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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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:...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...