That Triathlon Show

Robbie Deckard is a professional middle-distance triathlete and triathlon coach, and the founder of Freaky Fast Aero Accessories. In this episode, Robbie and Mikael dig into the real differences between American and European training methods, using lactate and VLaMax to optimise training and performance, and how age-group triathletes can apply lab-grade thinking to swim, bike and run training without actually going into a lab.

HIGHLIGHTS AND KEY TOPICS:

The real difference between FTP-centric American coaching and the German/Benelux style built around VLaMax, VO2max and physiological profiling.

The evolution of VLaMax based training: from Alois Mader's 1970s model through Jan Olbrecht to current day coaches like Dan Lorang.

Robbie's case for still doing dedicated VO2max work, including a case study that took an amateur cyclist's VO2max from 74 to 87 mL/kg/min over 58 weeks of block periodisation.

Why building maximal aerobic power early is more valuable long-term than chasing threshold gains, and how that shapes the "durability" that separates junior and U23 cyclists from senior professional cyclists.

How Robbie profiles athletes using LT1, LT2 and 5-minute power (or 500 yd swim time, or mile run time), and what typical percentage utilisation looks like for age-groupers versus elites.

How he prescribes endurance, threshold and VO2max sessions in practice, including cues (power, pace, RPE), lactate targets, and why exact wattage precision on threshold work matters less than people think.

Practical advice for age-groupers: open-water swim skills and ankle-band drills, running road races for pacing and durability, and hill running for strength and economy.

Improving aerodynamics on a budget: reduce frontal area first, then refine airflow, and how to measure progress without a wind tunnel using Golden Cheetah or a simple speed sensor.

SHOWNOTES, LINKS, RESOURCES AND RELATED EPISODES:

Follow Robbie Deckard and Freaky Fast Aero Accessories on his website, blog, Instagram, and Freaky Fast Aero Accessories' Instagram.

The shownotes for today's episode can be found here.

The full podcast episode archives (including category filters) can be found here.

A Scientific Approach to Improve Physiological Capacity of an Elite Cyclist - Rønnestad & Hansen 2018

FTP, VO2max and VLaMax with Sebastian Weber | EP#169

VLaMax, Polarised training, Fatigue and Complexity with Mark Burnley, PhD | EP#331

Training talk with Sebastian Zeller | EP#259

Training structure, periodisation and the science of winning with Jan Olbrecht, PhD | EP#198

Training, testing, metabolism and physiology with Björn Kafka | EP#286

Kolie Moore – Overrated and Underrated Factors for Cycling Performance

The Science of Winning: Planning, Periodizing and Optimizing Swim Training - book by Jan Olbrecht

The Triathlete's Training Bible - book by Joe Friel

Software mentioned: Aerotune, Golden Cheetah, INSCYD, Sentiero

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.

ZenAI is the next frontier of podcasting. It lets you turn your ideas into a podcast without any knowledge of audio editing, video, or production. You do the talking, and the AI handles the production, editing, clipping, and the rest, and you can direct your AI producer in plain English. You can even record from your phone, so no expensive studio gear is needed to sound great. ZenAI is a new product from Zencastr, a platform I've been a paying customer of for over nine years here at That Triathlon Show. ZenAI is currently in invite-only beta. Join the waitlist today here.
LEARN MORE ABOUT SCIENTIFIC TRIATHLON:
The Scientific Triathlon website is the home of That Triathlon Show and everything else that we do
Contact 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 Newsletter
Follow us on Instagram
Learn 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 ensure it sticks around, there are a few very simple things you can do, at no cost other than a minute of your time.
Subscribe to the podcast in your podcast app to automatically get all new episodes as they are released.
Tell your friends, internet and social media friends, acquaintances and triathlon frenemies about the podcast. Word of mouth is the best way to grow the podcast by far!
Rate and review the podcast (ideally five stars of course!) in your podcast app of choice (Spotify and Apple Podcasts are the biggest and most important ones).
Share episodes online and on social media. Share your favourite episodes in your Instagram stories, start a discussion about interesting episodes on forums, reference them in your blog or Substack.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Paul Booth is a performance nutritionist and exercise physiologist who works with elite ultra-endurance athletes and teams, including the Salomon International team, and was the nutritionist behind both the men's and women's UTMB winners in 2025, Tom Evans and Ruth Croft. We cover the science and practice of fuelling: how many carbs you actually need, why the high-carb trend has run ahead of the evidence, and how to get hydration and electrolytes right for triathlon and ultra-endurance racing.

