professional endurance athletes have tried, are using, or are thinking about taking these medications. So what exactly are they? Are they effective? What are the risks and side effects? And can they be compatible with endurance training?
Notes: This episode is a dietitian's perspective on weight loss medication and its role in nutrition for athletic performance. It does not constitute medical advice. This episode contains discussions about body image, injectable drug use, disordered eating and eating disorders.
Fueling Endurance eBook | T -12 Race Nutrition Course | Practitioner Resources
The Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask, and contains insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes.
The soon-to-be-released T -12 self-guided course will help prepare you for your next event, with online tools, guides, information and instructions to take you through the 12 weeks leading up to race day.
Also soon-to-be-released, the Fueling Endurance Practitioner Resources will provide access to online tools and calculators I use all the time when working with endurance and ultraendurance athletes.
For more into on each of these, check out fuelingendurance.com.
Fuelin:
This episode is supported by Fuelin, the world's first training-based nutrition app. It syncs with your training plan (in TrainingPeaks, Final Surge, and TriDot or Run Dot) and creates a personalised nutrition plan, built around your training schedule and tailored to your goals. You’ll see adjustments in your fuelling both within and outside of training sessions, using a traffic light system to adjust your carb intake to fuel appropriately for your needs. The new-look Version 2 app has just launched, providing an even better user experience.
To get 20% off your first month, go to https://www.fuelin.com/ and enter the code FE20 at checkout.
You’ve probably heard of periodised training before, and maybe even periodised nutrition. But what does it actually mean? In this episode I explain what periodised nutrition means for endurance athletes, how it’s changed over the years, whether it's important or not, and the key points to get you started.
Fueling Endurance eBook | T -12 Race Nutrition Course | Practitioner Resources
The Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask, and contains insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes.
The soon-to-be-released T -12 self-guided course will help prepare you for your next event, with online tools, guides, information and instructions to take you through the 12 weeks leading up to race day.
Also soon-to-be-released, the Fueling Endurance Practitioner Resources will provide access to online tools and calculators I use all the time when working with endurance and ultraendurance athletes.
For more into on each of these, check out fuelingendurance.com.
Fuelin:
This episode is supported by Fuelin, the world's first training-based nutrition app. It syncs with your training plan (in TrainingPeaks, Final Surge, and TriDot or Run Dot) and creates a personalised nutrition plan, built around your training schedule and tailored to your goals. You’ll see adjustments in your fuelling both within and outside of training sessions, using a traffic light system to adjust your carb intake to fuel appropriately for your needs.
To get 20% off your first month, go to https://www.fuelin.com/ and enter the code FE20 at checkout.
On today’s episode we’re dissecting how sports nutrition evolves over time. The diets, the foods, the supplements, and the attitudes to health, body composition and performance. How and why does this stuff change over time, and can that tell us anything about the future? As much as we’d like to think things are always evolving for the better based on new scientific research and insights, that’s definitely not always the case.
Fuelin:
This episode is supported by Fuelin, the world's first training-based nutrition app. It syncs with your training plan (in TrainingPeaks, Final Surge, and TriDot or Run Dot) and creates a personalised nutrition plan, built around your training schedule and tailored to your goals. You’ll see adjustments in your fuelling both within and outside of training sessions, using a traffic light system to adjust your carb intake to fuel appropriately for your needs.
To get 20% off your first month, go to https://www.fuelin.com/ and enter the code FE20 at checkout.
Fueling Endurance eBook:
At over 260 pages, the Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask. Covering the first two years of the podcast, the eBook contains additional insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes. Every copy sold helps cover the cost of making the podcast.
Purchase directly from https://fuelingendurance.com/ or search Fueling Endurance on Amazon for the Kindle version.
We’ve often talked about the benefits of carbohydrate for runners, cyclists and triathletes, but for many people there’s an underlying concern - does eating all those carbs increase the risk of developing diabetes or heart disease? It’s certainly a common message that’s pushed online in some circles, but is this really the case?
In this episode I speak to diabetes researcher and clinical dietitian Dr Nicola Guess from the University of Oxford, who has often been asked this exact question by concerned runners, cyclists and triathletes. We break down what science tells us about the underlying cause of diabetes, how carbohydrate, exercise and body composition fit into the picture, whether high carb diets are a risk factor for chronic disease in their own right, and whether the approach should be different based on the level of training and fitness, age, family history, and existing health conditions.
Podcast Guest:
- Dr Nicola Guess - University of Oxford and private practice clinical dietitian
Nicola's online presence:
-
- Instagram: @dr.nicola.guess
- Blog/Substack: drguess.substack.com
Diabetes risk calculators mentioned:
- AUSDRISK Calculator (Australia): https://www.diabetesaustralia.com.au/risk-calculator/
- Diabetes UK: https://riskscore.diabetes.org.uk/start
- American Diabetes Association Risk Test: https://diabetes.org/diabetes-risk-test
Fuelin:
This episode is supported by Fuelin, the world's first training-based nutrition app. It syncs with your training plan (in TrainingPeaks, Final Surge, and TriDot or Run Dot) and creates a personalised nutrition plan, built around your training schedule and tailored to your goals. You’ll see adjustments in your fuelling both within and outside of training sessions, using a traffic light system to adjust your carb intake to fuel appropriately for your needs.
To get 20% off your first month, go to https://www.fuelin.com/ and enter the code FE20 at checkout.
Fueling Endurance eBook:
At over 260 pages, the Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask. Covering the first two years of the podcast, the eBook contains additional insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes. Every copy sold helps cover the cost of making the podcast.
Purchase directly from https://fuelingendurance.com/ or search Fueling Endurance on Amazon for the Kindle version.
It's the 4th birthday of the podcast! And like each previous year, we’re going to look back and provide a brief summary of every question we’ve answered on the podcast in the past year, from “How do I work out my calorie needs for training?” to “Does pickle juice actually work?”, and “What do I do when my race nutrition plan falls apart?”. So if you’re new to the podcast and don’t have time to go through the whole back catalogue, or you just want a refresher and the key points from the past year's episodes, this is the place for you.
Fuelin:
This episode is supported by Fuelin, the world's first training-based nutrition app. It syncs with your training plan (in TrainingPeaks, Final Surge, and TriDot or Run Dot) and creates a personalised nutrition plan, built around your training schedule and tailored to your goals. You’ll see adjustments in your fuelling both within and outside of training sessions, using a traffic light system to adjust your carb intake to fuel appropriately for your needs.
To get 20% off your first month, go to https://www.fuelin.com/ and enter the code FE20 at checkout.
Fueling Endurance eBook:
At over 260 pages, the Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask. Covering the first two years of the podcast, the eBook contains additional insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes. Every copy sold helps cover the cost of making the podcast.
Purchase directly from https://fuelingendurance.com/ or search Fueling Endurance on Amazon for the Kindle version.
Over the last two episodes we’ve been discussing the ‘high carb trend’ - taking in very large amounts of carbohydrate during exercise. Today we’re looking at this topic through the lens of the road marathon, an event where access to your own nutrition products is limited. In this episode I speak to marathon runner, running coach and co-host of the Inside Running Podcast, Brady Threlfall. Brady’s set a new personal best in the marathon this year, and that race included these higher carb amounts. We get his perspective on how higher carb intakes have made their way into marathon running, how he achieves this in training and on race day, and whether he feels it’s been beneficial for him and the athletes he coaches.
Podcast Guest - Brady Threlfall
- Instagram: @bradytrell
- Brady's Podcast - Inside Running Podcast
- Coaching - Run2PB Coaching
Fuelin:
This episode is supported by Fuelin, the world's first training-based nutrition app. It syncs with your training plan (in TrainingPeaks, Final Surge, and TriDot or Run Dot) and creates a personalised nutrition plan, built around your training schedule and tailored to your goals. You’ll see adjustments in your fuelling both within and outside of training sessions, using a traffic light system to adjust your carb intake to fuel appropriately for your needs.
To get 20% off your first month, go to https://www.fuelin.com/ and enter the code FE20 at checkout.
Fueling Endurance eBook:
At over 260 pages, the Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask. Covering the first two years of the podcast, the eBook contains additional insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes. Every copy sold helps cover the cost of making the podcast.
Purchase directly from https://fuelingendurance.com/ or search Fueling Endurance on Amazon for the Kindle version.
In the last episode we investigated the ‘high carb trend’ - taking in very large amounts of carbohydrate (>100g/hr) during exercise. In this episode we speak to Aussie pro cyclist Jack Haig to get an athlete's perspective. Jack’s professional career to date spans both sides of this high carb trend with almost perfectly symmetry, and so he has a great insight on how this approach took hold in the pro peloton, how it’s changed the sport, and how he achieves such high intakes from a practical perspective.
Podcast Guest:
- Jack Haig - Bahrain Victorious Pro Cycling Team
- Jack's Podcast - The Rest Day with Jack Haig (Escape Collective)
- Instagram: @jack_haig
Rice Krispies bar recipes mentioned:
- A range of recipes for Rice Krispies bars and other on-the-bike goodies from Pock-It Fuel (Lizzie Holden & Nick Shultz) - Instagram: @pockitfuel
Fuelin:
This episode is supported by Fuelin, the world's first training-based nutrition app. It syncs with your training plan (in TrainingPeaks, Final Surge, and TriDot or Run Dot) and creates a personalised nutrition plan, built around your training schedule and tailored to your goals. You’ll see adjustments in your fuelling both within and outside of training sessions, using a traffic light system to adjust your carb intake to fuel appropriately for your needs.
To get 20% off your first month, go to https://www.fuelin.com/ and enter the code FE20 at checkout.
Fueling Endurance eBook:
At over 260 pages, the Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask. Covering the first two years of the podcast, the eBook contains additional insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes. Every copy sold helps cover the cost of making the podcast.
Purchase directly from https://fuelingendurance.com/ or search Fueling Endurance on Amazon for the Kindle version.
