Performance Hub

Women’s sports performance research is rare. These female researchers are working to change that with studies by and for women.

A new analysis of data from “The Biggest Loser” highlights the complex ways the body compensates when we drop pounds.

For most of us, exercise impacts our hunger and weight in unexpected and sometimes contradictory ways.

There’s no magic bullet to knee health, but staying active and building muscles around the joint are crucial.

What you need to know about high-intensity interval training, or HIIT.

Focusing on external sights and sounds, rather than what’s going on in your body, made running feel easier and improved performance.

In part two of Out into the Open, a LockerRoom series on female athlete wellbeing, pro cyclist Olivia Ray is out to shatter myths around body image in sport.

Your Guide To The Best Creatine Monohydrate Supplements

Time away from training is critical in order to allow your mind and body to rebuild and replenish.

Creatine monohydrate supplementation could have a major impact on brain function, including improved cognitive processing and better recovery from brain injury.

A long-running gym debate about whether to train each limb separately comes to the cycling world

Foods like yogurt, kimchi, sauerkraut and kombucha increased the diversity of gut microbes and led to lower levels of inflammation.

Running is a highly popular physical activity with millions of regular participants globally.1 Compared with other types of sport and exercise, running all

Are hydrothermally modified starches the wave of the (sports nutrition) future? What if we could modify the chemical structure of nutrients to alter their diges

U.S. Olympic heptathlete Annie Kunz says tracking her monthly cycles and learning she needs to eat more and get more naps when she’s fatigued has already improv

We invited three elite runners to run on the world’s fastest treadmill to examine the differences between running fast and running far (but still pretty fast).

We invited three elite runners to run on the world’s fastest treadmill to examine the differences between running fast and running far (but still pretty fast).

The advice that we take 10,000 steps a day is more a marketing accident than based on science. Taking far fewer may have notable benefits.

Sleep : the simplest and cheapest performance booster that athletes aren’t taking advantage of.

It’s the simplest and cheapest performance booster available, so why don’t elite athletes take advantage of it?

It’s the simplest and cheapest performance booster available, so why don’t elite athletes take advantage of it?

A cellular chat after your workout may explain in part why weight training burns fat.

Nearly 50% of Americans have Insulin Resistance (IR). People with IR do not have a typical appearance. Some of you with insulin resistance are thin and “healthy

The mile isn’t just another race distance. It’s almost its own sport.

Hike-a-bike hero, Giro d’Italia and TdF stage winner, and thirteen time Canadian national champion Svein Tuft talks all things bikepacking.

Riding well in high temperatures is not only a physical feat but a mental one, too

Long-term stress cycles are important to consider in recovery and adaptation At the end of the article, there’s a breakdown of one way to incorporate rest throu

Here’s the truth, according to science.

It can be easy for cyclists to put their primary focus on building strength in their legs, but improved results could come from working their upper bodies.

We see a large majority of professional athletes doing an altitude trainings camp every year before major competitions. The main reason for conducting high alti

Physical activity during pregnancy might have long-lasting benefits for a child’s health, new research suggests.

What separates the best endurance athletes from everyone else isn’t their amazing lab test data or power values—it’s how well they maintain those values after a

Mental fatigue has become a hot topic for sports science researchers, but its effects remain controversial

Fly through Kate Courtney’s brain with CrashCourse. Courtney shares her brain injury story for a new multi-sport concussion education series.

A new review assesses what it takes to maintain endurance and strength when circumstances interfere with your usual training

Ketone bodies are formed in the body when there is an excess of fatty acids available. Have we found a new magic substrate (fuel) for the muscle or is it…

Heart rate variability is a simple way to measure stress on the body, and Simon Wegerif, a noted expert on the subject, explores new research that widens the ev

At the 2019 World Championships, researchers gave marathoners and racewalkers swallowable thermometer pills and used thermal cameras to assess the effectiveness

Sports dietitian and vegan researcher Dr. Nanci Guest says runners can stay healthy on a vegan diet if they do it right

You’ve probably heard of ‘starvation mode,’ but what is it exactly? Is starvation mode real, and how does it work?