HIGHLIGHTS AND KEY TOPICS:

Why Paul calls himself a "90-gram carb guy" and where the carb ceiling actually sits

What the science says about 90 versus 120 grams of carbohydrate per hour

The physiology of carbohydrate absorption, and how to work out your own intake for an Ironman without lab testing

Gut training: building tolerance to carbs and fluid in the weeks before a race

A simple DIY method to work out your sweat rate and fluid needs

Why hydration, not carbs, is behind most race-day gut problems

Electrolytes: what the evidence supports and what is mostly marketing

Fuelling through heat, altitude and ageing, plus listener questions on glycogen-depleted training, honey and more

SHOWNOTES, LINKS, RESOURCES AND RELATED EPISODES:

Follow Paul and Performance Gains Nutrition on his website and Instagram

The shownotes for today's episode can be found here.

The full podcast episode archives (including category filters) can be found here.

Related episodes:

Carbohydrates, science and practice with Tim Podlogar, PhD | EP#354

Nutrition and hydration data from Kona and 70.3 Worlds with Andy Blow | EP#365

Aerobic training and testing with Scott Johnston | EP#326

Richard Laidlow | EP#403



Studies discussed:

Fuelled or Fooled? Examining the Evidence and Mechanisms Behind Ultra-High Carbohydrate Intake in Endurance Athletes - Plews et al. 2026

Graded Carbohydrate Ingestion up to 120 g/h Attenuates the Reduction in Critical Power Following 3 h of Moderate-Intensity Exercise in a Dose-Dependent Manner - Norte et al. 2026

13C-labelled glucose-fructose show greater exogenous and whole-body CHO oxidation at 120 vs 60 & 90 g/h in elite male marathoners - Ravikanti et al. 2025

Exogenous Glucose Oxidation During Exercise Is Positively Related to Body Size - Ijaz et al. 2024

Fructose-maltodextrin ratio governs exogenous and other CHO oxidation and performance - O'Brien et al. 2013

Nutritional intake and gastrointestinal problems during competitive endurance events - Pfeiffer et al. 2012

Modelling sodium requirements of athletes across exercise scenarios – when to test and target, or season to taste - McCubbin 2022

Could It Bee? Honey Ingestion Induces Comparable Metabolic Responses to a Traditional Carbohydrate Sports Product - Fortis et al. 2025



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.

ZenAI is the next frontier of podcasting. It lets you turn your ideas into a podcast without any knowledge of audio editing, video, or production. You do the talking, and the AI handles the production, editing, clipping, and the rest, and you can direct your AI producer in plain English. You can even record from your phone, so no expensive studio gear is needed to sound great. ZenAI is a new product from Zencastr, a platform I've been a paying customer of for over nine years here at That Triathlon Show. ZenAI is currently in invite-only beta. Join the waitlist today here.
LEARN MORE ABOUT SCIENTIFIC TRIATHLON:
The Scientific Triathlon website is the home of That Triathlon Show and everything else that we do
Contact 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 Newsletter
Follow us on Instagram
Learn 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 ensure it sticks around, there are a few very simple things you can do, at no cost other than a minute of your time.
Subscribe to the podcast in your podcast app to automatically get all new episodes as they are released.
Tell your friends, internet and social media friends, acquaintances and triathlon frenemies about the podcast. Word of mouth is the best way to grow the podcast by far!
Rate and review the podcast (ideally five stars of course!) in your podcast app of choice (Spotify and Apple Podcasts are the biggest and most important ones).
Share episodes online and on social media. Share your favourite episodes in your Instagram stories, start a discussion about interesting episodes on forums, reference them in your blog or Substack.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A research roundup episode, where Dr. Gabriele Gallo (of KnowledgeIsWatt) and myself cover four recent research papers and how they might help us train better and improve our understanding of triathlon and endurance performance

HIGHLIGHTS AND KEY TOPICS: 

Do the same training program twice - get different results? (and how Gabriele and I disagree slightly on the conclusions to draw from this study)

Strength training is beneficial for cycling performance, but how beneficial is it really? And is it beneficial for everybody? Finally, how should you structure your strength training program to make it so? 

