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That Triathlon Show

That Triathlon Show

By: Mikael Eriksson
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That Triathlon Show is the podcast for triathletes of all levels who want to train smarter and race faster. With over 600 episodes and millions of downloads since 2017, this show cuts through the noise and misinformation, delivering practical, no-nonsense advice rooted in both the art and science of training and performance. The podcast features in-depth interviews with the world’s best coaches, top sports scientists, and elite athletes. Each episode dives into the nuances of training methodology, performance optimization, and race-day execution, providing insights you can apply right away. Whether you're preparing for a supersprint or an Ironman, or focusing on a single sport like swimming, cycling, or running, you'll find expert guidance and relevant content here. The podcast is hosted by Mikael Eriksson, a former engineer now coaching professional and age-group athletes. Mikael is a Level III certified coach with over a decade of experience in coaching. Join a global community of dedicated triathletes and take your performance to the next level. Learn more at www.scientifictriathlon.com/podcast.Copyright © 2025 Scientific Triathlon Exercise & Fitness Fitness, Diet & Nutrition Hygiene & Healthy Living
Episodes
  • Joel Filliol, Coach of Seven World Championship Titles: You Need Less Intensity Than You Think

    Joel Filliol, Coach of Seven World Championship Titles: You Need Less Intensity Than You Think
    29 Oct 2026
    Joel Filliol has coached four athletes to seven triathlon World Championship titles: Mario Mola, Vincent Luis, Katie Zaferes and, this year, Vasco Vilaça. On his third appearance on the show we cover how the squad's training has (and has not) changed over a decade of titles, the training week and progressive sessions behind them, how much intensity is actually enough, and how the same principles apply to age-group triathletes on 10 to 15 hours a week.HIGHLIGHTS AND KEY TOPICS:What has and has not changed in the squad's coaching between Mario Mola's first world title in Cozumel in 2016 and Vasco Vilaça's in 2026, from social media to carbon shoes and what they do to run training load.The minimal effective dose: whether it applies to intensity or to volume, and how a squad built on doing less can still describe the training as hard.The base training week Vasco described on the show in 2023 (six swims, six bikes and six runs), how close it still is, and why the hard sessions are spread across the week rather than blocked.How a progressive run session like 16x400 m is prescribed and paced from block to block, and the part of it that has to be held most strictly.Mega sessions and confidence: what an outstanding training session does and does not tell you about race day, with Kona as the example.How the elite principles scale down to an age grouper with 10 to 15 hours a week, how easy easy training should be, and how to build a sustainable week from scratch.The swim rules from Joel's Top 20 Rules for Faster Triathlon Swimming that matter most for age-group triathletes, the readiness and recovery scores he would rather athletes trusted less, and the questions to ask in a season review.Vasco's road to the LA Olympics 2028, the Supertri race he turned down this year, and whether a sprint finish against Matt Hauser can be trained, with a lesson from Simon Whitfield's build to Beijing 2008.SHOWNOTES, LINKS, RESOURCES AND RELATED EPISODES:Follow Joel Filliol on his Substack, website, Instagram, YouTube, and listen to his Real Coaching Podcast.The shownotes for today's episode can be found here.The full podcast episode archives (including category filters) can be found here.Join the That Triathlon Show group ride on ROUVY on Monday 2 November at 5pm GMT (12pm ET, 9am PT). Download the ROUVY companion app to chat during the ride.Related episodes:World Champions keep things simple: training masterclass with Joel Filliol | EP#172Joel Filliol | EP#409Vasco Vilaça | EP#401Developing the future stars of triathlon with coach Joachim Willén | EP#266Training talk with Paulo Sousa | EP#360Marius Bakken: The Norwegian Method Is Built Around Your Muscles, Not Your HeartResources and tools mentioned:Build the Engine First - Joel Filliol, Real Coaching, 2026Zone 1 is where the magic happens - Joel Filliol, Real Coaching, 2026Progression: A powerful training heuristic - Joel Filliol, Real Coaching, 2026Don't be a January Champion - Joel Filliol, Real Coaching, 2026Top 20 Rules for Faster Triathlon Swimming - Joel Filliol, Real Coaching, 2026Chop Wood, Carry Water - Paulo Sousa SPONSORS: Precision Fuel & Hydration produce our favourite gels, sports drinks, and electrolyte and carbohydrate products here at That Triathlon Show and Scientific Triathlon. Use the free Fuel & Hydration Planner to get a personalised plan for your carbohydrate, sodium and fluid intake in your next event, and get 15% off your first 2026 order by using the code TTS2026 at checkout. Rouvy is hands down the most complete indoor cycling platform for triathletes. Among their thousands of beautiful bike courses from all around the world, all filmed in stunning quality, they have over 75 IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 race courses plus 20+ Challenge Family courses, so you can pre-ride your race from home. Real gradients, real visuals, and real feel! Head to rouvy.com and use the code TTS to get your first month free on top of a 7-day free trial. Effortless Swimming produce the best swim goggles for triathletes and open water swimmers. Their NanoClear anti-fog lenses give you clear, fog-free vision that lasts and doesn't wear off. Don't let foggy or leaky goggles ruin another swim. Go to shop.effortlessswimming.com and use the code TTS15 to get 15% off your goggles, and get a free two-month Effortless Swimming course membership.LEARN MORE ABOUT SCIENTIFIC TRIATHLON: The Scientific Triathlon website is the home of That Triathlon Show and everything else that we doContact us through our contact form or email me directly (note - email/contact form messages get responded to much more quickly than Instagram DMs)Subscribe to our NewsletterFollow us on InstagramLearn more about our coaching, training plans, and training camps. We have something to offer for everybody from beginners to professionals.HOW CAN I SUPPORT THAT TRIATHLON SHOW (FOR FREE)? I really appreciate you reading this and considering helping the show! If you love the show and want to support it to help ...
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    1 hr and 51 min
  • Why Being Too Efficient Holds Back Your Cycling | Björn Kafka, Uno-X Cycling Coach