DURHAM, N.C. — When you think about what separates humans from chimpanzees and other apes, you might think of our big brains, or the fact that we get around on

We spoke to sport and eating disorder dietician, Renee McGregor.

A growing body of evidence shows the positive effects of exercising in nature, from reduced anxiety and stress to better cognitive performance

An interesting review (1) was published recently re-igniting the discussion whether women will ever outperform men in ultra-endurance events.

Build your balance with this essential workout—no beam necessary

Sea to Sky Corridor mothers share the unique and sometimes unexpected realities around the postpartum return to bikes and boards.

Short, 20-second bursts of activity — known as exercise ‘snacks’ — throughout the day have many benefits, from boosting energy and productivity to improving car

I have been writing these throughout my pregnancy with all it’s up and downs as I know finding other pregnant athlete blogs really helped me…

Unlike heat training, repeated exposure to cold doesn’t necessarily help you handle winter weather better

Pushing to the point of failure is instead the prescribed way to bulk up, if that’s what your goal is

There’s probably no more trendy topic in health and nutrition right now than fasting. Intermittent fasting (IF), while an ancient practice…

Most of us associate creatine with either its ability to improve performance in sports with brief intense/repeated sprints, or improve strength and increase muscle mass as a result of resistance

If even pacing is so great, why do the best runners in the world always seem to have another gear at the end?

Pronation is out of favor, comfort is too vague, but maybe measuring your “habitual motion path” will guide you to a shoe that minimizes your injury risk

Great tips on selecting safe, motivating, sustainable online exercise.

During pandemic lockdowns, many of us learned the importance of short home workouts. Take the 7-Day Well Challenge for a new exercise video and more ways to kee

Here’s what you need to do before turning to the supplement.

Few things are more satisfying than a nap after a long, hard workout. Crafting the perfect nap takes more than simply falling asleep, here’s how to do it.

The Best articles, lectures and podcasts of 2020 for health professionals

With an intelligent strength training program, you can avoid negative adaptations and instead bolster your in-sport abilities and boost your performances.

THE SAFETY AND EFFICACY OF CREATINE MONOHYDRATE SUPPLEMENTATION: WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED FROM THE PAST 25 YEARS OF RESEARCH

Previously  we looked at 5 ways to improve your climbing. Now you’ve made it to the top, it’s time to look at how to make it back down – safely…

A new study explores the links between exercise and pain perception, and how easily they can be manipulated

I’d spent my life training for the Olympics, but I wasn’t prepared for what came next.

More bike fitters and cycling coaches have begun to tout glute activation and “core strength” as being the foundations for performance.

A basic principle of training says you get better at the things you do most. So why does cross-training work?

You might not be fueling your workouts properly. In fact, many runners aren’t.

Indoor bike training is very effective for high-intensity interval workouts, but some people go too hard, too often. Here’s why, and a good aerobic workout.

“ take advantage of this strange time to prepare for when things finally get back to something like normal.”

Plus, how she fuels her training for podium performances and long days in the saddle.

Are the marketing claims of improved gastric emptying and CHO oxidation worth your money? Let’s find out!

The Swedish company Maurten’s hydrogel drink has taken the endurance world by storm over the last two years. Now scientists are testing their claims.

Dreaming of sleeping your way to the finish line? This might not work. But the good news is: a sleepless night will not keep you away from it.

You don’t need an elaborate workout plan to get the most out of your resistance workout; you just need to tune into how you feel

A new study suggests that slow-twitch runners can handle higher mileage than fast-twitch runners before showing signs of overtraining

These key risk factors predict bone injury for females surprisingly well.

A rigorous three-month study found that people lost little weight, and much of that may have been from muscle.

Single sport specialization can be defined as intensive, year-round training in one sport to the exclusion of others. Is this the best route for young athletes?

Athlete burnout from sport is becoming more prevalent alongside the increasing trend of early sport specialization in youth athletes. In this article, I offer 5

High intensity physical activity in early life might help maximise peak hip strength and prevent osteoporosis in later life, according to a study published in J

When cycling intensity is high, timing and composition of nutrition intake leading into an event become especially important. In the case of a stand alone cyclocross race, crit and time

The nutritional quality of the different alternatives varies considerably, so it’s important to take note of these differences when making a selection.

