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Episodes
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Wednesday Sep 30, 2020
The best way to stay consistent through winter * Simon Ward and Dr. Phil Maffetone
Wednesday Sep 30, 2020
Wednesday Sep 30, 2020
This week we bring back one of our most popular guests, Dr. Phil Maffetone. This show is from the archives, if you can remember all the way back to July 2019. It's just as timely now as it was then, maybe more so as we're heading into the winter months.
In this episode, Phil discusses:
- A recap on how to determine your true MAF heart rate
- The relationship between MAF HR, aerobic threshold, maximal fat oxidation and why MAF is actually better and more reliable than expensive and time consuming lab tests
- How heat can affect performance, and how to adjust accordingly
- Why it’s ok to consume sugars from natural sources like honey and berries, and how the body treats them differently to refined sugars
- Dr Maffetone's simple prescription for a disease free life of optimal performance
- Why Phil loves fartlek training for intensity
- What you must do if MAF isn’t working for you
In this episode we also discussed the following items/links:
2 week test to determine carbohydrate intolerance
The Overfat Pandemic why athletes who do lots of training may still look fat
You can find Dr Phil Maffetone at various social media sites including:
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/philip.maffetone
Twitter @DrPhilMaffetone
To find out more about Simon’s SWAT programme, please click HERE
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes
Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here
For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com

Wednesday Sep 23, 2020
Why the gut is the second brain * Simon Ward and Bella Lindemann
Wednesday Sep 23, 2020
Wednesday Sep 23, 2020
I’m excited to introduce this week’s guest, Bella Lindemann, who is a specialist in functional diagnostic nutrition and whose area of expertise is the gut, and specifically those individuals who have Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and associated complaints.
The gut is often referred to as the second brain. As humans, we give the gut a lot of credit for the way we think and act and it crops up time and again in phrases that we probably don’t even realise we are using, such as “I have a gut feeling” and “trust your gut”. Everything you eat or drink goes through the gastro intestinal (GI) tract, which is like a garden hose filled with bacteria, good and bad. In fact, this ecosystem is known as the microbiome. As well as digestion, these bacteria have a huge influence on the immune system and consequently our health. Many of you have probably experienced an upset stomach after a spicy meal or over consumption of alcohol. And many triathletes, including myself, have endured a wide range of gut issues, especially in longer distance events.
This is a fascinating podcast and may well answer many of your gut related questions. If it doesn’t, please let me know so that we can get Bella back on for another show to answer your specific queries. Topics we chat about in this show include:
- Common gut issues and why they occur
- The importance of eating a diverse range of fruits and vegetables (see my challenge HERE)
- Yet another expert suggests avoiding refined sugars and processed foods
- Grape polyphenols and why a daily glass of red wine might be a good thing
- Runners tummy and how to overcome the problem
- Should you take pre or probiotics on a regular basis?
- Does IBS really exist and is there a cure?
- Why you get GI problems during long distance triathlons
- The ‘Clean 15’ and ‘The Dirty Dozen’
- Bella’s top 5 tips for a healthy gut
To find out more about Bella and her services, please use the links below
Website - The Functional Gut Health Clinic
Facebook - www.facebook.com/bellalindemann/
Links to other topics we discussed
"No Guts, No Glory” The Outside magazine article on the American Gut project
Blog post - Leaky Gut and food sensitivities
Blog post - everything you need to know about IBS
Blog post - all you need to know about Constipation
To find out more about Simon’s SWAT programme, please click HERE
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes
Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here
For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com
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Wednesday Sep 16, 2020
Wednesday Sep 16, 2020
The word “legend” is used too frequently these days, like describing the pizza delivery guy who arrives when you’re hungry. However, in the case of this week’s guest, calling him a legend is absolutely the right word. Dave Scott is “The Man”! He’s won the Ironman World Championships no less than 6 times and in its early days he was dominant. He retired and then made a comeback at the age of 40, finishing second behind rising star Greg Welch. Since his last Ironman in 2001, Dave has carved out a career as a triathlon coach (advising other Ironman World champions such as Craig Alexander and Chrissie Wellington) and motivational speaker.
When I first started in triathlon, there were no coaches but I did manage to find a triathlon book, Dave Scott Triathlon Training, which I still have to this day. In fact, I managed to get it autographed by Dave when we met for the first time at the Eilat triathlon in 1989.
Dave is a forthright character and isn’t afraid to voice his opinion. When you listen to this conversation you’ll get real insight to one of the greatest Ironman triathletes ever, including:
- How depression sometimes meant Dave struggled to even start his sessions
- Following the low fat/high carb Pritikin diet and why Dave did a 180 and adopted a Keto diet
- Rinsing cottage cheese to get rid of the fat
- When you have been an Ironman world champion and you develop heart problems
- Dave Scott on strength training for triathletes
- Why Ironman have done a good job during the COVID19 pandemic
- PTO and why it’s a great opportunity for professional triathlon
If you would like to follow Dave you can find him on all of the social media channels listed below.
The best place to find him is his website https://davescottinc.com/ where you can sign up for his regular newsletter
Twitter https://twitter.com/davescott6x
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/davescott6x/
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/davescottinc/
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/davescott3/
Dave and I chatted about many topics and made references to other resources.
These are the books Dave has been inspired by
The Perfect Mile - The race to break the four minute mile
Thinking Fast & Slow - Daniel Kahneman, winner of the Nobel Prize
The 3 year swim club - The untold story of “sugar ditch” kids in Maui and their quest for Olympic glory
Road to Valour - Gino Bartali: Tour de France legend and WW2 hero
To find out more about Simon’s SWAT programme, please click HERE
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes
Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here
For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com

