Training Science Podcast

Does strength training make runners more durable? In Dr Michele Zanini's randomised trial, ten weeks of heavy strength and plyometric work twice a week improved running economy at the 90-minute mark and raised time to exhaustion at 95% VO2max by 35%, with no change in the control group.Michele is a lecturer in applied exercise science at The Open University, a visiting research fellow at Loughborough University, and strength and conditioning coach and physiologist to the Italian Triathlon Federation. His PhD at Loughborough, with Richard Blagrove and Jonathan Folland, was among the first on durability in running.In this episode he explains the difference between durability and physiological resilience, walks through what happens to VO2max, running economy and threshold speed over 90 and 120 minutes of marathon-pace running, and why fractional utilisation climbing to 91% is a warning sign rather than a strength. We cover why female trail runners held their pace over three hours while performance-matched men lost 10%, what long runs and weekly volume do to economy durability, and the type II fibre mechanism that may link high carbohydrate intake and strength training to the same outcome. Michele also shares what works, and what goes wrong, when elite triathletes lift, and what he hopes wearables and AI will answer next.Interested in learning more about the latest developments in endurance performance and sports science? Subscribe to the HIIT Science email list for updates on new research, courses, and educational opportunities.Today's speakers:Prof Paul Laursen: https://www.paullaursen.com/Dr Michele Zanini: LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/michele-zanini-901011164/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/michelezanini.physiology/ X https://twitter.com/MicZanini ResearchGate https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Michele-Zanini-3Resources:Strength training improves running economy durability and fatigued high-intensity performance (RCT, MSSE 2025) https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000003685The effect of 90 and 120 min of running on the determinants of endurance performance in marathon runners (SJMSS 2025) https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.70076Regular long runs and higher training volumes are associated with better running economy durability (MSSE) https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000003840Highly trained female runners show greater durability than performance-matched males (SJMSS 2026) https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.70299Defining physiological resilience and durability (J Appl Physiol letter, with Andy Jones and Lars Nybo) https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.00671.202535 years of Joyner's endurance performance model, 888 individuals (Sports Med 2026) https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-026-02439-y

Ten years ago Dan Plews and I did ten-minute geek-outs on Bevan McKinnon’s Fitter Radio as Plews and Prof. Back then we were the two guys drinking ketone ester out of a bottle marked “not for human consumption.” This week we got the band back together.Dan is the Kona age-group record holder, now chasing a HYROX Worlds podium, Science Lead at Pillar Performance, lead author on the Sports Medicine paper Fuelled or Fooled, and co-author of the new HRV book with Marco Altini, Sylvain Laborde and Emma Mosley. He still thinks he has to educate me sometimes. On ketone chemistry, fair enough.We cover:Why 90 g/h is still the evidence-based starting point and 120 is not, where the carbohydrate you don’t oxidise actually goes, and why racing hot in Kona is a reason to eat less, not moreThe ageing endurance athlete’s strength problem: plyometrics, the sub-50 HYROX strength benchmarks, and why Dan now caps his long run at 90 minutesTraining HYROX like a triathlete, and why the CrossFit crowd didn’t love thatThe vagal tank: resting, reactivity and recovery, and why a falling HRV in your taper can be good newsWhat we got right and wrong ten years on, and who has mellowed morePlus a guitar, a four-kilo medicine ball, Napoleon Dynamite, and an alpaca named Tina.Want more of this? Subscribe to the HIIT Science email list for new research, courses and the occasional argument.Today’s SpeakersProf Paul Laursen https://www.paullaursen.com/Dr Dan Plews https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-plewswww.endurox.co I www.endureiq.com I www.pillarperformance.comhttps://endureiq-daily-dose.vercel.app/#pricing