You’ve probably come across discussions in the last year or so about the ‘high carb trend’ - taking very large amounts of carbohydrate during exercise, often well over 100g per hour. These levels are significantly greater than official sports nutrition guidelines, so what’s behind the trend? Is it based on new science, product marketing, or is it just another fad that will come and eventually go? And most importantly, is it relevant to you?
In this episode we speak to the Lead of Human Science at the Ineos Grenadiers Pro Cycling Team, Aitor Viribay, who has also worked with some of the biggest names in ultra trail running. He discusses how, when and why these very high carb intakes have become a thing in recent years, the scientific rationale behind it, when it’s used vs when it’s not, and whether non-professional athletes need to worry about these levels of intake.
Podcast Guest:
- Aitor Viribay - Ineos Grenadiers Pro Cycling Team
Aitor's online presence:
- X/Twitter: @MVAitor
- Instagram: @glut4science
- Website: GLUT4 Science (in Spanish)
- Podcast: 90 Gramos de MetHub (in Spanish)
Aitor's research mentioned:
- Viribay, A et al. (2020). Effects of 120 g/h of Carbohydrates Intake during a Mountain Marathon on Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage in Elite Runners. Nutrients. 12(5):1367. DOI: 10.3390/nu12051367
Fuelin:
This episode is supported by Fuelin, the world's first training-based nutrition app. It syncs with your training plan (in TrainingPeaks, Final Surge, and TriDot or Run Dot) and creates a personalised nutrition plan, built around your training schedule and tailored to your goals. You’ll see adjustments in your fuelling both within and outside of training sessions, using a traffic light system to adjust your carb intake to fuel appropriately for your needs.
To get 30% off your first month, go to https://www.fuelin.com/ and enter the code FE30 at checkout.
Fueling Endurance eBook:
At over 260 pages, the Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask. Covering the first two years of the podcast, the eBook contains additional insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes. Every copy sold helps cover the cost of making the podcast.
Purchase directly from https://fuelingendurance.com/ or search Fueling Endurance on Amazon for the Kindle version.
In the final episode of this T -12 podcast series, we catch up with our guest athlete Brad, just over 2 weeks after racing the Chicago Marathon. We find out how the race went for him, as well as how our planned strategies for accommodation, carb loading, and everything he’d worked on in the 12 weeks prior to race day turned out. We review what worked well in hindsight, what didn’t, Brad’s key learnings, and what he’d do differently next time.
Back for its second season, T-12 is a brand new, unique podcast series that follows an athlete's journey as they prepare for race day. Over the final 12 weeks before the big event, we look at all aspects of race nutrition, from organising accomdation and race foods, to gut training and hydration, to eating during the taper and the day before the race.
A big thanks to Aid Station who have come on board to provide Brad with sports nutrition products to try in training, to assist with his race nutrition planning. And you can get 10% off your Aid Station order by clicking this link https://www.aidstation.com.au/discount/FUEL10 or use the code FUEL10 at checkout*
*T&Cs apply. Limit one use of code per customer.
We’ve often talked about periodised nutrition on this podcast, adjusting the carbs you eat across the week based on your training schedule. But in the down periods, how do you achieve this without being ravenously hungry? And on the flipside, when you do need to load up for a big training session, sometimes it's hard to do this without feeling uncomfortably full and bloated.
In this episode we discuss some of the key strategies to managing hunger and satiety through the ups and downs of a periodised nutrition approach. How to get those carbs in when you don’t feel like eating more, and how to increase the feeling of fullness you get from lower carb, lower calorie meals. By applying these principles you can help to even out the hunger and fullness across the training cycle, even when the carbs and calories are going up and down with training.
Fuelin:
This episode is supported by Fuelin, the world's first training-based nutrition app. It syncs with your training plan (in TrainingPeaks, Final Surge, and TriDot or Run Dot) and creates a personalised nutrition plan, built around your training schedule and tailored to your goals. You’ll see adjustments in your fuelling both within and outside of training sessions, using a traffic light system to adjust your carb intake to fuel appropriately for your needs.
To get 30% off your first month, go to https://www.fuelin.com/ and enter the code FE30 at checkout.
Fueling Endurance eBook:
At over 260 pages, the Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask. Covering the first two years of the podcast, the eBook contains additional insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes. Every copy sold helps cover the cost of making the podcast.
Purchase directly from https://fuelingendurance.com/ or search Fueling Endurance on Amazon for the Kindle version.
Brad's now into the taper for the Chicago Marathon. Here we discuss the nutrition aspect to this, the flight from Melbourne to Chicago and coping with jetlag, last minute nutrition logistics, and what to do if things do go south mid-race.
If you're racing Chicago or Melbourne Marathons or another event in October or November you can follow along and apply the same principles to your own race nutrition preparations.
Back for its second season, T-12 is a brand new, unique podcast series that follows an athlete's journey as they prepare for race day. Over the final 12 weeks before the big event, we'll look at all aspects of race nutrition, from organising accomdation and race foods, to gut training and hydration, to eating during the taper and the day before the race.
A big thanks to Aid Station who have come on board to provide Brad with sports nutrition products to try in training, to assist with his race nutrition planning. And you can get 10% off your Aid Station order by clicking this link https://www.aidstation.com.au/discount/FUEL10 or use the code FUEL10 at checkout*
*T&Cs apply. Limit one use of code per customer.
Brad has done a couple of attempts at a full nutrition dress rehearsal for the Chicago Marathon. We review how it went, finalise his race nutrition plan, discuss some travel logistics and important considerations for his nutrition, and come up with a Plan B for race day.
If you're racing Chicago or Melbourne Marathons or another event in October or November you can follow along and apply the same principles to your own race nutrition preparations.
Back for its second season, T-12 is a brand new, unique podcast series that follows an athlete's journey as they prepare for race day. Over the final 12 weeks before the big event, we'll look at all aspects of race nutrition, from organising accomdation and race foods, to gut training and hydration, to eating during the taper and the day before the race.
A big thanks to Aid Station who have come on board to provide Brad with sports nutrition products to try in training, to assist with his race nutrition planning. And you can get 10% off your Aid Station order by clicking this link https://www.aidstation.com.au/discount/FUEL10 or use the code FUEL10 at checkout*
*T&Cs apply. Limit one use of code per customer.
Brad has just completed an all-important test of his fluid tolerance, to see how far he's come. We also plan his upcoming nutrition dress rehearsal for Chicago.
If you're racing Chicago or Melbourne Marathons or another event in October or November you can follow along and apply the same principles to your own race nutrition preparations.
Back for its second season, T-12 is a brand new, unique podcast series that follows an athlete's journey as they prepare for race day. Over the final 12 weeks before the big event, we'll look at all aspects of race nutrition, from organising accomdation and race foods, to gut training and hydration, to eating during the taper and the day before the race.
A big thanks to Aid Station who have come on board to provide Brad with sports nutrition products to try in training, to assist with his race nutrition planning. And you can get 10% off your Aid Station order by clicking this link https://www.aidstation.com.au/discount/FUEL10 or use the code FUEL10 at checkout*
*T&Cs apply. Limit one use of code per customer.
Guest Brad White is back after his trip to Queensland for the Sunshine Coast Marathon. We review how it went, what he did the day before the race, and use this to plan his carb loading strategy for Chicago.
If you're racing Chicago or Melbourne Marathons or another event in October or November you can follow along and apply the same principles to your own race nutrition preparations.
Back for its second season, T-12 is a brand new, unique podcast series that follows an athlete's journey as they prepare for race day. Over the final 12 weeks before the big event, we'll look at all aspects of race nutrition, from organising accomdation and race foods, to gut training and hydration, to eating during the taper and the day before the race.
A big thanks to Aid Station who have come on board to provide Brad with sports nutrition products to try in training, to assist with his race nutrition planning. And you can get 10% off your Aid Station order by clicking this link https://www.aidstation.com.au/discount/FUEL10 or use the code FUEL10 at checkout*
*T&Cs apply. Limit one use of code per customer.
We check in with athlete guest Brad White. We discuss his progress in scouting out places to eat before the race, his current carb intake in training and planning ahead for race day, and estimating his sweat rate for race day and what to do with this information.
If you're racing Chicago or Melbourne Marathons or another event in October or November you can follow along and apply the same principles to your own race nutrition preparations.
Back for its second season, T-12 is a brand new, unique podcast series that follows an athlete's journey as they prepare for race day. Over the final 12 weeks before the big event, we'll look at all aspects of race nutrition, from organising accomdation and race foods, to gut training and hydration, to eating during the taper and the day before the race.
A big thanks to Aid Station who have come on board to provide Brad with sports nutrition products to try in training, to assist with his race nutrition planning. And you can get 10% off your Aid Station order by clicking this link https://www.aidstation.com.au/discount/FUEL10 or use the code FUEL10 at checkout*
*T&Cs apply. Limit one use of code per customer.
In the first episode of this special 6 part podcast series, we meet our athlete guest Brad White and begin the process of preparing him for the Chicago Marathon in 12 week's time. We discuss his previous marathon experience and what's gone wrong, his daily training nutrition, and start with a look at race logistics - travel, accomodation, and aid stations. If you're racing Chicago or Melbourne Marathons or another event in October or November you can follow along and apply the same principles to your own race nutrition preparations.
Back for its second season, T-12 is a brand new, unique podcast series that follows an athlete's journey as they prepare for race day. Over the final 12 weeks before the big event, we'll look at all aspects of race nutrition, from organising accomdation and race foods, to gut training and hydration, to eating during the taper and the day before the race.
A big thanks to Aid Station who have come on board to provide Brad with sports nutrition products to try in training, to assist with his race nutrition planning. And you can get 10% off your Aid Station order by clicking this link https://www.aidstation.com.au/discount/FUEL10 or use the code FUEL10 at checkout*
*T&Cs apply. Limit one use of code per customer.
