Welcome to another episode of The Progress Theory, where we explore the latest scientific principles to help you optimise your performance. In this episode, Dr Phil Price sits down with Jem Arnold—a physiologist, physiotherapist, and PhD candidate at the University of British Columbia with a fascinating dual focus on high-performance sport and clinical research.

Jem’s work dives deep into individual responses to training and the use of Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS), a cutting-edge wearable technology that measures muscle oxygenation both in the lab and out in the real world.

In this episode, Jem breaks down what NIRS is, how it works, and why its ability to capture local muscle oxygenation is so useful for endurance athletes, hybrid competitors, and anyone interested in interpreting the body’s signals during exercise. Drawing from both his research and personal experience with vascular conditions affecting elite cyclists, Jem shares insights on programming, individual variability, and how blending subjective feedback with objective tech can revolutionise our approach to training.

Whether you’re curious about the next frontier of monitoring tools, want to understand performance plateaus, or just love to geek out on physiology, you’ll find plenty to stimulate your thinking in this conversation. As always, don’t forget to follow The Progress Theory for more episodes and resources. Let’s dive in!

In this episode, we discuss:

• 00:00 Introduction
• 05:17 Iliac Artery Compression in Athletes
• 09:03 From Clinic to Laboratory Journey
• 11:28 Cyclists' Arterial Strain Issue
• 13:58 Rare Condition in Endurance Cyclists
• 18:28 Quadricep Oxygenation and Flow Limitation
• 22:04 Compensation and Performance in Athletes
• 27:01 Understanding Metabolic Demands in Exercise
• 30:33 Metabolic Limitations in Athletic Performance
• 33:10 Steep Deoxygenation: Overexertion Warning
• 37:05 Device-Specific Trends in Oxygen Measurement
• 40:04 Assessing Athletes' Functional Oxygen Range
• 44:04 From Data to Actionable Insight
• 49:04 "Assessing Power and SMO2 Balance"
• 52:53 Selective Use of Training Gadgets
• 56:04 Incremental Training Feedback Process
• 58:06 Inconsistent Data Interpretation Challenges
• 01:00:48 Blogs: Informal Idea Sharing

NIRS for Real-World Monitoring: Wearable NIRS devices provide invaluable real-time insight into local muscle oxygenation, allowing coaches and athletes to better understand individual physiological responses during both training and competition.

Individual Variability is Key: Jem emphasised that group-level sports science research doesn’t always translate directly to individual athletes. NIRS can help tailor interventions and programming by capturing each athlete’s unique response, especially when combined with subjective reports.

Practical Application Requires Context: Having all the gadgets is great, but Jem highlighted the importance of integrating NIRS data with athlete sensations, performance metrics, and expert guidance. It’s about turning data into tailored, actionable information—don’t let the numbers overwhelm the athlete or the process!

• @theprogresstheory
• @drphilprice
• @

Hello, and welcome to The Progress Theory where we discuss scientific principles for optimising human performance.

In this episode, we are joined by former GB fencer and now mindset and performance coach, Claire Bennett. Now mindset is such an important part of the elite performer.

We're so focused on achieving a particular goal that we often lose sight of what's important, which can lead to resentment and sometimes poor performance. In this episode, Claire talks about her experience at the top level of fencing and how she's utilised all of that experience to start her mindset and performance coach business, Perform, be happy.

In this episode, we discuss:

• 0:50 - Introduction
• 02:48 - Transitioning from a full time athlete career
• 09:20 - Athlete self-care and self-appreciation
• 12:02 - Negative perfectionism and practise
• 15:41 - Overcoming negative perfectionism
• 17:20 - Growth Mindset and Getting outside your comfort zone
• 24:12 - Anxiety in different professions
• 28:18 - Insecurity
• 32:28 - Practical recommendations from a performance coach

🔹 Purposeful Practice Over Perfection: It's not about doing more, it's about doing it right. Focus on quality, not quantity. Perfect practice, rather than just practice, leads to top performance.

🔹 Growth Mindset is Key: In any high-performing environment, whether you're an athlete or a musician, adopting a growth mindset can turn fear and self-doubt into opportunities for growth.

🔹 Embrace Challenges as Opportunities: Reframe fears and pressures by seeing them as chances to learn and grow. Shift from "I have to" to "I get to" and watch how it transforms your outlook.

• @theprogresstheory
• @drphilprice
• @performbehappy
• Singing Challenge

For all our other episodes and to get in touch, please visit www.theprogresstheory.com.

Thanks for listening!

This podcast is hosted by Captivate, try it yourself for free.

KULT Media 2023

Mentioned in this episode:

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Hello and welcome to the Progress Theory where we discuss scientific principles for optimising human performance. In this episode, we're joined by plyometric expert Matt McInnis-Watson. Now I don't know if you've noticed, but you quite often hear of a new world record being broken in a number of different sports, say, weightlifting or quite often in running. I'm always hearing of a new world record in, say, 5k, 10k, etcetera, etcetera. But you rarely hear of a world record being broken in a jump event such as the long jump or triple jump or high jump. I mean, Jonathan Edwards' world record in the triple jump has been going since 1995.

So what needs to happen in jump training and the culture within jump training to see an improvement in jump sports? That's why I contacted Matt. And if you have any interest in improving jump performance, this episode is for you.

In this episode, we discuss:

• 1:02 - Introduction
• 3:35 - The importance of Plyometrics in today’s society and longevity
• 8:35 - Issues with plyometric research
• 13:44 - People get the plyometric definition wrong - still
• 16:12 - different types of plyometrics
• 20:27 - Why are jump world records rare?
• 25:57 - Strength specificity
• 30:25 - What needs to change?
• 35:10 - Which jump sports will see the biggest changes over the next few years?
• 39:08 - Power athlete vs speed athlete
• 44:13 - The importance of supramaximal
• 50:37 - Plyometric recommendations

🔹 Plyometrics for Health Longevity: Plyometrics aren't just for athletes. They play a crucial role in maintaining reactive strength, which is vital for reducing injury risks, especially as we age. Matt highlighted how integrating plyometrics can aid in preserving dynamic capacity, thus enhancing long-term health.

🔹 The Science and Research of Plyometrics: It was fascinating to hear about Matt's critique of current plyometric research. He underscored the need for clearer definitions and proper visual documentation in studies to better understand plyometric movements and their implications for training.

🔹 Training for Future Success: A pivotal point was the shifting focus towards speed training in events like high jump and triple jump. By restructuring training to incorporate more dynamic and reflexive elements rather than solely focusing on strength, we can push the boundaries of human performance in these fields.

• @theprogresstheory
• @drphilprice
• Plus Plyos: Change the way you move
• Matt McInnes Watson | The Plyo Guy (@mcinneswatson) - Instagram

For all our other episodes and to get in touch, please visit www.theprogresstheory.com.

Thanks for listening!

This podcast is hosted by Captivate, try it yourself for free.

KULT Media 2023

Mentioned in this episode:

Podcast Produced By KULT Media

Before we wrap up, I...