What does it take to build a high performance culture inside elite European football?

In this episode, Martin sits down with Christian Clarup to discuss his journey from academy football in Denmark to leadership roles at FC Midtjylland, Sparta Prague, the Danish National Team, and the Bundesliga.

Christian shares lessons learned from working across different countries, cultures, and football environments, including title winning campaigns, Champions League football, and the realities of operating inside some of Europe's most demanding clubs.

The conversation explores how speed, power, and intensity shape his performance philosophy, why efficient training matters more than longer sessions, and how strength training, monitoring, and athlete buy in can support performance without creating unnecessary fatigue.

They also discuss leadership, staff stability, building performance departments, managing change within clubs, and the personal realities of working in elite football while balancing family life and long term career development.

Whether you're a performance practitioner, coach, sports scientist, or simply interested in what happens behind the scenes at the highest levels of football, this episode offers a candid look at the challenges and opportunities of building successful performance environments.

Today’s speakers:

Dr Martin Buchheit https://martin-buchheit.net/

Christian Clarup https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-clarup-5891a685/

What should endurance athletes actually eat before training? Does fasted training improve adaptation? And why do some athletes thrive on high carbohydrate intake while others perform better with less?

In this episode, Dr Jeff Rothschild joins the podcast to unpack the complexity behind endurance nutrition, recovery, and training adaptation. Drawing from his work as a sports dietitian, researcher, and performance analyst, Jeff shares insights from years of research exploring carbohydrate practices, fasted training, substrate utilization, and individual variability in athlete response.

The conversation explores why high intensity sessions may not require fasted training to stimulate adaptation, how recovery responses differ dramatically between athletes, and why generalized nutrition guidelines often fail to capture individual needs.

Jeff also discusses the growing role of data science, machine learning, and longitudinal athlete monitoring in understanding recovery and fueling strategies, along with the practical realities of applying nutrition science in elite sport.

This episode offers a balanced and highly practical discussion on endurance nutrition, helping athletes and coaches better understand how to fuel training without getting lost in dogma or extremes.

Today’s speakers:

Prof Paul Laursen https://www.paullaursen.com/
Dr Jeff Rothschild https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-rothschild-phd-016170146/

https://www.eatsleep.fit/

🥑 RETHINKING NUTRITION in ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE 💥🧠

Tim Noakes & Phil Maffetone aren’t afraid to challenge the status quo — especially when it comes to CARBS, FAT, and FUELING the brain 🧬

In this thought-provoking episode of The Training Science Podcast, Paul, Tim & Phil dig into what REALLY fuels performance:

🔥 How FAT OXIDATION supports endurance when carbs run low
🧠 Why the BRAIN—not the body—often decides your limits
📉 The trouble with INSULIN and sugar addiction in modern diets

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#TrainingSciencePodcast #HIITScience #TimNoakes #PhilMaffetone #SportsNutrition #LowCarbHighFat #FatAdaptation #EndurancePerformance #GlucosePools #CarbohydrateDebate #FuelingTheBrain #InsulinResistance #SugarAddiction #MetabolicHealth #AthletePerformance #BrainPower #NutritionRevolution #ChallengingBeliefs #PerformanceFueling #EnergySystems

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Today’s speakers:

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

Dr. Phil Maffetone https://philmaffetone.com/

Prof. Tim Noakes https://x.com/LoreofRunning1

What if endurance performance is not so much about VO2max, lactate threshold, or running economy… but more about the muscular system itself?

In this episode, Dr Marius Bakken shares the thinking behind his latest book The Norwegian Method Applied and the decades of experimentation that shaped his approach to endurance training. From double threshold training and lactate controlled intensity to muscle tone, elasticity, and stiffness, this conversation explores performance through a very different lens.

The discussion unpacks why sub-threshold training became foundational within the Norwegian system, how muscular state may influence performance and fatigue more than most athletes realize, and why recovery is often misunderstood in modern endurance training.

Marius also reflects on his experiences training in Kenya, his observations of elite African runners, and how balancing training load may matter more than any other factor.

This episode challenges conventional thinking around endurance performance and opens up a broader discussion about what truly limits adaptation, recovery, and race day performance.