Are you someone who’s never quite sure what to do nutrition-wise in the final week before a race? When do you start carb loading? Do you load up on fluids, electrolytes, or both? Do you avoid gluten, lactose or FODMAPs? Should you be adding or removing supplements from your usual routine?
On today’s podcast we’re going to cut through the confusion and provide you with a simple strategy you can use to approach the week leading into your next event. A strategy that will have you arriving at the start line well fuelled but not bloated, well hydrated but not peeing every 10 seconds, and with a reduced risk of gut issues or cramping.
Fuelin:
This episode is supported by Fuelin, the world's first training-based nutrition app. It syncs with your training plan (in TrainingPeaks, Final Surge, and TriDot or Run Dot) and creates a personalised nutrition plan, built around your training schedule and tailored to your goals. You’ll see adjustments in your fuelling both within and outside of training sessions, using a traffic light system to adjust your carb intake to fuel appropriately for your needs.
To get 30% off your first month, go to https://www.fuelin.com/ and enter the code FE30 at checkout.
Fueling Endurance eBook:
At over 260 pages, the Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask. Covering the first two years of the podcast, the eBook contains additional insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes. Every copy sold helps cover the cost of making the podcast.
Purchase directly from https://fuelingendurance.com/ or search Fueling Endurance on Amazon for the Kindle version.
How many times have you had a nutrition goal for your training or race day, researched what to do, made a plan of action, and then…nothing.
It’s one thing to know what to do, but something altogether different to actually do it. So in this episode we’re going to look at one important aspect of this - goal setting for your nutrition. By the end of this episode, you’ll understand why so many athletes set the wrong goals for their nutrition, how we can learn from the world’s best athletes and coaches, how to avoid this mistake and come up with goals and an action plan that’s more likely to set you up for success.
Fuelin:
This episode is supported by Fuelin, the world's first training-based nutrition app. It syncs with your training plan (in TrainingPeaks, Final Surge, and TriDot or Run Dot) and creates a personalised nutrition plan, built around your training schedule and tailored to your goals. You’ll see adjustments in your fuelling both within and outside of training sessions, using a traffic light system to adjust your carb intake to fuel appropriately for your needs.
To get 30% off your first month, go to https://www.fuelin.com/ and enter the code FE30 at checkout.
Fueling Endurance eBook:
At over 260 pages, the Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask. Covering the first two years of the podcast, the eBook contains additional insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes. Every copy sold helps cover the cost of making the podcast.
Purchase directly from https://fuelingendurance.com/ or search Fueling Endurance on Amazon for the Kindle version.
It’s pretty much assumed nowadays that pickle juice is a sure fire remedy for cramping. But why pickle juice? What’s in the pickling brine that’s supposed to work? How is it meant to work? And most important of all, does it actually work?
In this episode we welcome back a past guest Prof. Kevin Miller, a world expert in exercise associated muscle cramping and the researcher behind perhaps more pickle juice studies than anyone else on the planet, to gives us some answers.
Podcast Guest:
- Prof. Kevin Miller - Texas State University
Research mentioned in the episode:
- Miller, K et al. (2022). An evidence-based review of the pathophysiology, treatment, and prevention of exercise associated muscle cramps. J Athl Train; 57:5–15. DOI: 10.4085/1062-6050-0696.20
- Miller, K et al. (2009). Electrolyte and plasma changes following ingestion of pickle juice, water, and a common carbohydrate-electrolyte solution, J Athl Train; 44 (5):454–461. DOI: 10.4085/1062-6050-44.5.454
- Miller, K. C. (2014). Electrolyte and plasma responses following pickle juice, mustard, and deionized water ingestion in dehydrated humans. J Athl Train, 49(3): 360–367. DOI: 10.4085/1062-6050-49.2.23
- Georgieva J et al. (2021). Effectiveness of Mouth Rinsing versus Ingesting Pickle Juice for Alleviating Electrically Induced Cramp in Physically Active Adults. Appl Sci. 11(24):12096. DOI: 10.3390/app112412096
Fuelin:
This episode is supported by Fuelin, the world's first training-based nutrition app. It syncs with your training plan (in TrainingPeaks, Final Surge, and TriDot or Run Dot) and creates a personalised nutrition plan, built around your training schedule and tailored to your goals. You’ll see adjustments in your fuelling both within and outside of training sessions, using a traffic light system to adjust your carb intake to fuel appropriately for your needs.
To get 30% off your first month, go to https://www.fuelin.com/ and enter the code FE30 at checkout.
Fueling Endurance eBook:
At over 260 pages, the Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask. Covering the first two years of the podcast, the eBook contains additional insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes. Every copy sold helps cover the cost of making the podcast.
Purchase directly from https://fuelingendurance.com/ or search Fueling Endurance on Amazon for the Kindle version.
What’s the deal with cluster dextrin, super starch, hydrogels, and multiple transportable carbohydrates? Why are some companies claiming that ultra slow delivery of carbs into the blood is advantageous, when others are marketed on the basis of rapid absorption? And how do these ingredients affect gut issues, the body’s ability to use carbohydrates during endurance exercise, and ultimately performance?
Dr Dan Baur (Virginia Military Institute) is one of the few researchers in the world that's studied many of these novel carbohydrates. He helps demystify what all these novel carbohydrate terms actually mean, how they’re different, and ultimately, what’s going to suit your training and racing.
Podcast Guest:
- Dr Dan Baur - Virginia Military Institute
Research mentioned in the episode:
Dan has published a great review paper that nicely summarises the research done to date in this area, including several studies of his own.
Baur D & Saunders MJ. Carbohydrate supplementation: a critical review of recent innovations. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2021. 121(1):23-66. DOI: 10.1007/s00421-020-04534-y
Fuelin:
This episode is supported by Fuelin, the world's first training-based nutrition app. It syncs with your training plan (in TrainingPeaks, Final Surge, and TriDot or Run Dot) and creates a personalised nutrition plan, built around your training schedule and tailored to your goals. You’ll see adjustments in your fuelling both within and outside of training sessions, using a traffic light system to adjust your carb intake to fuel appropriately for your needs.
To get 30% off your first month, go to https://www.fuelin.com/ and enter the code FE30 at checkout.
Fueling Endurance eBook:
At over 260 pages, the Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask. Covering the first two years of the podcast, the eBook contains additional insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes. Every copy sold helps cover the cost of making the podcast.
Purchase directly from https://fuelingendurance.com/ or search Fueling Endurance on Amazon for the Kindle version.
It’s an area where recommendations have evolved rapidly in the last few years with new research. In this episode, we speak to Dr Alannah McKay, one of the researchers whose work has led to these changes. You’ll learn whether it’s better to take tablets or liquid iron, the formulation of iron in supplements that’s most effective, the optimal dose and timing of supplementation, and the role of training or other nutrients in food on enhancing or reducing the effectiveness of your iron supplement.
Podcast Guest:
- Dr Alannah McKay - Australian Catholic University.
The study mentioned in the episode:
Alannah is currently recruiting female athletes in Melbourne for a study that puts the two most popular iron supplements in Australia head-to-head.
Who's eligible: Female runners and triathletes based in Melbourne, aged 18-45 years old, not using hormonal contraception and running ~40 km or more per week.
All eligible participants will have a free ferritin/hemoglobin assessment, with athletes that return a ferritin <50 ug/L receiving a free 12 week course of iron supplements.
What's required: Five x 20 minute visits to the ACU Fitzroy campus, 4 blood samples, completion of surveys to track symptoms from using iron supplements.
What's in it for you: Free iron screening, 3 months of iron supplements, tailored advice to improve your iron status, and free barista coffee following each visit to the university.
To find out if you are eligible: https://redcap.acu.edu.au/surveys/?s=9PEX3JPLXTHNFKYY
Fuelin:
This episode is supported by Fuelin, the world's first training-based nutrition app. It syncs with your training plan (in TrainingPeaks, Final Surge, and TriDot or Run Dot) and creates a personalised nutrition plan, built around your training schedule and tailored to your goals. You’ll see adjustments in your fuelling both within and outside of training sessions, using a traffic light system to adjust your carb intake to fuel appropriately for your needs.
To get 30% off your first month, go to https://www.fuelin.com/ and enter the code FE30 at checkout.
Fueling Endurance eBook:
At over 260 pages, the Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask. Covering the first two years of the podcast, the eBook contains additional insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes. Every copy sold helps cover the cost of making the podcast.
Purchase directly from https://fuelingendurance.com/ or search Fueling Endurance on Amazon for the Kindle version.
In this bonus episode for the T -12 podcast series, we catch up with our guest athlete Brett, less than 48 hours after completing the 100km Ultra Trail Australia. We find out how the race went for him, the ups and downs on the day, as well as how our planned strategies for accommodation, eating the day before the race, and the gut training he’d worked on in the 12 weeks leading up to race day, all turned out. We review what worked well in hindsight, what didn’t, Brett’s key learnings, and what he’d do differently next time.
T-12 is a unique podcast series that follows an athlete's journey as they prepare for race day. Over the final 12 weeks before the big event, we'll look at all aspects of race nutrition, from organising accomdation and race foods, to gut training and hydration, to eating during the taper and the day before the race.
A big thanks to Aid Station who have come on board to provide Brett with the race-provided products to try in training, to assist with his race nutrition planning. And you can get 10% off your Aid Station order by clicking this link https://www.aidstation.com.au/discount/FUEL10 or use the code FUEL10 at checkout*
*T&Cs apply. Limit one use of code per customer.
It's one thing to talk about the theoretical needs of nutrition for altitude, but what does it actually feel like? In this episode we chat to US pro triathlete and sports dietitian Megan Foley, who experienced relocating from her home town near sea level to a much higher altitude, and then going even higher for training.
Podcast Guest:
- Megan Foley - pro triathlete and sports dietitian.