Athletes who do not fuel their body enough to train and perform can develop Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S). Food is not something to avoid.

Getting old doesn’t have to hurt so much

After a controversial Australian study’s negative findings about low-carb, high-fat diets, scientists made adjustments and ran the study again

The effect of contraceptive pills are used by female athletes may affect performance. Here the evidence is presented.

Race walkers on a low-carbohydrate, high-fat ketogenic diet showed early signs indicative of bone loss.

There are numerous debates over different training philosophies, mainly the “big three” of sweet spot, HIIT (high-intensity interval training), and polarized (8

How to prevent or treat iron deficiency. Iron is critical to performance and thus we must make sure we do not develop a deficiency.

The aim of this paper is to provide a contemporary review of nutritional strategies that can support a TDF-winning performance…

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Athletes Stephen Scherer, Jeret Peterson and Kelly Catlin have two things in common: They all reached their dream of becoming Olympians, and

This post is a response. A response to noone in particular (well…maybe), but a response to a variety of tweets and (mis)information that…

Four years of race data from a professional cycling team unveils some differences between the sexes

Exercise prompts the liver to pump out a little-known protein that appears to rejuvenate the brain, a new study found.

The latest science on the effects of caffeine on performance.

Guidelines 10 years ago stated that carbohydrate intake during exercise should be 30-60 grams per hour, this developed to intakes of 90 g/h in some situations,

This idea has shaped elite sports over the last century, but it’s only in the past decade that it’s being lifted from the playing field and applied elsewhere.

Background Athletes who compete in non-weight-bearing activities such as swimming and cycling are at risk of developing low bone mineral density (BMD). Athletes in long-distance running are at risk of…

After an exhaustive search of the literature, researchers conclude that, well, it’s complicated

Researchers at Stanford and UCLA are teaching college distance runners that when it comes to staying injury-free, what they eat matters

A recent paper from three international protein gurus reviews the science behind the recommendations that older adults need more protein than young, healthy adu

Three new studies explore iron patches, injections, and dose frequency

What are the real demands of cyclocross? What are some myths about cyclocross, and what some super workouts for busting those myths?

Athletes generally know they need to train and then rest in order to improve, but few know how much rest to take or when to take it. Coach Jason Koop…

Toolbox: No bike racing and indoor training are not the end of the world – and neither is this break in your cycling fitness. Here’s how to adjust.

Some people metabolize caffeine quickly, while others metabolize it slowly – and there’s growing evidence that the difference can affect not only athletic perfo

How does training actually improve your fitness? How much comes down to increasing haemoglobin and blood volume to improve oxygen delivery?

Sleep is vital for physiological and psychological functions that may be particularly important to athletes. Nutrition can influence sleep quality and duration

Background In this Position Statement, the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) provides an objective and critical review of the literature pertinen

Early morning can be a golden opportunity for training, if you can wake up. Use these easy wake up tips to get yourself up and going!

A lactate-munching microbe found in the poop of Boston marathoners is interesting, but that doesn’t mean you should (ahem) swallow it just yet

VEGETARIAN AND VEGAN DIETS FOR ATHLETIC TRAINING AND PERFORMANCE

The biggest benefit might be that it teaches people to be comfortable with being uncomfortable.

You might be considering surgery or other intervention to treat your back pain. But less may actually be more for this common problem, and in many instances the

Everything you do, in and out of your trainers, affects your skeletal structure. Here’s how to upgrade your training and everyday life to ensure better bone hea

“Personalized health” is becoming a popular topic. Medicine and nutrition have recently tried to capitalize on the quick, easy, and…

With the growth of social media as a platform to share information, veganism is becoming more visible, and could be becoming more accepted in sports and in the

Sports nutritionist Anne Guzman shares tips on performance nutrition, food journaling, and health.

New research suggests that the lactate produced by hard interval workouts alters the hormones that determine your appetite

How Relative Energy Deficiency Syndrome can derail an athlete and create acute and potentially long term health & performance consequences for males & females.