Wednesday Sep 09, 2020
Wednesday Sep 09, 2020
Dr. Stephen Seiler is back and this week he is answering listeners questions including:
- A dumbed down recap of polarised training
- Enjoying your training and 4 other key benefits of polarised training
- How to use the Karvonen method (heart rate reserve) to find the right HR zones without testing in the lab
- How does strength training fit with polarised training?
- Time crunched athletes - Should I ignore polarised and just train hard all the time?
- How to gauge your effort without a HR monitor - understanding breathing patterns
- Should I use the polarised approach to training all year round?
- Does age affect the benefits of polarised training?
- You can follow Stephen Seiler on these social media channels
You can follow Stephen Seiler on these social media channels
YouTube - sportscientist
Twitter - StephenSeiler
Facebook - stephen.seiler
To find out more about Simon’s SWAT programme, please click HERE
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes
Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here
For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com

Wednesday Sep 02, 2020
Being inexhaustibly curious about polarised training * Simon Ward and Dr. Stephen Seiler
Wednesday Sep 02, 2020
Wednesday Sep 02, 2020
Stephen Seiler is one of my most popular podcast guests EVER. I first interviewed Dr. Seiler in January and soon realised I had so much more to ask him. In our first podcast he broke the endurance record (for this podcast) as we chatted for over 2 hours. We were determined not to do that this time, but he’s just such an interesting character that we chatted for almost 2.5 hours. Rather than give you just one show to listen to, you now have two. In the first episode we dive deeper into the polarised training debate, and in Part 2 Dr. Seiler answers listeners questions. In this conversation we chat about:
- Being inexhaustibly curious
- Sustainable training for attainable endurance goals
- Online experiments during lockdown
- The real life experiment of training your daughter to be a great middle distance runner
- Ageing and how this affects recovery between reps and between sessions
- How to design your weekly training blocks
- Why younger athletes try to squeeze in too much training
You can follow Stephen Seiler on these social media channels
YouTube - sportscientist
Twitter - StephenSeiler
Facebook - stephen.seiler
To find out more about Simon’s SWAT programme, please click HERE
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes
Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here
For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com

Wednesday Aug 26, 2020
Sleep - Listener's questions answered * Simon Ward and Nick Littlehales
Wednesday Aug 26, 2020
Wednesday Aug 26, 2020
In this second part of the podcast Nick answers questions sent in by listeners and members of our Facebook ‘tribe’ including:
- Waking up in the middle of the night and why it’s normal
- Should I be napping during the day?
- The best time to get “deep & REM sleep”
- How many hours sleep should I get each day?
- Sleeping well the night before a big race
- Caffeine and sleep
- Does training late in the evening affect my sleep, and what should I do?
To find out more about Nick Littlehales please visit the following social media channels:
Website - sportsleepcoach.com
Twitter - @sportssleepcoach
Instagram - _sportsleepcoach
The unconventional wisdom about sleep - Nick Littlehales TedX talk in YouTube
“Sleep” - The book by Nick Littlehales
To find out more about Simon’s SWAT programme, please click HERE
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes
Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here
For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com

Wednesday Aug 19, 2020
Some simple truths about nutrition * Simon Ward and Adam Feit
Wednesday Aug 19, 2020
Wednesday Aug 19, 2020
- How Precision Nutrition works, and why it’s different from other programs
- The difference between a Nutritionist and a Nutrition Coach
- Is there a difference between everyday nutrition, and sports nutrition?
- Adam’s pet peeves about how individuals and society view nutrition
- How even nutrition coaches struggle from time to time with their nutrition
- If you’ve gotten off track in the last few months with your eating, Adam’s guidance on how to return to balanced eating
To find out more about Simon’s SWAT programme, please click HERE
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes
Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here
For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com