Fuelin:
This episode is supported by Fuelin, the world's first training-based nutrition app. It syncs with your training plan (in TrainingPeaks, Final Surge, and TriDot or Run Dot) and creates a personalised nutrition plan, built around your training schedule and tailored to your goals. You’ll see adjustments in your fuelling both within and outside of training sessions, using a traffic light system to adjust your carb intake to fuel appropriately for your needs.
To get 30% off your first month, go to https://www.fuelin.com/ and enter the code FE30 at checkout.
Fueling Endurance eBook:
At over 260 pages, the Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask. Covering the first two years of the podcast, the eBook contains additional insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes. Every copy sold helps cover the cost of making the podcast.
Purchase directly from https://fuelingendurance.com/ or search Fueling Endurance on Amazon for the Kindle version.
In the final episode of this special 6 part podcast series, we catch up with our athlete guest Brett Kone last time before the 100km Ultra Trail Australia. We focus on some final preventative strategies to reduce the risk of gut issues, how to troubleshoot if things go wrong on the day, and Brett discovers a gem of an idea for carrying your drink mix powder.
T-12 is a unique podcast series that follows an athlete's journey as they prepare for race day. Over the final 12 weeks before the big event, we'll look at all aspects of race nutrition, from organising accomdation and race foods, to gut training and hydration, to eating during the taper and the day before the race.
A big thanks to Aid Station who have come on board to provide Brett with the race-provided products to try in training, to assist with his race nutrition planning. And you can get 10% off your Aid Station order by clicking this link https://www.aidstation.com.au/discount/FUEL10 or use the code FUEL10 at checkout*
*T&Cs apply. Limit one use of code per customer.
In the fifth episode of this special 6 part podcast series, we catch up with our athlete guest Brett Kennedy in his preparations for the 100km UItra Trail Australia (UTA). We review Brett’s "dress rehearsal" of his race nutrition plan, and discuss taper nutrition for the final 2 weeks before race day.
T-12 is a brand new, unique podcast series that follows an athlete's journey as they prepare for race day. Over the final 12 weeks before the big event, we'll look at all aspects of race nutrition, from organising accomdation and race foods, to gut training and hydration, to eating during the taper and the day before the race.
A big thanks to Aid Station who have come on board to provide Brett with the race-provided products to try in training, to assist with his race nutrition planning. And you can get 10% off your Aid Station order by clicking this link https://www.aidstation.com.au/discount/FUEL10 or use the code FUEL10 at checkout*
*T&Cs apply. Limit one use of code per customer.
Whether you're travelling to altitude to train, or using an altitude tent at home, nutrition can make a big difference to how much benefit you'll get from the lower oxygen environment. In this episode we're joined by Beccy Hall, a sports dietitian and researcher who’s worked with, and studied, elite athletes before and during altitude training camps. We’ll look at the key nutritional issues with altitude exposure, the importance of planning ahead before you even begin altitude training, and the factors to be aware of during and immediately after an altitude training block.
Podcast Guest:
- Rebecca Hall - formerly Australian Catholic University, Olympic Winter Institute of Australia, Australian Institute of Sport, and Canadian Sports Institute Pacific.
References/Resources discussed in the episode:
- AIS Sports Supplement Framwork - Iron Supplementation: https://www.ais.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0014/1000490/Sport-supplement-fact-sheets-Iron-v4.pdf
Fuelin:
This episode is supported by Fuelin, the world's first training-based nutrition app. It syncs with your training plan (in TrainingPeaks, Final Surge, and TriDot or Run Dot) and creates a personalised nutrition plan, built around your training schedule and tailored to your goals. You’ll see adjustments in your fuelling both within and outside of training sessions, using a traffic light system to adjust your carb intake to fuel appropriately for your needs.
To get 30% off your first month, go to https://www.fuelin.com/ and enter the code FE30 at checkout.
Fueling Endurance eBook:
At over 260 pages, the Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask. Covering the first two years of the podcast, the eBook contains additional insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes. Every copy sold helps cover the cost of making the podcast.
Purchase directly from https://fuelingendurance.com/ or search Fueling Endurance on Amazon for the Kindle version.
In the fourth episode of this special 6 part podcast series, we check in with our athlete guest Brett Kennedy in his preparations for the 100km UItra Trail Australia (UTA). We review Brett’s progress with his sweat rate testing and gut training, his run-through of eating the day before the race, and start to lock in his race day nutrition plan as we enter the last month before race day. If you're racing UTA or another event in May or June you can follow along and apply the same principles to your own race nutrition preparations.
T-12 is a brand new, unique podcast series that follows an athlete's journey as they prepare for race day. Over the final 12 weeks before the big event, we'll look at all aspects of race nutrition, from organising accomdation and race foods, to gut training and hydration, to eating during the taper and the day before the race.
A big thanks to Aid Station who have come on board to provide Brett with the race-provided products to try in training, to assist with his race nutrition planning. And you can get 10% off your Aid Station order by clicking this link https://www.aidstation.com.au/discount/FUEL10 or use the code FUEL10 at checkout*
*T&Cs apply. Limit one use of code per customer.
In the third episode of this special 6 part podcast series, we check in with our athlete guest Brett Kennedy less than 8 weeks out from the 100km UItra Trail Australia (UTA). We catch up on his attempts to collect sweat rate data, and how he's gone with his gut training. We then focus on planning nutrition for the day before his race, and the pre-event meal. If you're racing UTA or another event in May or June you can follow along and apply the same principles to your own race nutrition preparations.
T-12 is a brand new, unique podcast series that follows an athlete's journey as they prepare for race day. Over the final 12 weeks before the big event, we'll look at all aspects of race nutrition, from organising accomdation and race foods, to gut training and hydration, to eating during the taper and the day before the race.
A big thanks to Aid Station who have come on board to provide Brett with the race-provided products to try in training, to assist with his race nutrition planning. And you can get 10% off your Aid Station order by clicking this link https://www.aidstation.com.au/discount/FUEL10 or use the code FUEL10 at checkout*
*T&Cs apply. Limit one use of code per customer.
Supplements contaminated with banned substances are an athlete's worst nightmare. In this episode we’ll understand how much risk there actually is of testing positive from nutrition supplement use. And if you’re not an elite athlete and don’t think this is relevant to you - think again. We’ll hear how this applies to ALL athletes competing in organised sport, no matter what level, and how to minimise the risk of a positive test coming back to haunt you.
Podcast Guest:
- Kerry O'Bryan - Bond University & Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS)
References/Resources discussed in the episode:
- Sports Integrity Australia (SIA, formerly ASADA) on supplements: https://www.sportintegrity.gov.au/what-we-do/anti-doping/supplements-sport
- SIA App: https://www.sportintegrity.gov.au/resources/sport-integrity-apps-and-vr
- Protein Fortified Foods - is there any risk? (Sports Dietitians Australia): https://www.sportsdietitians.com.au/fuel-articles/protein-fortification-foods/
- Global Drug Reference Online(GlobalDRO) (for checking medications): https://www.globaldro.com/Home
Fuelin:
This episode is supported by Fuelin, the world's first training-based nutrition app. It syncs with your training plan (in TrainingPeaks, Final Surge, and TriDot or Run Dot) and creates a personalised nutrition plan, built around your training schedule and tailored to your goals. You’ll see adjustments in your fuelling both within and outside of training sessions, using a traffic light system to adjust your carb intake to fuel appropriately for your needs.
To get 30% off your first month, go to https://www.fuelin.com/ and enter the code FE30 at checkout.
Fueling Endurance eBook:
At over 260 pages, the Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask. Covering the first two years of the podcast, the eBook contains additional insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes. Every copy sold helps cover the cost of making the podcast.
Purchase directly from https://fuelingendurance.com/ or search Fueling Endurance on Amazon for the Kindle version.
In the second episode of this special 6 part podcast series, we check in with our athlete guest Brett Kennedy 10 weeks out from the 100km UItra Trail Australia (UTA). We review the changes made to his daily training nutrition, his progress on trying the race-provided producst, get him started on collecting sweat rate data for his hydration planning, and get the ball rolling on some gut training. If you're racing UTA or another event in May or June you can follow along and apply the same principles to your own race nutrition preparations.
T-12 is a brand new, unique podcast series that follows an athlete's journey as they prepare for race day. Over the final 12 weeks before the big event, we'll look at all aspects of race nutrition, from organising accomdation and race foods, to gut training and hydration, to eating during the taper and the day before the race.
A big thanks to Aid Station who have come on board to provide Brett with the race-provided products to try in training, to assist with his race nutrition planning. And you can get 10% off your Aid Station order by clicking this link https://www.aidstation.com.au/discount/FUEL10 or use the code FUEL10 at checkout*
*T&Cs apply. Limit one use of code per customer.
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 professional Ironman triathletes. But whilst predicting calorie needs from a training schedule can be tricky, for individuals, perhaps there's a simpler way...
Podcast Guest:
- Scott Tindal - Founder and Nutritionist, Fuelin
- Fuelin: https://www.fuelin.com/
- Instagram: @getfuelin
References/Resources discussed in the episode:
- The systematic review/meta-analysis paper discussed in this episode for Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) equations in athletes:
- O'Neill JER et al. (2023). Accuracy of Resting Metabolic Rate Prediction Equations in Athletes: A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis. Sports Med. 53(12):2373-2398 (Open Access). DOI: 10.1007/s40279-023-01896-z
- Ten-Haaf equation for RMR (kCal/day):
- Males = (11.936 × weight in kg) + (587.728 × height in m) - (8.129 × age in years) + 220.306
- Females = (11.936 × weight in kg) + (587.728 × height in m) - (8.129 × age in years) + 29.279
- Compendium of Physical Activities for the calculation of Metabolic Equivalents (METs): https://pacompendium.com/
- Physical Activity Level (PAL) values - explanation & examples: https://support.foodworks.online/hc/en-au/articles/360004401336-Physical-Activity-Levels-PAL-explained
Fueling Endurance eBook:
At over 260 pages, the Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask. Covering the first two years of the podcast, the eBook contains additional insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes. Every copy sold helps cover the cost of making the podcast.
