The Real Science of Sport Podcast

Become a supporter to get access to our community, and to hear our new series on training zones and prescription that starts next week. Join us on Patreon for the price of a gel a month!

Show notes

Peter Attia’s zone 2 comments spark a debate about what training zones actually are, before a spin through the week’s news:

(00:00:58) People take their training zones very seriously, and it gets confusing because Zone 2 means different things to different people. We trace how three zones models became five and seven zone models as coaches and athletes solve their own problems, and why diet, heat, sport, and fitness all affect them
(00:17:22) Tadej Pogačar’s Whoop documentary puts his zone 2 at 230 to 320 watts and his resting heart rate at 38. Does that explain anything?
(00:23:28) How do sports keep their fans and win new ones? Sports are chasing social media eyeballs, while football, the NFL, tennis, and F1 have storylines. Is LIV Golf’s collapse a case for tradition?
(00:34:01) Angus Bell’s hip drop yellow card, and Ben Earl’s research finding that players aren’t consulted on law changes
(00:44:16) An ARD investigation suggests 5 to 6% of children aged 8 to 17 dope. Ross is surprised it isn't higher, and Gareth is alarmed at the scale of the problem and its seeming lack of a solution
(00:51:27) Kilian Jornet on why the quads (the chassis, not the engine) decide pacing in mountain ultras
(00:58:19) The 2027 Giro has two stages finishing on motor racing circuits
(01:02:03) Will foot-stiffening socks speed up your marathon? Not on a study of 12 people walking
(01:04:29) Magnus Ditlev’s 7:19:17 Ironman Florida, on a target of 200 g of carbs an hour. Possible, or useful?
(01:11:39) And finally, a bodybuilding row over alleged plastic muscle fillers, Gareth eats crow on natural bodybuilding, and almost every LA 2028 qualifying standard gets harder, including 1:43.00 in the men’s 800m
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Become a Supporter and join us on Discourse. It costs less than a race entry, and lasts a lot longer!

Show notes

This week, Andreas Almgren wins the New York City Marathon on debut, Peter Attia changes his mind on zone 2 training, and we ask what makes an expert credible:

(00:00:19) Andreas Almgren wins New York in 2:06:01 on a perfect marathon debut, ending a run of 54 straight Major wins by African-born men. His second half, under 1:02, is perhaps the fastest ever run in NYC. Ross reckons that makes him a 2:02 marathoner, and we debate whether he should try the 10,000m and the marathon at the 2028 Olympics in LA
(00:17:51) Chepkirui wins the women’s race, Jess McClain runs the tangents (and maybe the hills) better than anyone, and we grumble about TV coverage that missed Almgren’s decisive move
(00:26:11) Ellis Genge calls rugby’s constant law changes “berserk”. Ross explains why the game has to react to trends like the hip drop tackle, and a lively debate ensues about whether Rugby needs more ball in play to attract and retain fans
(00:41:39) Peter Attia admits zone 2 isn’t needed for people training a couple of hours a week. We revisit what drives mitochondrial adaptation, then ask how to tell a credible expert from a confident one, and why a simple message, lacking nuance, is always the biggest red flag
(00:54:57) The ATP considers halving doubles, tennis tightens whereabouts at tournaments, and the 2027 WADA Code redefines contamination. Is this the “Sinner rule”?
(01:05:42) Follow-ups on the human-powered Channel crossing and our listener Anna’s ride around Australia, then, sadly, a runner’s death in New York, a footballer killed on the field in Spain, and Jack Campbell’s injury in the NFL
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr Joel Mason, PhD, is an international award-winning sport scientist with a PhD in neuromuscular physiology, a decade of experience guiding Australian track and field athletes to international representation, and five years as a high-performance manager for top-flight European football teams, in addition to his roles as an educator and researcher. His research profile spans running performance and biomechanics, neural correlates of performance and health, and injury risk factors, and he recently worked with podcast co-host Prof. Ross Tucker on research into the effects of supershoes on women versus men (see show notes below). Mason also details the challenges facing sports scientists, what job prospects look like, and the satisfaction he gets from applying scientific knowledge to his day-to-day coaching role.