What separates a good coach from a great one? Sometimes, it comes down to the words they use, the systems they build, and their ability to connect with athletes.In this episode, Dr Nick Winkelman joins us to reflect on his journey from helping develop EXOS into a globally recognized coaching education platform to leading athletic performance within Irish Rugby.Nick shares how the EXOS training philosophy helped reshape approaches to movement preparation, why effective performance systems need both consistency and flexibility, and how Irish Rugby has successfully connected its provincial teams through shared standards, data, and collaboration.The conversation then turns to Nick's work on the language of coaching, exploring how external cues, analogies, and carefully chosen words can influence movement and skill development. He explains why giving athletes more information isn't always better, how to recognize when a coaching cue is working, and why understanding the person behind the athlete is essential to effective communication.Interested in learning more about the latest developments in endurance performance and sports science? Subscribe to the HIIT Science email list for updates on new research, courses, and educational opportunities.Speakers:Today's Speakers:Dr Martin Buchheit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-buchheit-6a355828/?locale=frDr Nick Winkelman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nwinkelman/

What does it actually take to become a faster HYROX athlete?Dr Charlie Davids joins us to explore the physiological demands of HYROX, combining his research in muscle physiology and strength training with his own experience competing in the sport.The conversation examines why aerobic capacity provides the foundation for HYROX performance, how lactate threshold and critical speed influence race pacing, and why muscular endurance may become more important than maximal strength once athletes reach a sufficient strength level.Charlie also shares findings from his research linking running speed at the second lactate threshold to HYROX performance, alongside practical approaches to periodization, station technique, and training under fatigue.The episode also explores blood flow restriction training and its potential to improve muscular endurance and aerobic adaptations, while highlighting where more research is still needed to establish meaningful performance benefits.Interested in learning more about the latest developments in endurance performance and sports science? Subscribe to the HIIT Science email list for updates on new research, courses, and educational opportunities. And for access to our adaptive HYROX training plans check out athletica.ai. Prof Paul Laursen https://www.paullaursen.com/Dr Charlie Davids https://scholars.latrobe.edu.au/cdavidshttps://www.instagram.com/drcharliedavids/https://www.trainrox.com/athletes/charlie-davids

Developing a footballer is about more than preparing them for the next match. It means understanding what that individual player needs to keep training, developing, and ultimately reach their potential.Mattia Modonutti joins us to share his approach to player development and performance within elite football. Rather than treating performance as a collection of separate disciplines and datasets, Mattia explains why the real value comes from getting coaches, strength and conditioning staff, nutritionists, medical teams, and mental performance practitioners around the same table to build a richerunderstanding of the athlete.The conversation explores training continuity, individualizing load within a team environment, balancing match demands with long term physical development, and the difference between simply using a physical capacity during football and actually training it. Mattia also shares how his thinking has evolved as he moved from hands on coaching into performance leadership and why being evidence informed means combining research with experience, practitioner expertise, and athlete feedback.Interested in learning more about the latest developments in endurance performance and sports science? Subscribe to the HIIT Science email list for updates on new research, courses, and educational opportunities.Speaker:Mattia Modonutti: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattiamodonutti/

For decades, VO2 max, movement economy, and fractional utilization of VO2max have been widely presented as three key determinants of endurance performance. But how strong is the evidence for that third piece?Yannick Sondermann and Dr Lars Schwalm join us this week to challenge some long standing assumptions around fractional utilization and explore whether it truly deserves the weight it has been given in traditional endurance performance models.Drawing on their recently published work, they unpack what fractional utilization actually represents, whether it changes meaningfully with training, and why improvements in the metric may not always mean what we think they do. They also explore VO2max, movement economy, durability, strength training, and what coaches should actually focus on when trying to improve performance.The conversation ultimately comes back to a simple question: are we focusing on the variables we can actually change?Interested in learning more about the latest developments in endurance performance and sports science? Subscribe to the HIIT Science email list for updates on new research, courses, and educational opportunities.Today's Speakers:Prof Paul Laursen https://www.paullaursen.com/Yannick Sondermann: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yannick-sondermann/Dr. Lars Schwalm: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-lars-schwalm-223ab2420/Resources:https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/ijspp/aop/article-10.1123-ijspp.2026-0039/article-10.1123-ijspp.2026-0039.xml