Today’s speakers:

Prof Paul Laursen https://www.paullaursen.com/
Dr Marius Bakken https://www.mariusbakken.com/

The Norwegian Method Applied Book: http://geni.us/norwegianmethod

What really happens to your neuromuscular system after different types of HIIT — and how do we know?

This episode does something we've been building toward for years: puts real data behind the HIIT Science taxonomy. Using low-frequency fatigue measurements from Myocene technology, Martin Buchheit tested the taxonomy on himself — mapping how different interval types load and recover the neuromuscular system in ways we previously could only infer.

The conversation covers why some sessions crush your legs for 48 hours while others don't, why neuromuscular RPE tracks fatigue better than most coaches expect, and why the distinction between load and response still gets muddled in practice.

The episode closes with a second topic: how change of direction changes everything in HIIT prescription — and why acceleration and deceleration capacity need to drive individualization in team sport training.

In this episode:

• Why HIIT has always been about more than metabolic zones
• Low-frequency fatigue as an objective window into neuromuscular recovery
• Concentric vs. eccentric load — why cycling and running recover so differently
• Neuromuscular RPE: cheap, practical, and surprisingly valid
• Rethinking COD-based interval prescription for team sport athletes

Martin Buchheit's New Course

For those interested in going deeper, Martin’s updated course on Load and Response Monitoring in Elite Football is now available inside the HIIT Science course library.

It builds on the same ideas discussed here, focusing on how to better connect training load with athlete response using practical frameworks and real world examples

Early access is currently available for a limited time. You can subscribe to the HIIT Science email list to receive details and access to the discount

https://hiit-science.thinkific.com/courses/monitoring-load-and-response?ck_subscriber_id=4050821192&utm_source=convertkit&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Its%20finally%20here:%20Martin%20Buchheits%20New%20Course%20%F0%9F%8E%89%20-%2021641648

Are asymmetries something we should actually be fixing… or just better understanding? Dr Chris Bishop is an Associate Professor of Strength and Conditioning and one of the leading researchers in interlimb asymmetry, bringing years of work across performance, rehab, and applied sport science.

In this conversation, Chris breaks down one of the most misunderstood topics in sports performance. From how asymmetries are calculated to whether they even matter, this episode challenges common practices in screening, rehab, and training decisions. He explores why asymmetry data is often noisy, how context changes everything, and why chasing symmetry alone may not lead to better performance or reduced injury risk.

Today’s speakers:

Dr Martin Buchheit: https://martin-buchheit.net/

Dr Chris Bishop: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-bishop-a2462b35/

What if you could bring lab level physiology into every training session?

Arnar Larusson is the founder of Tymewear and is working to make breathing data accessible outside the lab, giving athletes real time insight into how their body is actually responding to training.

Coming from a background in mechanical engineering and prosthetics, Arnar saw the gap between what we can measure in controlled environments and what athletes can access in the real world.

This conversation explores how ventilation and breathing patterns reveal intensity, efficiency, and stress in ways that heart rate and power alone cannot.

From identifying ventilatory thresholds to understanding fatigue and durability, this episode looks at how breathing data could reshape how we train and measure performance.

Today’s speakers:

Prof Paul Laursen https://www.paullaursen.com/
Arnar Larusson https://www.linkedin.com/in/arnar-larusson-58872a2b/

Tymewear: www.tymewear.com

What does it take to build a career across the highest levels of sport and keep evolving along the way?

Jon Bartlett has worked across football AFL the NBA and Olympic cycling building a career shaped by curiosity adaptability and a constant drive to learn.

Rather than staying in one system Jon chose to explore different sports and environments to understand how high performance actually works in practice
From hands on roles with athletes to leading global development systems and now working in performance technology his journey shows how transferable thinking leadership and problem solving can be across completely different contexts.

This episode dives into what he learned at each stage how his role evolved over time and why stepping outside your comfort zone is often the biggest catalyst for growth.

Today’s speakers:

Dr Martin Buchheit: https://martin-buchheit.net/

Jon Bartlett: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-bartlett-8284503a/