🥓🔬 KETOGENIC ADAPTATION, CARBS & PERFORMANCE — WHAT THE SCIENCE SAYS ⚡

Prof Paul Laursen talks with Dr Matthew Carpenter about what changes (and what doesn’t) when endurance athletes go low-carb and stay there. We get into insulin’s rapid drop, the early-week training dip, the liver’s “small glucose pool,” and why a simple pre-start carb hit can still move the needle, even when you’re fat-adapted.

Inside this episode:

📉 Insulin’s rapid drop when switching to low-carb diets
🔥 How Fat oxidation takes over & why performance may dip week 1
🍞 Carbohydrate feeding strategies: when they help even for ketogenic athletes

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#TrainingSciencePodcast #HIITScience #KetogenicDiet #LowCarbohydrate #SportsNutrition #MetabolicHealth #EnergyMetabolism #ExercisePhysiology #CarbohydrateFeeding #MuscleGlycogen #LiverGlycogen #BloodGlucose #EnduranceAthletes #KetoneSupplementation #PerformanceAdaptation #SportsScience #Mitochondria #NutritionScience #AthleteFueling #CognitiveFunction #NeurologicalHealth

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Today’s speakers:

Prof. Paul Laursen https://www.paullaursen.com/

Dr Matthew Carpenter https://x.com/MattCarpenter14

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References:

Carbs help fat-adapted performance

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261561425001700

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🥑 FASTING, FUEL & FITNESS — MYTHS, METRICS & INTENSITY 🚴‍♀️🔥

From plant science 🌱 to performance science 🧬 — Kristi Storoshchuk has taken a unique path to uncover what really drives health & performance.

In this episode of The Training Science Podcast, Paul and Kristi cut through the noise on nutrition and training:

⏳ Fasting facts vs. fiction — human data vs. rodent hype
🥩 High-carb vs. low-carb — the athlete diet debate, minus the dogma
🧠 Zone 2 training under the microscope — context, mitochondria & why intensity often wins

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#TrainingSciencePodcast #HIITScience #Fasting #Zone2Training #ExercisePhysiology #KetogenicDiet #MitochondrialAdaptations #MetabolicHealth #NutritionScience #HighIntensityTraining #PerformanceScience #AthleteFueling #TrainingContext #HumanPerformance #SportsScience #EnduranceTraining #Recovery #ExerciseIntensity #HealthOutcomes

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Today’s speakers:

Prof. Paul Laursen https://www.paullaursen.com/

Dr Kristi Storoschuk https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristi-storoschuk-1602aaa9/

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References:

Zone 2 review:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40279-025-02261-y

Kristi’s X:

https://x.com/k_storoschuk

Kristi’s IG:
https://www.instagram.com/krististoroschuk/

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How do we individualize athlete development in chaotic, high-contact sports like rugby and basketball? Dr. Carmen Colomer shares her science-backed system for unlocking performance 🔬🏉💥

On this episode of the Training Science Podcast, Paul & Carmen dive into practical strategies for maximising physical preparation in team sport athletes, drawing from Carmen’s deep experience across the NBA, NRL, A-League, Super Rugby, and her PhD on tactical complexity in Rugby Union.

🔥 What’s inside:

🧠 Applying complex systems thinking to tactical analysis
⚡ Using Anaerobic Speed Reserve (ASR) to individualize conditioning
🧬 Profiling muscle fibre typology through field-based surrogate tests
🍽️ Linking nutrition and fibre type to body comp & metabolic health
🎯 Building coach relationships and navigating elite men’s sport as a female practitioner
👶 Balancing PhD life, pro sport… and a toddler

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#TrainingSciencePodcast #HIITScience #AthleticaAI #ASR #AnaerobicSpeedReserve #MuscleFibreType #SportsScience #ComplexSystems #RugbyLeague #RugbyUnion #NRL #TacticalAnalysis #TeamSportConditioning #NutritionStrategy #HighPerformance #WomenInSport #Physiology #PerformanceScience #CoachDevelopment #AthleteProfiling

Today’s speakers:

🎙️ Prof. Paul Laursen – https://www.paullaursen.com
🎙️ Dr. Carmen M. E. Colomer – https://www.linkedin.com/in/carmen-colomer/

References:
📄 A qualitative study exploring tactical performance determinants from the perspective of three Rugby World Cup coaches – https://doi.org/10.1177/17479541231170842