An amazing article, just when you think you’re athletic career is over, think again. Reframe. Loved this.

How does one fuel the body before—and during—a 100-mile run, day after day? Ultra-marathoner Jim Walmsley shares his dietary habits and tricks for going the (ultra) distance.

What the science now says about housing pasta for peak athletic performance

A new analysis tracks people doing 35 hours of exercise per week for a decade, and finds no evidence of heart risks

New research hands down verdicts on what to lift, how much, and how hard

Take a deep dive into biology and evolution to understand the neurological benefits of cycling, with tips on how to bike for better brainpower.

Neuroscientists have studied treadmill runners, ultramarathon athletes – and a number of lab animals – to investigate the effects of running on grey matter

Mental fatigue can influence physical performance studies suggest. What is mental fatigue and how do we recover from it?

There’s no silver bullet, but these useful practices will help you keep training

He’s had to embrace incredible physical pain to win iconic ultramarathons like the Leadville Trail 100 and the Western States Endurance Run. But that’s a form of suffering Rob Krar…

High carb or low carb? Will dietary ketosis and a high fat low carb lifestyle improve endurance performance, weight loss, and overall health?

Obesity is a population-size crisis in Western countries — but it’s a problem that may resist population-wide solutions.

Heat acclimation for hot-weather endurance training. Excellent insights and recommendations for athletes and coaches.

I had all the signs of a dangerous cycle in athletics known as Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S), I just didn’t know it at the time

Figuring out how long, how often, and when to train in the mountains remains an art for endurance athletes. Great read here with some different than typical insights on other…

Energy systems drive all of our activity on the bike. Understanding them will help you to focus your training and optimize your nutrition. This is a basic, simple explanation which…

Excellent read!! Lactate threshold is a widely used term in endurance sports training, yet there is still much confusion surrounding it. This in depth article explains lactate threshold, including its…

Beta-alanine has become a “must-have” supplement for many athletes, but does the science support the hype?

(A MUST READ!) The exploits of elite athletes delight, frustrate, and confound us as they strive to reach their physiological, psychological, and biomechanical limits. We dissect nutritional approaches to optimal…

Great read looking at recent research on habitual caffeine intake vs withdrawing caffeine before competition and how either impacts the ergogenic effects of caffeine. Do you need to cut back…

Dr. Brianna Stubbs is a research scientist with a Ph.D in Metabolic Physiology from the University of Oxford. Watch her insightful presentation.

A new study finds that your “critical speed” threshold drops in the last third of a marathon, which may explain why the distance produces so many blow-ups. Definitely transferable to…

By Dr Nicky Keay @nickyKfitness Menstrual periods are a barometer of healthy hormones. The evolutionary purpose of ovulation is to reproduce. Furthermore the carefully biologically choreographed variation of hormones that occurs…

Relative Energy Deficiency in sports, or RED-S, affects male and female athletes, and can be detrimental to health and performance. It’s a relative energy deficiency, meaning you may not purposely…

The purpose of this review was to identify studies that have investigated the effect of carbohydrate (CHO) mouth rinse on exercise performance, and to quantify the overall mean difference of…

Managing your body in the heat. What’s happening? How acclimatization works. How to manage discomfort and other expert insights with Dr.Stephen Cheung.

A lot’s been made of the eating habits of pros during Grand Tours in recent years. The introduction of team chefs and kitchen trucks a decade or so ago drastically…

Dr. Louise Burke is one of the world’s most known experts in sports nutrition. Here she covers low carb high fat (LCHF) diets and performance and slices through the “bunk”…

Amazing conversation with Dr. Kirsty Elliot Sale on the Female Athlete Triad and RED-s. If you’re coaching female athletes or are one, you’ll want a good understanding of how energy…

As an athlete and human being, sleep is crucial to optimal health. You don’t want to miss this podcast, you’ll be turning in a bit earlier and following some of…

Olympic Cyclist Chris Boardman on how we can all “move more” in life and what he’s doing to help make that vision come to fruition.

Dr. Stephen Cheung is a researcher out of Canada’s Brock University. Here he speaks with Sonya Looney about training at altitude. Sleep high, train low, how soon before an event…