Purchase directly from https://fuelingendurance.com/ or search Fueling Endurance on Amazon for the Kindle version.
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 along and apply the same principles to your own race nutrition preparations.
T-12 is a brand new, unique podcast series that follows an athlete's journey as they prepare for race day. Over the final 12 weeks before the big event, we'll look at all aspects of race nutrition, from organising accomdation and race foods, to gut training and hydration, to eating during the taper and the day before the race.
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 Research Group: https://www.m3-research.nl/
- Jorn's website, Nutrition Tactics: https://www.nutritiontactics.com/
- Instagram: @nutritiontactics
The study discussed in this episode:
- Trommelen J et al. (2023). The anabolic response to protein ingestion during recovery from exercise has no upper limit in magnitude and duration in vivo in humans. Cell Rep Med. 4(12):101324. DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2023.101324
Fueling Endurance eBook:
At over 260 pages, the Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask. Covering the first two years of the podcast, the eBook contains additional insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes. Every copy sold helps cover the cost of making the podcast.
Purchase directly from https://fuelingendurance.com/ or search Fueling Endurance on Amazon for the Kindle version.
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 our last one (72A) with coach Jason Koop, where he shared his simple framework to refocus and reset when things go wrong on race day. It's highly recommended you listen to that episode first if you haven't already.
Podcast guest:
- Erin Colebatch - Ultra Appetites
- Web: https://www.ultraappetites.com.au/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ultraappetites/
Fueling Endurance eBook:
At over 260 pages, the Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask. Covering the first two years of the podcast, the eBook contains additional insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes. Every copy sold helps cover the cost of making the podcast.
Purchase directly from https://fuelingendurance.com/ or search Fueling Endurance on Amazon for the Kindle version.
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 simple framework to use when things go wrong on race day. It will help you refocus, reset, and go about addressing your issues, replacing panic with a plan. It might just help prevent a DNF, or sometimes, turn your race around for a great result.
Discussed on the podcast:
- Koop's Research Essentials for Ultrarunning (monthly publication): https://www.jasonkoop.com/research-essentials-for-ultrarunning
- His podcast, Koopcast: https://www.jasonkoop.com/podcast
- To get involved in the Monash University study discussed in the episode, email pascale.young@monash.edu
Fueling Endurance eBook:
At over 260 pages, the Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask. Covering the first two years of the podcast, the eBook contains additional insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes. Every copy sold helps cover the cost of making the podcast.
Purchase directly from https://fuelingendurance.com/ or search Fueling Endurance on Amazon for the Kindle version.
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:
McCubbin AJ, Costa RJS. Effect of Personalized Sodium Replacement on Fluid and Sodium Balance and Thermophysiological Strain During and After Ultraendurance Running in the Heat. Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2023;19(2):105-115. DOI: 10.1123/ijspp.2023-0295
Fueling Endurance eBook:
At over 260 pages, the Fueling Endurance eBook contains answers to 49 of the most common nutrition questions that runners, cyclists and triathletes ask. Covering the first two years of the podcast, the eBook contains additional insights, tips, and quotes from experts and athletes. Every copy sold helps cover the cost of making the podcast.
Purchase directly from https://fuelingendurance.com/ or search Fueling Endurance on Amazon for the Kindle version.
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 and new health and peformance consequences added to the model. We sat down with one of the consensus statement authors, Prof. Louise Burke OAM (Australian Catholic University), for an update on what's new in REDs, and what the authors want athletes to know about it.
2023 REDs Consensus Statement and associated articles (British Journal of Sports Medicine): https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/57/17
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 through the whole back catalogue, or you just want a refresher and the key points from this year's episodes, this is the episode for you.
To get a copy of our new eBook, summarising the first 2 years of the podcast, go to fuelingendurance.com or search Fueling Endurance on the Kindle store on Amazon.
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's worked in pro cycling since 2010 (first with GreeEdge and then Uno-X) and seen the transformation in how nutrition is managed within the sport. Find out what the riders are eating, the strangest requests he's ever got, and most importantly, where he was when the GreenEdge bus got stuck under the finish line at the 2013 Tour de France.
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 a huge announcement about the future of the podcast.
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 the University of São Paulo are here to explain their research and the implications for runners, cyclists and triathletes.
Read the research paper:
Barreto G, Esteves GP, Marticorena F, Oliveira TN, Grgic J, Saunders B. (2023). Caffeine, CYP1A2 Genotype and Exercise Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Med Sci Sports Exerc. In Press: https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000003313
Read the summary Twittter/X thread: https://twitter.com/Bicycle_Bryan/status/1714311368709460319
Follow Bryan on Twitter/X: @Bicycle_Bryan
Follow Gabriel on Twitter/X: @nutrigabarreto
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 adaptations to an energy deficit in athletes is different if the energy deficit is induced by increased training load, or reduced calorie intake.
Follow José on Twitter/X: @jlAreta
Watch the talk mentioned from the The Royal Society Meeting in October 2022:
https://www.youtube.com/live/hkuktx5FUto?feature=shared&t=17901
Read the accompanying paper:
Halsey LG, Areta JL, Koehler K (2023). Does eating less or exercising more to reduce energy availability produce distinct metabolic responses? Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 378(1885):20220217. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2022.0217
The Energy Stress Meeting at Liverpool John Moores University in September 2022 (José was an organiser and presenter):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyoTPwnnO4j3vpPsjU8AqWmdpYYekfiPw
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 Korea.
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 the general population, may be doing a disservice to runners, cyclists and triathletes. We’ll examine where the message comes from, why it might not be the best advice for you, and what to do instead.
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 what type of supplements should you take to prevent or correct a Vitamin D deficiency?
Today, we’re speaking to researcher Dr Dan Owens from Liverpool John Moores University in the UK, whose research is aiming to answer these and more questions about Vitamin D for athletes. We’ll also discuss the different types of Vitamin D in food, supplements and the body, ethnic differences and their relevance to Vitamin D testing, and how much sun exposure is enough to meet your Vitamin D needs.
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 nutrition strategies that can be employed to improve performance on race day. We’ll discuss some of the practical pros and cons, and find out what the science says about quantifying the actual performance benefits you might expect from each one.
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 sports dietitian based in California who’s constantly asked this question with the athletes she works with: the EF-Tibco-SVB pro cycling team, and the Golden State Warriors (NBA). Dana will give you a framework to use when you encounter new information about nutrition for your sport, that you can use to decide whether it’s worth pursuing or not.
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 common belief came from about animal proteins being superior, how the research has evolved just in the last few years, and what that means for this common sports nutrition assumption.
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 improve running’s footprint in our climate emergency'.
To learn more about Damian's books, blog, etc: https://www.ultradamo.com/
Our World In Data - information on food & the environment discussed in the podcast: https://ourworldindata.org/environmental-impacts-of-food#explore-data-on-the-environmental-impacts-of-food
To find out about The Green Runners: https://thegreenrunners.com/
Instagram: @ultra_damo
Twitter: @Ultra_Damo
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 values?
We're joined by Dr Alba Reguant-Closa (Agroscope, in Zurich, Switzerland), one of the only sports dietitians in the world who is actively working in this area. We’ll unpack and simplify the complex relationship between food and the environment, discover which food choices have the biggest environmental impact, look at the impact of sports-specific nutrition strategies on the environment, and finish with the 3 things athletes should do from a nutrition perspective if they care about reducing their environmental impact.
Alba's research publications on this topic:
- Meyer & Reguant-Closa (2017). "Eat as If You Could Save the Planet and Win!" Sustainability Integration into Nutrition for Exercise and Sport. Nutrients; 9(4):412. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu9040412
- Reguant-Closa et al. (2020). The Environmental Impact of the Athlete's Plate Nutrition Education Tool. Nutrients;12(8):2484. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12082484
- Meyer, Reguant-Closa & Nemecek (2020). Sustainable Diets for Athletes. Curr Nutr Rep.; 9(3):147-162. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13668-020-00318-0
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 science here, or have they been duped by the lure of a supplement that uses terms like “nervous system” and “muscle function” that are taken from a symptom list of clinical magnesium deficiency?
In today’s episode, we’re joined by Dr Sophie Killer, a sports nutritionist and researcher who did some of the very few studies of magnesium and athletes during her time working with UK Athletics. We’ll look at what magnesium does in the body, how to know if you’re deficient in magnesium, whether deficiency is common in athletes, whether supplements can improve performance or reduce cramping, the benefits and risks of magnesium supplementation, and whether we should think about magnesium as a daily supplement like iron, or something that specifically needs replacing during exercise like sodium.
Sophie's study looking at magnesium testing in UK track and field athletes over an 8 year period: https://doi.org/10.1080/07315724.2019.1691953
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 distance runner who represented Great Britain. Tina suffered with amenorrhoea for 9 years, and although she didn’t realise it at the time, Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S). We chat to Tina about her realisation that energy availability was behind her lack of a menstrual cycle, some of the common symptoms of RED-S that she experienced but aren’t mentioned in the official guidelines, her decision to quit the sport at the peak of her career, her journey to recover from RED-S, and her ongoing work to support athletes (especially women) in understanding and recovering from this condition.
Useful resources mentioned in this episode:
- Tina Muir - An Open Letter to Runners With Amenorrhea - Self Magazine (2017) - https://www.self.com/story/letter-to-runners-with-amenorrhea-tina-muir
- Tina's YouTube Channel (expert interviews about RED-S and recovery from it) - https://www.youtube.com/@TinaMuir/playlists?view=50&sort=dd&shelf_id=1
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 Bobby explains more about what went on at the time, what happened next, where she's at now, and most importantly the lessons that all athletes (or parents of young athletes) can take away from her experience.