    Why Being Too Efficient Holds Back Your Cycling | Björn Kafka, Uno-X Cycling Coach
    22 Oct 2026
    How do WorldTour cyclists train across a season, how do you profile a rider and decide what to work on, and what should amateur cyclists and triathletes know about cadence, easy riding and durability?Björn Kafka coaches for the Uno-X Mobility WorldTour team and has also coached athletes to world and Olympic titles and medals in mountain biking, track cycling, and even snowboarding. He is also a co-developer of the A Faster You platform, formerly Aerotune.HIGHLIGHTS AND KEY TOPICS:Profiling a rider from the power curve: which durations to read, and why a rider can be too efficient in December.The off-season plan for the typical age-group triathlete with a low VLaMax and a threshold already close to VO2max, and where cadence and fuelling come into it.What a look at 22 masters athletes with unusually high 4 to 5 minute power showed about how much they eat, and the cost of chasing race weight.Self-profiling for self-coached triathletes: three test durations, which bike to test on, and why a weak number is not automatically the one to train.Inside a WorldTour year: off-season volume, how volume changes before key races, weekly training patterns, and key sessions for GC riders and Classics riders.Cadence as a training tool, from fibre recruitment to what it changes for a triathlete who mostly rides steady.How easy the easy rides should be, from a GC rider to a punchy rider to an amateur on ten hours a week, and how to fit more volume around work and family.Durability: why there is still no good score for it, how to train it, and whether it deserves to be called a fourth performance factor alongside VO2max, utilisation and economy.SHOWNOTES, LINKS, RESOURCES AND RELATED EPISODES:Follow Björn on Instagram, and A Faster You on their website and InstagramThe shownotes for today's episode can be found here.The full podcast episode archives (including category filters) can be found here.Related episodes:Training, testing, metabolism and physiology with Björn Kafka | EP#286Is VO2max more important than lactate threshold? | Research roundupStudies discussed:Linear increase in aerobic power induced by a strenuous program of endurance exercise - Hickson et al. 1977A transcription-translation activation feedback circuit as a function of protein degradation, with the quality of protein mass adaptation related to the average functional load - Mader 1988Aktive Belastungsadaptation und Regulation der Proteinsynthese auf zellulärer Ebene - Mader 1990 (in German)New horizons for the methodology and physiology of training periodization - Issurin 2010Self-rated mental stress and exercise training response in healthy subjects - Ruuska et al. 2012Understanding optimal cadence dynamics: a systematic analysis of the power-velocity relationship in track cyclists with increasing exercise intensity - Dunst et al. 2024The Role of Cadence and Torque in Fatigue-Related Power Output Decline in Cycling's Grand Monuments - Javaloyes et al. 202535 Years of Joyner's Endurance Performance Model: Assessing the Contribution of Physiological Determinants of Performance Proxies in 888 Individuals from Recreational to World Class - Mougin et al. 2026Limited reproducibility of individual physiological adaptations to repeated endurance exercise training - Odden et al. 2026 SPONSORS: Precision Fuel & Hydration produce our favourite gels, sports drinks, and electrolyte and carbohydrate products here at That Triathlon Show and Scientific Triathlon. Use the free Fuel & Hydration Planner to get a personalised plan for your carbohydrate, sodium and fluid intake in your next event, and get 15% off your first 2026 order by using the code TTS2026 at checkout. Rouvy is hands down the most complete indoor cycling platform for triathletes. Among their thousands of beautiful bike courses from all around the world, all filmed in stunning quality, they have over 75 IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 race courses plus 20+ Challenge Family courses, so you can pre-ride your race from home. Real gradients, real visuals, and real feel! Head to rouvy.com and use the code TTS to get your first month free on top of a 7-day free trial. Effortless Swimming produce the best swim goggles for triathletes and open water swimmers. Their NanoClear anti-fog lenses give you clear, fog-free vision that lasts and doesn't wear off. Don't let foggy or leaky goggles ruin another swim. Go to shop.effortlessswimming.com and use the code TTS15 to get 15% off your goggles, and get a free two-month Effortless Swimming course membership.LEARN MORE ABOUT SCIENTIFIC TRIATHLON: The Scientific Triathlon website is the home of That Triathlon Show and everything else that we doContact us through our contact form or email me directly (note - email/contact form messages get responded to much more quickly than Instagram DMs)Subscribe to our NewsletterFollow us on InstagramLearn more about our coaching, training plans, and training camps. We have something to offer for everybody from beginners to ...
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    1 hr and 43 min
  • Marius Bakken: The Norwegian Method Is Built Around Your Muscles, Not Your Heart

