The recommended amount of sleep for young adults (18-25) is 7-9 hours, for older adults this figure drops slightly to 7-8 hours. These are the guidelines set by the US National Sleep Foundation. When compared against these sleep targets, research has shown that elite athletes obtain less sleep or the minimum amount of sleep that…
In recent years indoor cycling has exploded in popularity, with various online applications and training software(s) making it more popular than ever. During the recent restrictions more cyclists turned to online racing and training than ever before. Yet, to date, very little is known about how athletes fuel these indoor training sessions, or, in some…
For the unacclimated endurance athlete heat can be a massive hindrance. During exercise in the heat our performance decreases with the increase in our body temperature! There are numerous ways to help limit this performance decrease such as training in a heat chamber, training outdoors in hot climates, hot water immersion, sauna usage and interestingly,…
This study aimed to retrospectively analyze runner’s data uploaded to an online training platform (Runtastic) for all those who had completed at least one workout between 2017 and 2019 of 41-43KM in distance. You can view our full run down of the piece above.
If you’re a junior or an under 23 bike rider given the opportunity to race your bike abroad, be that with a team, for a summer or at a major championship, your first feeling is often one of joy, elation, and excitement! But, after this initial reaction has settled down some inevitable doubts and hesitancy…
As a coach the biggest question I’m often asked is “how do I compare to….” or “what step up in power do I need to make to get to…”. Quite often athletes are very protective of their data and think giving anything away also gives away their competitive edge, leading to inflated or deflated numbers…
I’m sitting on the couch in the middle of the day, a weekday, I should be working – I’m not. The Tour de France is on the TV. We have Irish and local interest this year, in a major way. Sam Bennet is fighting for stage wins and the Green Jersey. He’s been knocking on…
Warming up is something we all do, it is a given, but do we know why we do it? Does it work? What type of warm up is best? This paper from Barranco-Gil et al. (2020) set about trying to answer some of these questions. Background Within this study the authors highlight the fact that…
Second up in our series of webinars is our deep dive into the popular recovery methods used in endurance sport and the research behind them. Here we chat through sleep, nutrition, active recovery, foam rolling and much more from both a practical and evidenced based perspective. Video can be viewed below.
This webinar will focus on the ideas and methodology around setting appropriate goals along with how we structure our training around work and home life! This webinar will be delivered by head coach Jamie Blanchfield you can read a little more about Jamie here