We want your feedback! Complete a short survey with your thoughts on the podcast - 3 people who complete it will win a copy of our new eBook when it launches in a few week's time. Survey link: http://ow.ly/AaZ050NRsNP
Whether it's a fall off your bike and a broken collarbone, or a runner's dreaded stress fracture, it's clear that bone health is important for endurance athletes. But what's nutrition got to do with it? We're joined by Luuk Hilkens, a researcher at the HAN University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands, who is doing his PhD with the Jumbo Visma Cycling Team, looking at nutrition and exercise strategies to improve bone health in elite athletes.
Luuk's recent research publications on this topic:
- Fragile bones of elite cyclists: to treat or not to treat? - Journal of Applied Physiology - March 2021
- Low Bone Mineral Density and Associated Risk Factors in Elite Cyclists at Different Stages of a Professional Cycling Career - Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise - Jan 2022
- Bone turnover following high-impact exercise is not modulated by collagen supplementation in young men: A randomized cross-over trial - Bone - Feb 2023
How does nutrition change when transitioning from age-group to elite athlete? And does the perception of how the pros do nutrition compare to reality? We're joined by elite paratriathlete Jeremy Peacock who made this transition in the last few years, to hear how his approach to nutrition has changed as an elite athlete compared to his age-group days.
We all see pro athletes online, and get an insight into what they eat, how much they eat, and the products they use. But should we try to emulate the nutrition practices of the pros, or use the same products to get better ourselves? We're joined by A/Prof. Greg Cox, who worked for 20 years with Triathlon Australia, supporting many triathletes from their junior days through to the Olympic Games. This conversation follows on from part of a Masterclass that Greg and Alan ran for sports dietitians in late 2022, looking at nutrition for endurance athletes and the contrast between elite and non-elite athletes.
It's our 100th episode! So to celebrate we're deviating from the usual format to chat to Erchana Murray-Bartlett, who recently ran a marathon-a-day for 150 days straight. In doing so she broke the female world record for consecutive marathons run, covered 6330km from the northernmost tip of Australia back to her home town of Melbourne, and raised a heap money for the Wilderness Society. We chat to her about how she planned her nutrition for such an epic journey, how these plans stood up against the reality of her situation, and what she learnt along the way.
To support Erchana's fundraising efforts, check out her website: https://www.tiptotoe2022.com/
Instagram: @tip_to_toe_2022
Facebook: @ErchanaMurrayBartlett
This episode introduces some simple but incredibly powerful add-ons to the weigh-before, weigh-after sweat rate testing process that will help you understand your results and what they mean, but most importantly, what to do with the results.
Elite distance runner Ellie Pashley returns discusses her experience with pre-exercise hyperhydration in preparation for the Tokyo Olympics, and how she monitors and manages her hydration on a day-to-day basis.
We're back for 2023, and joined by Dr Chris Irwin (Griffith University). We discuss what being well hydrated before exercise actually means, how you can tell if you are well hydrated or not, and what to do if you're not. We also discuss the strategy of pre-exercise hyperhydration, and the results of a meta-analysis Chris and Alan are in the process of writing up for publication.
We're joined by Advanced Sports Dietitian Gaye Rutherford (Tasmanian Institute of Sport) from chilly Hobart, to discuss the concept of "outrunning a bad diet". We'll unpack this question, the mentality behind it, why it's probably not a healthy way to view exercise and food, and discuss how to reframe this question in a more positive manner.
It‘s the 2nd birthday of the podcast, and to celebrate we‘re summarising all of the previous year's topics in one jam-packed episode! From ”How do I balance eating for training quality and body fat loss?”, to ”How much carbs should I have during training and races?”, and ”How do I stop cramping?”, we‘ll provide 3-5 minute summaries of each of them to bring you up to speed on any you‘ve missed. Oh, and some announcements about the future of The Long Munch.
A legend in ultrarunning coaching in the US, author, podcaster and running coach Jason Koop joins us for our special Episode 50. We discuss the evolution of nutrition in trail and ultrarunning, and what’s transferred over from cycling and triathlon. Jason also gives us a sneak peak of what the elite guys are doing in terms of their approach to race day fuelling and hydration, what we can or can't learn from that, plus his recent work with Mina Guli and her Run Blue project. Plus plenty of great practical tips along the way.
Dentist and ultrarunner Julie Savage joins us to discuss a topic that many of us may prefer not to think about. Julie explains whether sports drinks and gels themselves have a unique role in dental erosion and decay, whether exercise itself is the problem, and most importantly, what runners, cyclists and triathletes can do to protect their smiles.
We're joined this week by elite trail and mountain runner Blake Hose. Blake shares his experience with blood testing, what he's tested for and the feedback and value he's got from having bloods, and his thoughts on regular versus ad hoc testing.
Medical doctor and Sports Medicine Registrar Alice McNamara is back on the podcast. We discuss what blood tests can tell an athlete and their support team, what tests are related to nutrition for runners, cyclists & triathletes, and if athletes should get regular bloods for screening, or only when there’s a suspected issue.
Ultrarunner Martijn Doekes joins us to discuss his recent experience completing Alan's 5 hour sodium replacement study. We go through the results and how to interpret these, to determine the amount of sodium that needs replacing during exercise.
Alan discusses his recently published research that uses existing equations to estimate the sodium replacement needs of athletes during exercise. We cover why sodium might be important to replace during exercise, what we're trying to achieve with sodium replacement, the factors that determine if deliberate sodium replacement is important or not, and how much we then need.
Aussie cyclist Neil van der Ploeg joins us again to share his experience with metabolic flexibility. We discuss the changes he made to improve his metabolic flexibility, why he did it, and how it worked out.
Jeff Rothschild (Auckland University of Technology) joins us to discuss what metabolic flexibility means, when is it important, and his research which looked at what actually influences how our bodies use fat or carbs during exercise. A fascinating conversation with some common myths busted!
Elite cyclist turned triathlete Ben Hill joins us again, this time to discuss an issue he's struggled with most of his career. We discuss what Ben's done in the past to try and prevent or relieve his cramping, how his cramping changed from his recent transition from cycling to triathlon, and apply the questionnaire we discussed last week with Prof. Kevin Miller (Ep 45A) to try and identify Ben's specific cramping risk factors.
Prof. Kevin Miller (Texas State University) joins us to discuss one of the most common issues faced by endurance athletes. We cover what we know about cramping and why it’s so difficult to figure out the cause, the role nutrition does or doesn’t play in cramping prevention and management, and finding a strategy moving forward to help you reduce your risk of cramping.
Ironman World Champion in 2019 (60-65 yr age group), multisport master athlete Mary Mitchell joins us to share her experience over the decades of training and racing. We discuss how age has impacted her training and racing and her approach to nutrition, as well as the benefits that come with so much experience and years of accumulated training in the body.
Recently retired from Bond University, Prof. Peter Reaburn dedicated much of his career to studying the training & nutrition needs of masters athletes. He shares his wisdom about what changes in athletes as we get older, and how this impacts nutritional needs.
A researcher in supplements & performance at the University of São Paulo, Dr Bryan Saunders discusses what research has been done on creatine supplementation for running, cycling and triathlon performance, and in what circumstances might creatine supplements be beneficial or potentially detrimental for endurance athletes.
Aussie cyclist, coach and podcaster Cyrus Monk joins us from training camp in Germany, to discuss how sleep impacts his performance in training and during stage races, and the things he controls in his diet that help him to get a good night's sleep.
An expert in athlete sleep and recovery, Prof. Shona Halson (Australian Catholic University) joins us to discuss why sleep is so important for athletes, and whether the type, amount or timing of food and/or supplements can help or hinder getting a good night's sleep.
Ultra-runner Ash Daniels joins us to share his experience with gut training. We discuss why Ash did gut training in the first place, the process he went through and the end goal, the benefits he saw in just 2-3 months, and what he found easy or difficult in the process.
The term 'gut training' is thrown around a lot these days, but what does this actually mean? This week Steph will take us through what we mean by gut training, why would runners, cyclists or triathletes want to do it, what is the evidence that it works, and how you go about gut training.
We're back after a week's break to answer a listener question around fibre. Steph runs us through what fibre is and the general recommendations; what happens if you have too much or not enough fibre, both for general health and specific to exercise; why athletes might inadvertently eat too much fibre and what to do about it, and the timing of fibre around exercise and the importance in terms of gut issues.
Paratriathlete Liam Twomey joins us to discuss his carbohydrate needs in training and on race day, and the recent changes he made to get more out of his training. Steph & Alan also go back to basics on carbs, the different types, where they come from, and how to plan your training and race nutrition to ensure you're getting the most from your sessions.
The man who did much of the research that lead to our current guidelines for carbs during exercise, Prof. Asker Jeukendrup joins us to discuss the nuances of carbs during exercise - recreational vs elite athletes, running vs cycling, shorter vs longer duration, and much, much more. As head of performance nutrition for the Jumbo Visma pro cycling team, the Red Bull Athlete Performance Centre and the Dutch Olympic Team, Asker also discusses the challenges & practical considerations for achieving your optimal carbohydrate intake on race day.
Two time Olympian in the 1500m & sports dietitian Linden Hall joins us to discuss the role of fruit & veggies in her diet, what happens when she doesn't get enough on the road, and her experience with the vast array of fruit & vegetable based supplements that are heavily marketed to athletes.
Researcher and sports dietitian Dr Andrea Braakhuis (University of Auckland) joins us to chat about her area of research on the components in fruit and vegetables and their impact on performance. We discuss whether we should just try to eat more fruit and veggies, some of the challenges in achieving that for runners, cyclists and triathletes, and whether there's evidence to support the use of supplemental forms like greens powders, New Zealand blackcurrant and tart cherry juice.
We're joined by Aussie pro cyclist Sarah Gigante, who shares her experience relocating to Europe and learning to adapt her on-bike nutrition in a much colder climate. From cozy gloves that stopped her accessing race food, to finding suitable alternatives to cereal bars in Europe, we hear stories of adapting to life riding in Europe, and the challenges eating and drinking in the cold, wind and rain of the Spring Classics in Belgium.