A massive review on the impact of different types of endurance training on mitochondrial and capillary growth, and VO2max improvements. 

What separates athletes of different performance levels is not how high they can push their threshold as a percentage of VO2max, but how high the VO2max is in the first place. 

SHOWNOTES, LINKS, RESOURCES AND RELATED EPISODES: 

Follow Gabriele and KnowledgeIsWatt on his website, Substack and Instagram

The shownotes for today's episode can be found here. 

The full podcast episode archives (including category filters) can be found here. 

Limited reproducibility of individual physiological adaptations to repeated endurance exercise training - Odden et al. 2026

Heavy strength training effects on physiological determinants of endurance cyclist performance: a systematic review with meta-analysis - Llanos-Lagos et al. 2025

Effects of Exercise Training on Mitochondrial and Capillary Growth in Human Skeletal Muscle: A Systematic Review and Meta-Regression - Mølmen et al. 2024

Elite Aerobic Endurance Performance: Is It Really Related to Lactate Threshold Expressed Relative to Peak Oxygen Uptake? - Johansen et al. 2025

Strength training improves performance and pedaling characteristics in elite cyclists - Rønnestad et al. 2014

Five-Minute Power-Based Test to Predict Maximal Oxygen Consumption in Road Cycling - Sitko et al. 2022

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.

ZenAI is the next frontier of podcasting. It lets you turn your ideas into a podcast without any knowledge of audio editing, video, or production. You do the talking, and the AI handles the production, editing, clipping, and the rest, and you can direct your AI producer in plain English. You can even record from your phone, so no expensive studio gear is needed to sound great. ZenAI is a new product from Zencastr, a platform I've been a paying customer of for over nine years here at That Triathlon Show. ZenAI is currently in invite-only beta. Join the waitlist today here.
LEARN MORE ABOUT SCIENTIFIC TRIATHLON:
The Scientific Triathlon website is the home of That Triathlon Show and everything else that we do
Contact 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 Newsletter
Follow us on Instagram
Learn 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 ensure it sticks around, there are a few very simple things you can do, at no cost other than a minute of your time.
Subscribe to the podcast in your podcast app to automatically get all new episodes as they are released.
Tell your friends, internet and social media friends, acquaintances and triathlon frenemies about the podcast. Word of mouth is the best way to grow the podcast by far!
Rate and review the podcast (ideally five stars of course!) in your podcast app of choice (Spotify and Apple Podcasts are the biggest and most important ones).
Share episodes online and on social media. Share your favourite episodes in your Instagram stories, start a discussion about interesting episodes on forums, reference them in your blog or Substack.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jack Kelly, professional triathlon coach and host of The Triathlon Hour discusses everything about his coaching methods and thoughts on triathlon training and performance. 

HIGHLIGHTS AND KEY TOPICS: 

Intensity and key sessions as the cornerstone of Jack’s training programs

Not overthinking training volume

Don’t be afraid of fatigue or overthink your ability to absorb training

Building a story and a narrative to get the most out of every athlete

Tips for age-group triathletes on how to improve swimming, cycling and running performance

How age-grup triathletes should think about their training on a time-crunched schedule. 

Jack’s “overrated and underrated” in triathlon

Listener questions directly from Jack’s athletes Ari Klau, Sam “Appo” Appleton and Toby Martin. 

…and lots, lots more! 

SHOWNOTES, LINKS, RESOURCES AND RELATED EPISODES: 

Follow Jack on The Triathlon Hour on Spotify and Instagram

The shownotes for today's episode can be found here. 

The full podcast episode archives (including category filters) can be found here. 

Kolie Moore – Overrated and Underrated Factors for Cycling Performance - referenced in today’s episode

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.