Wednesday Aug 12, 2020
Sleep, the best training tool you have * Simon Ward and Nick Littlehales
Wednesday Aug 12, 2020
Wednesday Aug 12, 2020
Nick Littlehales was one of my very first guests on the podcast almost 3 years ago (If you're interested in listening to that episode to hear how much the podcasts have changed, please go HERE). Knowledge and information about sleep has also moved on, hence the reason for inviting Nick back onto the show. If you’re at all interested in improving your human and athletic performance, you should know sleep is a critical part of this. Forget compression garments, protein shakes and massage. Sleep is hands down the #1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and probably right through to #10 the best way to help your body recover. Best of all, it's FREE! You should be making more of this super-recovery tool.
This is the first of a two-part conversation. In part 1 Nick and I chat about the importance of sleep and Nick takes us through his 7 step Key Sleep Recovery Indicators (KSRI’s) as well as:
- Owls vs Larks and why it’s important to know your "sleep chronotype”
- How what you do when you wake up can set you up for a good night’s sleep
- Compressed Recovery Periods and how to get yours each day
- The importance of sunlight for good sleep
- Post- and pre-sleep routines and how they affect your sleep
- Why your mum was right about sleep
To find out more about Nick Littlehales please visit the following social media channels
Website - sportsleepcoach.com
Twitter - @sportssleepcoach
Instagram - _sportsleepcoach
The unconventional wisdom about sleep - Nick Littlehales TedX talk in YouTube
“Sleep” - The book by Nick Littlehales
To find out more about Simon’s SWAT programme, please click HERE
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes
Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here
For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com
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Wednesday Aug 05, 2020
Ironman training with Dan Plews * Simon Ward and Dan Plews
Wednesday Aug 05, 2020
Wednesday Aug 05, 2020
In this week’s episode I’m joined again by my old friend and still the fastest Yorkshireman in Kona, Dr Dan Plews. Recently I’ve been studying Dan’s new EndureIQ course - LDT102 - all about how to train effectively for long distance triathlons.
Not only has Dan walked the walk at Kona (8:24, which is the fastest ever age grouper in Kona, making him AG world champion in 2017), he has also done extensive research into the low carb/high fat nutrition approach for endurance athletes and used his knowledge of working with Olympic rowers and elite triathletes to write the course.
Dan really is the man, and as ever it’s a great pleasure to catch up with him as we discuss:
- Why polarised training works
- The role of volume and intensity in developing fitness, and when to prioritise them
- Mitochondria and why they are so important to endurance athletes
- The benefits of training twice per day and why double run days really work
- Training intensity distribution and how it changes as you get closer to race day
- How and why short duration (<60s) HIT workouts are beneficial for Ironman triathletes
In the show we also discussed the following:
Dan’s cartoon character Johnny Bravo. Watch the video HERE
Favourite book - Lifespan: Why we age and why we dont have to by David Sinclair
Signature tune - Not Many by Scribe
Measuring HRV HRV4Training & The Whoop
You can find out more about the Endure IQ courses click HERE
You can follow Dan at the following places
Twitter https://twitter.com/theplews1
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/theplews/
And some great blog posts at the "Plews and Prof" website HERE
To find out more about Simon’s SWAT programme, please click HERE
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes
Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here
For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com

Wednesday Jul 29, 2020
Exercise as Medicine * Simon Ward and Alan Couzens
Wednesday Jul 29, 2020
Wednesday Jul 29, 2020
On this week’s High Performance Human podcast, I feel like a successful fisherman who has landed a catch after a long chase. Today's guest, Alan Couzens, has been on my target list for several months now since chatting with one of the athletes he works with, Owen Martin (podcast 125). I have actually known of Alan for many years now since his involvement with Gordo Byrn and his GordoWorld blog. He posts regularly on Twitter and he is one of the coaches/physiologists that I would recommend you follow if you want to find trustworthy training advice.
Alan has an interesting and varied journey to his current residence in Boulder, Colorado. Starting out as a swimmer in a small outback town in New South Wales, Australia and from there to university in Sydney and on to the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in Canberra. Back to Sydney to work as a swim coach and then onto the US where he teamed up with the aforementioned Gordo Byrn and the setting up of a sports science lab in Boulder. And now his current position as a highly respected sports physiologist working with endurance athletes in cycling and triathlon.
Another highly informative discussion which probably deserves at least 2-3 listens to pick up all of the information covered, such as:
- Why ‘exercise is medicine’, and Alan’s 7 Core principles which you can find HERE
- AIS and why it was the first Western attempt to mimic the Eastern Bloc training venues
- Alex Popov swimming - mastering the process and focussing on rhythm, range and relaxation
- It’s the little things that matter - living at AIS and immersion into elite performance and culture
- Eastern Bloc vs Western style coaching and why there are actually more similarities than differences
- Eastern Bloc athlete development culture
- Different again from AIS - working with Doug Frost and Ian Thorpe
- Getting it done - Finding a way, or making one
LINKS
If you want to follow Alan the best place is Twitter and his website
Alan’s latest obsession is Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, and you can find out more about this at his site
Alan’s “walk on” music…Pork and Beans by Weezer
We also chatted about several books including:
Deep Medicine by Eric Topol. If you are interested you can hear the author Eric Tool speak about this subject on video HERE
Alan’s current favourite book Running with the Kenyans by Adharanand Finn
Alan spent time observing the great Russian swimmer Alexander Popov. If you’ve never seen him swim here are some videos- Popov Technique Popov Slow Motion, Popov Training
We also talked about Ian Thorpe and for students of swimming, here is a link to Ian Thorpe swimming technique
In this video you can listen to a great presentation by Gordo Byrn on the Business of Coaching
To find out more about Simon’s SWAT programme, please click HERE
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes
Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here
For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com