    Marius Bakken: The Norwegian Method Is Built Around Your Muscles, Not Your Heart
    15 Oct 2026
    Marius Bakken is a physician, a former professional runner and two-time Olympian with a 13:06 personal best for 5000 m, and the person who developed the training approach that later became known as the Norwegian method, since used by Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Andreas Almgren and many others. We cover why he sees the muscles rather than the heart and lungs as the real limiter, how double threshold works, how to find and control your threshold with or without a lactate meter, and how much of it carries over to triathlon.HIGHLIGHTS AND KEY TOPICS:What muscle tone actually is, why it rather than the heart and lungs sits at the centre of how the method builds a training week, and how to palpate your own quads or use a simple morning stair test to track it.The weekly template behind the method, why double threshold is treated as one long session with a break in the middle, and why the sequencing of short and long reps matters.Finding your threshold with a lactate step test and a follow-up field test, or with no lactate meter at all, and how far below it the training should actually sit.Controlling intensity within a 6 x 6 minute session with and without lactate, the RPE that matches the zone, how you should feel when you finish, and the most common way people get it wrong.Why total running volume matters for muscle tone as well as running economy, when to split easy runs into doubles, and where strides do and do not earn a place.The Saturday X-session, what an Olympic champion hurdler's threshold sessions suggest about triggering the anaerobic system too early, and how a marathon block changes the week.How much of this carries over to cycling and triathlon, how the Norwegian triathletes organise their hard days, and what Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Andreas Almgren have added to the method, building upon Marius's work.Flat periodisation, fitting the method into a spring marathon build, the final four days before a championship race, and adjustments for beginners, older and female athletes.SHOWNOTES, LINKS, RESOURCES AND RELATED EPISODES:Follow Marius Bakken on his website.Marius's book, The Norwegian Method Applied.The shownotes for today's episode can be found here.The full podcast episode archives (including category filters) can be found here.Related episodes:How Norway became a triathlon powerhouse with head coach Arild Tveiten | EP#154Arild Tveiten – coach of Kristian Blummenfelt, Gustav Iden and Casper Stornes on triathlon training the Norwegian way | EP#223Olympic gold medal training and preparation with Arild Tveiten | EP#304Applied triathlon science with Olav Aleksander Bu (Norwegian Triathlon Olympic team) | EP#264Olav Aleksander Bu | EP#369Ironman World Champion Solveig Løvseth on her race day strategy in Kona, her training block at altitude, heat training and more!Solveig Løvseth – Olympian and the fastest Ironman debut in history | EP#466Training talk with Eirik Myhr Nossum, national team coach of Norway’s cross-country skiing team | EP#245Vasco Vilaça | EP#401Strength and Speed Training Methods of Norwegian Endurance Coaches | Research RoundupResources and tools mentioned:VDOT calculator SPONSORS: Precision Fuel & Hydration produce our favourite gels, sports drinks, and electrolyte and carbohydrate products here at That Triathlon Show and Scientific Triathlon. Use the free Fuel & Hydration Planner to get a personalised plan for your carbohydrate, sodium and fluid intake in your next event, and get 15% off your first 2026 order by using the code TTS2026 at checkout. Rouvy is hands down the most complete indoor cycling platform for triathletes. Among their thousands of beautiful bike courses from all around the world, all filmed in stunning quality, they have over 75 IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 race courses plus 20+ Challenge Family courses, so you can pre-ride your race from home. Real gradients, real visuals, and real feel! Head to rouvy.com and use the code TTS to get your first month free on top of a 7-day free trial. Effortless Swimming produce the best swim goggles for triathletes and open water swimmers. Their NanoClear anti-fog lenses give you clear, fog-free vision that lasts and doesn't wear off. Don't let foggy or leaky goggles ruin another swim. Go to shop.effortlessswimming.com and use the code TTS15 to get 15% off your goggles, and get a free two-month Effortless Swimming course membership.LEARN MORE ABOUT SCIENTIFIC TRIATHLON: The Scientific Triathlon website is the home of That Triathlon Show and everything else that we doContact us through our contact form or email me directly (note - email/contact form messages get responded to much more quickly than Instagram DMs)Subscribe to our NewsletterFollow us on InstagramLearn more about our coaching, training plans, and training camps. We have something to offer for everybody from beginners to professionals.HOW CAN I SUPPORT THAT TRIATHLON SHOW (FOR FREE)? I really appreciate you reading this and considering helping the show! If you love the ...
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    1 hr and 17 min
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