ZenAI is the next frontier of podcasting. It lets you turn your ideas into a podcast without any knowledge of audio editing, video, or production. You do the talking, and the AI handles the production, editing, clipping, and the rest, and you can direct your AI producer in plain English. You can even record from your phone, so no expensive studio gear is needed to sound great. ZenAI is a new product from Zencastr, a platform I've been a paying customer of for over nine years here at That Triathlon Show. ZenAI is currently in invite-only beta. Join the waitlist today here.
LEARN MORE ABOUT SCIENTIFIC TRIATHLON:
The Scientific Triathlon website is the home of That Triathlon Show and everything else that we do
Contact 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 Newsletter
Follow us on Instagram
Learn 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 ensure it sticks around, there are a few very simple things you can do, at no cost other than a minute of your time.
Subscribe to the podcast in your podcast app to automatically get all new episodes as they are released.
Tell your friends, internet and social media friends, acquaintances and triathlon frenemies about the podcast. Word of mouth is the best way to grow the podcast by far!
Rate and review the podcast (ideally five stars of course!) in your podcast app of choice (Spotify and Apple Podcasts are the biggest and most important ones).
Share episodes online and on social media. Share your favourite episodes in your Instagram stories, start a discussion about interesting episodes on forums, reference them in your blog or Substack.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Kolie Moore of Empirical Cycling returns to That Triathlon Show! In today’s episode Kolie brings lists of his top underrated and overrated factors for cycling performance to the table, and we discuss these. Kolie also tests Mikael on logical reasoning, and has him guess whether each factor is overrated or underrated on Kolie’s list.

HIGHLIGHTS AND KEY TOPICS: 

Kolie’s top underrated and overrated factors for cycling performance

Without specifying which categories each of these belong in, some of the things we discuss include creatine, Zone 2 training, training plans, race specificity, and many more! 

What factors did Kolie overrate or underrate earlier in his coaching career?

Listener submitted overrated/underrated suggestions, including heat training, lactate guided training, genetics and more

SHOWNOTES, LINKS, RESOURCES AND RELATED EPISODES: 

The shownotes for today's episode can be found here. 

The full podcast episode archives (including category filters) can be found here. 

Kolie’s website, podcast (Empirical Cycling Podcast), Instagram

The Wason Test (here you can try your own logic!) 

Coaching Thoughts: 15 Underrated Factors for Triathlon Performance | EP#440 - Mikael’s own list of underrated performance factors (for triathlon)

Coaching Thoughts: 11 Overrated Factors for Triathlon Performance | EP#439 - Mikael’s own list of overrated performance factors (for triathlon)

Training Talk with Kolie Moore | EP#271 - Kolie’s first appearance on That Triathlon Show

Training, coaching and podcasting with Mikael Eriksson and Kolie Moore | EP#359 - This episode with Kolie interviewing Mikael originally aired on Empirical Cycling and was later republished on That Triathlon Show

Watts Doc #61: Quantifying Diminishing Returns

Watts Doc #58: Creatine's Actual Effects On Cycling Performance

Watts Doc #50: Hypoxia And Muscular Adaptation

Watts Doc #40: Endurance Adaptation Is Not Substrate Oxidation

Much Ado About Zone 2: A Narrative Review Assessing the Efficacy of Zone 2 Training for Improving Mitochondrial Capacity and Cardiorespiratory Fitness in the General Population - Storoschuk et al. 2025

Long-Term Time-Course of Strength Adaptation to Minimal Dose Resistance Training Through Retrospective Longitudinal Growth Modeling - Steele et al. 2022

Limited 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.

ZenAI is the next frontier of podcasting. It lets you turn your ideas into a podcast without any knowledge of audio editing, video, or production. You do the talking, and the AI handles the production, editing, clipping, and the rest, and you can direct your AI producer in plain English. You can even record from your phone, so no expensive studio gear is needed to sound great. ZenAI is a new product from Zencastr, a platform I've been a paying customer of for over nine years here at That Triathlon Show. ZenAI is currently in invite-only beta. Join the waitlist today here.
LEARN MORE ABOUT SCIENTIFIC TRIATHLON:
The Scientific Triathlon website is the home of That Triathlon Show and everything else that we do
Contact 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 Newsletter
Follow us on Instagram
Learn 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 ensure it sticks around, there are a few very simple things you can do, at no cost other than a minute of your time.
Subscribe to the podcast in your podcast app to automatically get all new episodes as they are released.
Tell your friends, internet and social media friends, acquaintances and triathlon frenemies about the podcast. Word of mouth is the best way to grow the podcast by far!
Rate and review the podcast (ideally five stars of course!) in your podcast app of choice (Spotify and Apple Podcasts are the biggest and most important ones).
Share episodes online and on social media. Share your favourite episodes in your Instagram stories, start a discussion about interesting episodes on forums, reference them in your blog or Substack.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.