Training Science Podcast

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 Melau
https://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.
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Today’s speakers:
Prof Paul Laursen https://www.paullaursen.com/
Mollie Brewer https://www.linkedin.com/in/mollie-brewer-21a230aa/

HYROX is exploding in popularity, but the science behind what actually drives performance is only beginning to catch up.
Dr Ludwig Rappelt joins the podcast to unpack new research examining the demands of HYROX and how performance has evolved across its first seven seasons. With running accounting for nearly half of total race time, endurance provides the foundation, but the data suggests strength based stations can play an outsized role in separating stronger performances from weaker ones. 
The conversation explores the balance between strength and endurance, potential thresholds for VO2 max and maximal strength, where athletes may still have untapped performance gains, and how HYROX specific training could evolve as the sport and its research base continue to mature.
Today’s speakers:
Prof Paul Laursen https://www.paullaursen.com/
Dr Ludwig Rappelt https://www.linkedin.com/in/ludwig-rappelt-b5239b18a/
Resources:
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2026.1847569/full

What happens when you stop looking at performance through the lens of individual disciplines and start putting performance itself at the centre?

Katie Slattery and Jamie Stanley unpack their Performance Centred Practice framework, developed from years of experience across the Australian high performance system. They explore how coaches, sport scientists, practitioners, and athletes can build a shared understanding of what performance actually requires, then connect those demands directly to training and decision making.

The conversation covers shared mental models, productive disagreement within interdisciplinary teams, improving performance meetings, defining training quality beyond simple physical metrics, and creating better feedback loops between what happens in training and what ultimately matters in competition.
Today’s speakers:
Dr Martin Buchheit https://martin-buchheit.net/    
Katie Slattery https://profiles.uts.edu.au/Katie.Slattery
Jamie Stanley https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-stanley-a5a7265b/

Athletica U
 https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLu7L8NU083obOOZnkl9qd1lxr5zfVKTkL&si=YkGXTSQsJcYBUPiD

What can AI reveal about the training habits of the world's best distance runners?
In this episode, we dive into groundbreaking new research that combines artificial intelligence with one of the most unique datasets ever collected from elite Ethiopian marathon and half marathon runners. From uncovering hidden training patterns to understanding why context matters more than raw data, this conversation explores how AI can enhance sports science without replacing human expertise.
We also discuss the future of AI in endurance coaching, why large language models are powerful tools rather than true intelligence, and how practitioners can use these technologies to ask better questions and uncover better answers.
Today’s speakers:
Prof Paul Laursen https://www.paullaursen.com/
Palo Galko https://www.linkedin.com/in/palo-galko-6b06a96/