Beccy Hall is a sports dietitian with the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia and previously with the Canadian Sports Institute Pacific. She discusses if nutritional needs change when training through the winter, what does 'being cold' actually means, and some great practical tips and advice learnt from working with Winter Olympic athletes and others in temperatures both above and below freezing.
Elite ultra-runner & coach, mum of one and pregnant with the 2nd on the way, Kellie Emerson joins us to share her experiences with managing training (and racing) and nutrition whilst pregnant and breastfeeding. Plenty of great advice and practical suggestions for new mums or soon-to-be new mums.
Co-founder of Compeat Nutrition, sports dietitian for Australia's women's soccer team The Matildas & mum of three kids, Alicia joins us to discuss both the guidelines and the practical reality of nutrition during pregnancy & breastfeeding, and how your training nutrition needs change during this time. Plenty of practical tips for new mums or mums-to-be that are continuing to train during this time.
Cyclist Ben Hill joins us to share his experience managing food and nutrition whilst travelling, both domestically with the National Road Series, and internationally in Europe and Asia. We discuss what's worked, what's gone wrong, and what he always takes with him when travelling. We also chat about his experience with the Australian team in the UCI Cycling ESports World Championships, a former teammate who's now a multiple Tour de France winner, and his love of riding in the breakaway.
We're joined by Jess Rothwell, Nutrition Lead for Athletics Australia and Sports Dietitian at the Victorian Institute of Sport, working with their athletics program. We tap into Jess's experience travelling with teams to training camps, World Championships and Olympic Games, as well as her own experience as an athlete. This includes common nutrition issues and challenges for both domestic and international travel and tips for overcoming these, tips for choosing accommodation and what to take with you to be prepared for any situation, and how you as an athlete can be better prepared nutritionally when travelling for an event.
Our first returning athlete guest, triathlete and Tokyo Olympian Emma Jeffcoat's back on the podcast. We discuss her Olympic experience and plans for 2022, her personal experience with supplements, the products she's tried over the years, her thought process when deciding on whether to use a supplement or not, and her experience combining supplements with international travel.
We're joined by Greg Shaw, Nutrition Lead for Swimming Australia and Performance Manager for the open water program. As a former athlete and then sports dietitian, Greg has used supplements, researched supplement use, contibuted to the AIS Sports Supplement Framework and worked with numerous athletes to advise them on supplement use. We discuss how to define supplements, his process of determining if an individual would benefit from supplements, and how we would benefit by shifting from a "magic pills and potions" to a "nutrient optimisation" mindset.
Runner and sports science journalist Alex Hutchinson joins us to provide his experience of using a continuous glucose monitor, and his research and conversations with elite and professional athletes who have been using them. We discuss what it's like to wear the monitor, what data you get back, and what to do with it.
A columnist for Outside and formerly Runner's World, Alex is also the author of the New York Times best-seller Endure, where he examined the science of fatigue and the limits of human performance.
A hot topic in sports nutrition, discussed in our first ever double guest episode! Dr Dana Lis (Israel Premier-Tech) & Dr Dave Martin (formerly AIS, now in Silicon Valley) join us to discuss wearable tech in general, and continuous glucose monitors specifically for athletes. Are they accurate, what do they tell us, when are they useful, or is it pointless data capture?
Two time Olympian in the 1500m & now track and XC coach at the University of Victoria, Hilary Stellingwerff joins us to discuss her experience managing training and nutrition across the menstrual cycle, what she learnt from science and experience, how she works with the athletes she coaches, and what matters in the bigger picture.
Clare Minahan from Griffith University is a world expert in female athlete physiology, including influence of the menstrual cycle and contraceptive use. She joins us to discuss a topic with so many myths and misconceptions - should female athletes adjust their nutrition according to the phase of their menstrual cycle?
Triathlon coach Danielle Stefano from Elotik Pro Triathlon works with high school triathletes, elite juniors, and Olympic and Paralympic athletes. She discusses the similarities and differences between these groups, and how she sees the nutritional needs and concerns of younger athletes through the lens of a coach who works across the spectrum.
Prof. Ben Desbrow (Griffith University) joins us to discuss how the nutitional needs of younger athletes are different to adults, and the practical, social and ethical considerations with this age group. A must-listen for parents, coaches or support staff of young runners, cyclists & triathletes.
Cyclist, sports scientist, and cycling coach Dr Stephen Lane from HPTek joins us to discuss the use or misuse of training data to provide insights into nutrition practices, including what data to use and when, and when you can go by feel.
Dr Trent Stellingwerff (Director of Innovation & Research, Canadian Sport Institute Pacific) joins us to discuss the nuances of collecting and interpreting training data, how it could be used to inform your nutrition, and we finish with some practical examples.
Cyclist Neil van der Ploeg joins us to explain how he balanced training load & body fat loss in the lead up to key races. Neil's career included multiple National Road Series stage wins, the 2017 Grafton to Inverell Cycle Classic, a podium at the 2015 Road Nationals & several appearances on the UniSA National Team at the Tour Down Under.
We're back for 2022, answering probably the most common question we've ever been asked. An in-house episode, Steph & Alan will describe how they tackle this conundrum & assist athletes to meet their body composition goals without compromising their health or training performance.
With Christmas upon us, we're releasing our final podcast for 2021 a few days early. Olympic marathoner Sinead Diver joins us to give a behind-the-scenes look at how the team prepared for the heat of Tokyo 2020, and her pesonal experiences trying out pre-race hyperhydration with glycerol and sodium, pre-cooling with slushies, and altering perception of temperature with menthol.
We're joined by Dr Meg Ross, a sports scientist who worked with the Australian Institute of Sport Nutrition team and Australian Catholic Univesity for over a decade, running research studies to prepare athletes for hot Olympic Games. We discuss her PhD work on pre-cooling with ice slushies prior to the 2008 Beijing Games, and more recent work on pre-exercise hyperhydration with sodium and glycerol, and the use of menthol to alter the perception of temperature in the lead-up to the Tokyo Games. We cover the practical aspects, and how these strategies could be implemented by runners, cyclists & triathletes of all levels.
A sports dietitian working with both professional and recreational cyclists and triathletes, Dr Gemma Sampson joins us to discuss the commercial and DIY alternatives to energy gels and bars. A passionate cook, Gemma spends a lot of time experimenting with DIY training snacks - she'll give us the run down on what makes a good choice for your next session.
It's the 1st birthday of the podcast, and to celebrate we're summarising all of the 24 previous topics in one jam-packed episode! From "Is low carb right for me?", to "Why do I get gut issues during exercise?", and "Can I have a beer after my hard training session?", we'll provide 2-3 minute summaries of each of them to bring you up to speed on any you've missed.
It's our 50th episode with a very special guest and a very special topic. Prof. Andy Jones (University of Exeter) joins us to discuss his role with the Nike Breaking2 Project back in 2017. We discuss Andy's role in athlete testing and selection, supporting Eliud Kipchoge, Lelisa Desisa and Zersenay Tadese, how he predicted their running times, the nutrition planning, and how it unfolded on the day.
A former cyclist in the National Road Series with Specialized Women's Racing, Sophie Mackay shares not only her experience of under-fuelling and the impacts on health & performance, but the remarkable turnaround which culminated in the highlight of her racing career.
A regular in Australia's National Road Series and now High Performance Manager for Knights x LMLY Racing, cyclist Kate Perry shares her journey with low energy availability and the consequences that can occur when under-fuelling for your training load.
We're joined by Margot, an Accredited Sports Dietitian who is just finishing up her PhD research with the University of Canberra & the Australian Institute of Sport, looking at the consequences of under-fuelling in elite athletes. We discuss how to define adequate fuelling for training, what happens if you under-fuel, how do you know if you're eating enough, and what to do about it if you're not.
Following her Olympic debut in the 5000m at Tokyo, Izzi Batt-Doyle joins us to discuss how she has managed the relationship between body composition and performance throughout her career and the challenges along the way, from domestic racing in Australia to the US Collegiate system, and now as an elite athlete.
We're joined by Associate Professor Gary Slater (University of the Sunshine Coast & National Performance Nutrition Network Lead, Australian Institute of Sport). Gary has significant expertise and research interest in body composition for athletes. We discuss whether leaner = faster running or riding, considerations for athletes of all levels and body compositions, as well as his experience organising and providing nutrition services for the Australian team village at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Olympian and Australian national record holder in the women's 800m, Catriona Bisset joins us to discuss her approach to aligning a vegan diet with her goals as an athlete. Full of personal experience, tips & tricks for anyone who is or wants to switch to predominately plant-based eating.
A/Prof at Bond University, Nutrition Lead for Triathlon Australia and vegetarian himself, Greg joins us to share his thoughts on plant-based and vegan diets for runners, cyclists & triathletes, whether they are adequate (or superior) for performance & recovery, and key considerations for those thinking of eliminating some or all animal-based foods.
Fresh off 2nd place at the CCC event at Ultra Trail Mont Blanc, ultrarunner and running coach Scotty Hawker joins us to discuss his past battles with gut issues, the role of FODMAPs in these, the careful elimination and reintroduction of FODMAP containing foods to find the source of the problem, and how he manages this today.
Steph takes the lead on this one given her expertise in FODMAPs, explaining what they are, why they're relevant to exercise, when and how to eat a low FODMAP diet, and who might benefit.
Alistair Donohoe joined us from his hotel in Izu as he prepared to race on the velodrome & the road at the Tokyo Paralympics. An avid coffee lover, Al discusses how he plans caffeine around training & competition, and his thoughts on withdrawal and re-introduction of caffeine on race day.
Dr Chris Irwin (Griffith University) joins us to answer a question that has many coffee lovers sweating on the answer. A sports dietitian and researcher who has studied caffeine withdrawal and re-introduction, Chris discusses whether there's a benefit from caffeine abstinence in the lead up to key races.