We have more athlete tracking data than ever before. But are we actually measuring what matters?Dr Ted Polglaze joins the podcast to reflect on more than three decades in sports science, from manually tracking athletes on VHS tapes to the arrival of GPS and today's increasingly sophisticated approaches to measuring movement and load. His career has spanned multiple Olympic campaigns, elite field hockey, water polo, rowing, and other high performance environments.The conversation dives into metabolic and mechanical power, why speed and distance alone cannot capture the true demands of team sports, and the importance of acceleration, direction, movement orientation, and what Ted calls "erraticness." Ted and Martin also discuss one element that has increasingly disappeared from modern tracking analysis: time.From the limitations of current models to where athlete tracking could go next, this episode is a reminder that better technology does not automatically mean better understanding.Interested in learning more about the latest developments in endurance performance and sports science? Subscribe to the HIIT Science email list for updates on new research, courses, and educational opportunities.Today's Speakers:Dr Martin Buchheit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-buchheit-6a355828/?locale=frDr Ted Polglaze: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ted-polglaze-oly-23b6a81b3/

Top Episode Replay:HEAT🔥  training is ESTABLISHED, EASY ✅ and FOR EVERYONE! Get on it NOW!Brad Culp wants you to understand that HEAT training is not a FAD, and that PREPARING for your ENVIRONMENT is ESSENTIAL to your performance. Norwegians can do it, so can you! Plus, training is cheap🤑!In the 139th episode of The Training Science Podcast, Paul and Brad discuss:🔎 the FULL SCOPE of the “NORWEGIAN” method;🥑 why FAT metabolism, volume AND intensity are all ESSENTIAL for endurance;🇳🇴 how to BUILD a strong sense of “PURPOSE” around high-performance across all ages and sports - like in NORWAY!_____________________ Today’s speakers:Prof. Paul Laursen https://www.paullaursen.com/  Brad Culp https://twitter.com/bbculp _____________________ References:Brad’s Norwegian Methods book:https://www.amazon.com/Norwegian-Method-Groundbreaking-Endurance-Performance/dp/B0CTYHG1ZV?dplnkId=ab116467-05b9-4879-b431-50bdef7a5e20 _____________________ 

What actually happens to the body when an athlete enters dangerously cold water?Dr Jørgen Melau brings more than 20 years of experience as Safety Director and Chief of the Medical and Safety Team at the Norseman Extreme Triathlon, alongside a background in helicopter search and rescue and research into cold water swimming.In this episode, Jørgen breaks down the physiology of cold water immersion, from the initial cold shock response to the loss of muscle function that can occur within minutes. He also explores hypothermia, swimming induced pulmonary edema, the surprising temperature drop athletes can experience after leaving the water, and why cold water can place significant stress on the heart.The conversation also looks at whether athletes can truly acclimatize to cold, how to prepare for extreme events like Norseman, and what more than a decade of research at one of the world's toughest triathlons is teaching us about making endurance sport safer.Today’s speakers:Prof Paul Laursen https://www.paullaursen.com/Dr Jørgen Melauhttps://www.melau.no/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jmelau/https://jorgenmelau.substack.com/

Athletes have access to more data than ever before. But more data does not automatically lead to better decisions.In this episode, Mollie Brewer explores the intersection of sports science, artificial intelligence, wearable technology, and human computer interaction. Drawing on her experience in professional cycling and her current research in computer science, Mollie explains why getting the fundamentals of athlete data right matters before we can unlock the potential of AI.The conversation explores data literacy, training load and intensity management, the risks of chasing metrics, and how interface design can influence athlete behaviour. Mollie also discusses how AI could help bring together previously siloed information while preserving the human expertise, judgement, and athlete feedback needed to interpret it effectively.Interested in learning more about the latest developments in endurance performance and sports science? Subscribe to the HIIT Science email list for updates on new research, courses, and educational opportunities.Today’s speakers:Prof Paul Laursen https://www.paullaursen.com/Mollie Brewer https://www.linkedin.com/in/mollie-brewer-21a230aa/