A Deeper Insider Look at Fatigue and Pacing / Why High Carbohydrate Intake Works - It’s Not Fuel Depletion / A Heat Condundrum

In this Spotlight, we pick out some of the sports science topics that our listeners are sharing in our Discourse community.

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(00:00) We begin with a look at some of the reaction to our most recent podcast on Endurance, and the Central Governor. Listener reaction and accounts of their experiences stimulate conversations about the hostilities and fights in academia, the difference between "belief" and "knowledge", failures of pacing leading to heat stroke, and how to recover from a pacing mistake when it happens in your races and training. We also learn about how physiology, for many years, views performance through a 'failure' lens, rather than regulation, and what this means for how we understand training and performance.

(46:09) A new research study has again confirmed that high carbohydrate intake is the way to go, improving our running economy and unlocking potential performance gains similar to those of super shoes. We link pacing and regulation to this paper by pointing out that carbohydrates are not working by delaying fuel depletion, or sparing carbohydrates, but rather changing exercise intensity and our ability to run higher paces for longer.

(57:53) Our Supporters Club have also been sharing thoughts about the challenge of endurance sports in the heat, which affects not only body temperature, but also fuel use (more carbs) and compromises carbohydrate delivery to the muscles. A triple challenge, confirmed by a new study that shows that we tolerate and extract fewer carbs in the heat.

And Finally (1:03:15), Ross is planning his own heat challenges, having entered a mountain bike race in the peak of South Africa's summer. With temperatures expected to soar above 40C, heat adaptation and fuelling will be tested, and he discusses his general approach and promises to share more in the coming weeks!

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