With the Paralympics kicking off this week we're joined by a member of the Aussie team, triathlete David Bryant, to discuss how he plans his protein across the day in training. A sports dietitian himself when he's not training & racing, Dave also shares the tips and tricks he uses with the athletes he works with.
We're joined by A/Prof. Dan Moore (University of Toronto), who's done many of the existing studies relating specifically to protein and endurance exercise. In this episode he'll discuss the unique features of endurance sports that might be relevant to having increased protein needs, where the science is at currently, and what he recommends runners, cyclists & triathletes need in terms of protein intake.
We're joined by Dr Alice McNamara, a trail and vertical runner, former elite rower, and also a medical doctor working at trail races across country Victoria. Alice shares her experiences with hyponatraemia as a race doctor, as well as other insights for athletes and race directors on all things medical support.
Alan shares his knowledge on exercise-associated hyponatraemia, the role of water vs sodium, is drinking to thirst all that's needed, and how else can we prevent this potentially dangerous condition?
We're joined by Dr Danielle McCartney, an Accredited Sports Dietitian & researcher at The Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics. Danielle provides a fascinating overview of CBD use for sport. What are the potential uses? Is it safe, legal, how do you buy it, and is the hype justified?
We're joined by middle-distance runner, sports scientist & osteopathy student Cate Gifford. Cate gives us an insight into her recent injury & subsequent surgery, and how living with a sports dietitian has changed her approach to nutrition and injury rehab.
We chat to Dr Rebekah Alcock, an Accredited Sports Dietitian who completed her PhD in the area of nutrition support for tendon and ligament health. We discuss the key nutrition considerations for runners, cyclists and triathletes affected by injury, the recent hype around bone broth, gelatin and collagen to support rehab, and other factors that are often overlooked.
A sports scientist & nutritionist by training, but also a Marathon des Sables competitor in 2019, Jodie gives an insight into her own event preparation when it comes to nutrition, and tips and hints she picked up along the way.
In another in-house episode we cover the science and practical issues of carrying your own food for a multi-day event. We discuss the common debates around pack weight vs optimal fuelling, carbs vs fat vs protein, how to maximise the nutrition from the food you carry, and some practical tips learnt from athletes we've worked with over the years.
We're joined by adventurer, runner and business consultant Richard Bowles to share some of his adventures, how he fuelled when running a marathon a day for more than 5 months, and his preference for keeping it simple when it comes to nutrition and recovery.
Fresh from a PhD studying nutrition for recovery optimisation, Bella shares with us the recent expansion through her research from the 3R's to the 5R's of recovery, what that means for the average runner, cyclist and triathlete, and when some R's are more important than others.
We're joined by Leah Kirchmann, a pro cyclist racing with Team DSM in the Women's World Tour. We chat post-stage nutrient goals, logistical challenges, Leah's ride snacks, whether nutrition should be different for amateurs vs pros, and what can happen when you get it wrong.
James Moran works as a dietitian with INEOS Grenadiers and Uno-X Pro Cycling Teams. Just back from an altitude training camp in Tenerife, we chat to James about nutrition for stage racing, the differences from one-day events, how the INEOS Grenadiers team does it, and what we can learn for amateur level stage racing.
We're joined by Ironman triathlete Kevin Fergusson, a 4 time age group world champion who was also awarded Legend of the Sport by Triathlon Australia. Kev shares what he's learnt about nutrition for Ironman racing over the years, and his greatest achievement in the sport.
We're joined by Kate Penglase, a 2 time Australian champ and twice podium finisher at World Championships in 24 hr solo mountain biking. Kate gives an insight into her nutrition for 24hr racing, how she started out, and how and why her race plan has evolved over time. We also answer a listener question around dietary fibre for athletes.
A past winner of Ultra-Trail Australia and top 5 at Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc, Kellie shares her experience and tips for stepping up to ultra-distance running events, including what she did in her first ultra race, what she's learnt over the years, and what she sees in the athletes she coaches.
An in-house episode answering the question that gave rise to the entire podcast. If you're stepping up from marathon to ultras, 70.3 to Ironman, 6hr to 24hr MTB, or planning a bloody long bike ride, this episode is for you. When to prepare, how to prepare, do's and don'ts, and practical tips and suggestions galore.
Professional triathlete and coach Nathan Shearer joins us to discusses how beer fits into his Ironman training schedule, and how his prior sporting background exposed him to a lot more alcohol than the typical endurance athlete. We also wrap up the two episodes on beer and summarise its effect on post-exercise recovery, whether it's "a beer" or "getting on the beers".
A lecturer, researcher and sports dietitian, Ben has studied the effects of beer on post-exercise recovery. We discuss the R's of recovery (like a pirate!), including the all important (R)elaxation, and the effect beer may or may not have on these.
We're joined by ultra-runner Ben Duffus, recent winner of the Six Foot Track Marathon. Ben has faced some unusual challenges over the last few years, but used sweat sodium testing, in combination with a bunch of other measures, to complete the picture and figure out what was going wrong.
A lecturer & researcher at Monash University, practitioner with Triathlon Australia & in private practice. Alan investigated sweat testing and sodium needs of athletes during his PhD. What does sweat testing do, how accurate is it, and most importantly, how do you use the results of the test?
Fresh off the podium at the Australian XCO Championships, mountain biker Karen Hill joins us to discuss the recent changes she's made to her carb loading strategy. Imagine carb loading effectively with no gut upset, and still feeling hungry at the end of the day! An episode full of practical tips and tricks.
An exercise physiologist, lecturer, researcher & cycling coach, José has travelled the world. Whilst working in Norway he completed a study summarising ~50 years of research on carbohydrate loading and the carb requirements of athletes into one comprehensive research paper. We discuss this research, the situations where carb loading may beneficial, and some of the practical considerations for doing it properly.
Ellie Pashley has represented Australia in the 10,000 m & half marathon at World Champs. She's also finished top 10 at the 2019 New York Marathon, and currently aiming to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic team in the marathon. Ellie discusses her battles with iron deficiency, her experiences with supplementation and iron infusions, and her approach to supplementation for altitude training.
Pete's both a researcher at the University of Western Australia and a physiologist at the Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS). We discuss recent advances in our understanding of iron deficiency in athletes, when to supplement, and the safest and most effective way to do so.
An incredible story from Spanish pro triathlete Eneko Llanos. After several years struggling to finish Ironman races, Eneko was finally able to determine the cause of his gut problems, put the appropriate strategies in place, and got back to the top of his game. We discuss this, how trial and error didn't work for him, and what's involved in assessing it properly.
A very common and frustrating issue, especially for runners and long-course triathletes. We're doing this one in-house given it's Steph's area of expertise. We unpack the actual causes of gut issues during exercise, why trial and error rarely works, how to figure out the cause, and what to do about it.
Our athlete perspective this week with Chris Ord who wears many hats - an outdoor/adventure journalist, founder & original publisher of Trail Run Magazine (Aus/NZ), race director, adventure running tour guide, and trail runner in his own right. We also finish with an easy guide for assessing the credibility of scientific information, to help your BS detection skills.
At the heart of many of our podcast topics/questions is confusion, misconceptions and misinformation. We chat to Dr Tim Crowe about why there are so many mixed messages in nutrition science, the role of the media and social media, and tips for developing a good BS detector. Tim's also a marathon runner, so we chatted about his own experience and what he learnt from experience that science couldn't teach him.
Our combined athlete perspective episode for the last two topics. Marathon runner and dual Olympian Jess Stenson joins us to discuss the evolution of her preparation for hot races, from the 2013 Moscow World Champs, to the 2016 Rio Olympics, the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games & the follow up Gold Coast marathon a few months later.
The 2nd half of our chat with Prof. Ollie Jay (University of Sydney). We cover myths, facts and sucessfully used cooling strategies from professional sport, whether you should drink or pour water over yourself, the difference between actual cooling & the perception of feeling cooler, and heat acclimation.
Is it genetics? Body fat? Or completely random? Prof. Ollie Jay (University of Sydney) joins us in a fascinating discussion about how our bodies figure out how much sweat to produce during exercise, why it varies so much between people, as well as from day-to-day within the same person. A bit technical in parts, with an easy-to-digest summary at the end.
Australian distance runner Julian Spence joins us to talk about his experience running the marathon at the World Athletics Championships in Doha in 2019, a hot race run in the middle of the night. We chat about his approach to hydration for the event, watching fellow competitors need medical assistance in the women's race a few nights prior, and what it's like training on a treadmill next door to a fish n chip shop!
Dr Lewis James (Loughborough University, UK) joins us to discuss what has often times been a highly controversial topic. Lewis is a senior lecturer at Loughborough and has conducted some of the world's only blinded hydration and performance studies. An awesome discussion about the controversies and difficulties in hydration research, why there hasn't been more studies in the area, and some practical considerations to get you thinking about how you hydrate for your next event.
In our athlete perspective episode, pro triathlete Emma Jeffcoat joins us to discuss her journey as it relates to matching her nutrition to her training demands. We also chat to Emma about her goals for next year's rescheduled Tokyo Olympics, and her love of Biscoff!
Dr Sam Impey (Mitchelton-Scott Pro Cycling Team) joins us to discuss this very common question. Sam's PhD research led to the now ubiquitous phrase "Fuel for the work required". We discuss the pros and cons of different fuelling strategies for long training sessions, and make practical recommendations based on the the type and purpose of the training session.
Olympic racewalker Evan Dunfee joins us to discuss his experience eating a low carb, high fat diet in the Supernova study, how it affected his training and race performances, what he sees other elite athletes eating, and his take on the postponement of Tokyo 2020.
Our first podcast for runners, cyclists & triathletes investigates one of the most controversial questions of recent years - is low carb right for me? We will hear from Prof. Louise Burke (Australian Catholic University, previously Australian Institute of Sport) who has done perhaps more research in this field than anyone.