SHOW NOTES:

Mason's Trackademic website
Follow Mason on Instagram
The most recent shoe paper showing that women get more benefit from super shoes than men. Mason collaborated with co-host, Prof. Ross Tucker, on this paper
A previous supershoe paper by Mason, which paved the way for the recent analysis in men and women
Mason's Google Scholar page, with links to other studies he has published
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Become a Supporter for less than the price of a Central Park pretzel each month for ad-free shows, a weekly members-only Applied show, and a seat with us on Discord as we watch the New York City Marathon on Sunday!

Show notes

This week, Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir is provisionally suspended for EPO, and we ask what Kenya’s doping problem means for trust in marathon running, before previewing Andreas Almgren’s New York debut:

(00:00:56) Peres Jepchirchir, perhaps the most decorated marathon athlete ever caught doping, tested positive for EPO out of competition in July, a month before winning Sydney. We discuss EPO and the biological passport, why Kenyan doping looks so rudimentary, and her agent's reaction
(00:09:47) Should Kenya lose the 2029 World Championships, or be banned outright? Ross explains why punishing the federation flips the incentive and will just cause the problem to be ignored and hidden. Gareth finds that India and Italy have more violations in WADA’s figures, and we look at a 2027 WADA Code rule that triggers automatic investigation of support personnel
(00:33:49) The 2027 Tour de France route, with two time trials and the mountains pushed late, is being called “anti-Pogačar”. Ross does the per-kilometer arithmetic on Remco Evenepoel's TT gains, and reckons it only delays the inevitable
(00:45:07) Andreas Almgren makes his marathon debut in New York. Why pace calculators can’t account for a course with only 22 times under the top 1000 threshold, why heat training may suit him better than altitude, and whether he can end a run of 54 straight Major wins by African-born runners
(00:59:32) And finally, the most extraordinary marathon career in history, Yuki Kawauchi’s 118 marathons (with a PB in his 97th). Plus, a drone stops an Arsenal match, and can anybody really pedal across the English Channel at 400 watts?
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Become a Supporter for less than the price of one lactate gel a month, and get ad-free shows, a members-only Applied show every week, and Discourse. We promise it is a better investment than the lactate gel, and it won't cause gut issues either!

Show notes

This week, lactate gels go on sale with Tadej Pogačar’s name in the promotions, and we test the claim that lactate is a “third fuel source”, before revisiting carbs and the Kona collapses:

(00:00:19) The lactate gel UAE Team Emirates used at the Tour de France is now on sale. We look at the marketing, ask whether 10 grams of lactate can beat 10 more grams of carbs, and go through the studies, which so far suggest stomach problems, unchanged blood lactate levels, and dubious performance benefits. Ross is skeptical, though open to a brain/signalling role, or a buffering effect
(00:27:06) What Taylor Knibb got right at Kona (patient pacing, and a walk through an aid station), what Kristian Blummenfelt would change, and why Lucy Charles-Barclay “still doesn’t know what happened”
(00:35:41) Tim Noakes now has a “novel” brain mechanism for why 120 grams of carbs an hour works. Is it a U-turn? And is it novel?
(00:43:19) Road sprinter Jonathan Milan becomes the first man under 3:59 in the individual pursuit at the Track World Championships
(00:51:13) A survey calls British Cycling’s culture “toxic”, and the judge in the Larry Nassar trial says sport has barely changed. Why is safeguarding so hard to implement in elite sports environments?
(01:03:45) World Rugby cracks down on hip drop and knee drop tackles, and Ross explains the evidence that informed the decision, from 13,000 coded tackles
(01:13:31) Canada beat England, ending their unbeaten run in women’s rugby
(01:16:55) And finally, a boxing referee ignores the towel (twice), and Lamine Yamal has played 8,200 minutes of football by the age of 18.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.