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 c…

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 …

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 an…

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 wor…

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 …

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 m…

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…

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 camp…

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 w…

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-e…

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 organ…

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…

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 …

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…

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. J…

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 is…

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…

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 runni…

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 t…

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 yo…

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 St…

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…

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 wh…

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 auth…

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 …

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. A…

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 nu…

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, whe…

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 go…

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 ep…

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 …

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 publis…

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, …

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. Literall…

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…

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…

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 …

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 …

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 day…

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 …

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…

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.By Stephanie Gaskell and Alan McCubbin

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.By Stephanie Gaskell and Alan McCubbin

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…

We're joined by Accredited 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 …

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…

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.By Stephanie Gaskell and Alan McCubbin

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.…