The Real Science of Sport Podcast
World-renowned sports scientist Professor Ross Tucker and veteran sports journalist Mike Finch break down the myths, practices and controversies from the world of sport. From athletics to rugby, soccer, cycling and more, the two delve into the most recent research, unearth lessons from the pros and host exclusive interviews with some of the world's leading sporting experts. For those who love sport. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Andreas Almgren's Perfect New York Debut / Peter Attia’s Zone 2 U-Turn / Is More Ball in Play Good for Rugby?
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Show notes
This week, Andreas Almgren wins the New York City Marathon on debut, Peter Attia changes his mind on zone 2 training, and we ask what makes an expert credible:
What It's Really Like to be a Sports Scientist
Dr Joel Mason, PhD, is an international award-winning sport scientist with a PhD in neuromuscular physiology, a decade of experience guiding Australian track and field athletes to international representation, and five years as a high-performance manager for top-flight European football teams, in addition to his roles as an educator and researcher. His research profile spans running performance and biomechanics, neural correlates of performance and health, and injury risk factors, and he recently worked with podcast co-host Prof. Ross Tucker on research into the effects of supershoes on women versus men (see show notes below). Mason also details the challenges...
Jepchirchir Doping Ban and the Marathon's Credibility Crisis / Andreas Almgren’s New York City Marathon Debut / Is the 2027 Tour de France Route Anti-Pogačar?
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Show notes
This week, Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir is provisionally suspended for EPO, and we ask what Kenya’s doping problem means for trust in marathon running, before previewing Andreas Almgren’s New York debut:
Lactate: Fuel or Fiction? / Kona Lessons on Carbs and Pacing / World Rugby Cracks Down on the Hip Drop Tackle
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Show notes
This week, lactate gels go on sale with Tadej Pogačar’s name in the promotions, and we test the claim that lactate is a “third fuel source”, before revisiting carbs and the Kona collapses:
How To Raise a Champion in 2026
SHOW NOTES
From the evidence on early specialisation to the formula most likely to produce a champion sportsperson, talent specialist Stuart Armstrong breaks down the science and data on identifying and developing young talent. For parents everywhere with a child showing sporting promise, Armstrong offers practical advice on how to sustain motivation and decide whether to pursue a pro sporting career or foster a lifelong love of sport. Armstrong also breaks down the path most likely to produce a champion, and it's not what you think. Armstrong is the managing director at Future Coach, a Learning Innovation...
Why Did the Kona Ironman Leaders Collapse? Heat, Fuel and Failure / Chicago Marathon’s Underwhelming Fast Times
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Show notes
This week, why Solveig Løvseth and Magnus Ditlev collapsed in the heat at the Ironman World Championship in Kona, whether sports science innovation plays a part, and a Chicago Marathon that was faster than it felt:
Should Grand Tours Be Shorter? The UCI's Future of Cycling Report / Can We Believe Tigst Assefa / Are Athletes Asked to Play Too Much?
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Show notes
This week, the UCI's Future of Cycling report, why people believed Tigst Assefa when they doubted Ruth Chepngetich, and whether athletes are asked to take on too much load and risk of harm:
Diabetes in Exercise and Sport
Episode guest Dr Ian Gallen is an award-winning Consultant Endocrinologist at Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading. He is a consultant physician, endocrinologist, and diabetologist whose career has included clinical medicine, research, medical education, and work relating to diabetes, exercise, and sport. His particular expertise is in diabetes, exercise and sport, including the practical challenges of managing diabetes during physical activity and competitive sport.
In this episode, Gallen breaks down the basics of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, the latest in management and care, how modern technology is helping sufferers and why there is no reason diabetics cannot play...
Inside the Mind of Jakob Ingebrigtsen: The Guardian's Sean Ingle on Talent, Obsession and a Record-Breaking Track Season
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Our Applied shows are normally exclusive to our Supporters. However, the 2026 track and field season has been so good, and given us so many threads to follow, that we've opened up the first part of this one to everyone! The Guardian's Sean Ingle joins us to look back on a year of 17 world records, from Sabastian Sawe's sub-two...
Assefa's Achilles "Rupture" and a Near-Miss Marathon World Record / Vollering and McNulty Win the Road Worlds / UCI Crash Data on Road Cycling
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This week, Tigst Assefa's Achilles injury and a near-miss marathon world record in Berlin, Demi Vollering and Brandon McNulty's world titles in Montreal, and the UCI's long-overdue crash and injury data:
How Jakob Ingebrigtsen Was Beaten on the Roads / Why Sprinters Love Altitude and Milers Don't / Pacing the 800m / A 13-Year-Old Asian Games Champion
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Show notes
This week: how Jakob Ingebrigtsen was beaten over 5km on the roads, the physiology of altitude and 800m pacing, and what to do with outrageous teenage talent:
The Athlete's Heart: Can You Really Exercise Too Much?
In a groundbreaking study - commissioned by the British Heart Foundation and published in July 2025 (see details below) - Dr Peter Swoboda led a team from the University of Leeds to establish whether prolonged endurance exercise could be a risk factor for heart health in older athletes. The results offer revealing insight into the role of exercise in long-term heart health and whether endurance training carries any risks. Dr Swoboda also explains the basics of what exercise does for heart health, which types of exercise work best, why sudden death can happen in sporting events, and how best to...
Why We Were Born To Run
More than most other species, humans are perfectly adapted to endurance running. We may not be the fastest or strongest, but our ability to endure meant our early ancestors could survive and thrive, and modern-day humans can rightfully claim we are all meant to run. Prof. Ross Tucker and sports journalist Mike Finch, who has been the editor of Runner's World SA for 26 years, discuss the amazing adaptations that humans have developed for running, why running may be the most natural sport for you to do, how to train from couch to 5km safely and effectively, the role of...
Ultimate Championship Day 3 Recap / Jefferson-Wooden in 21.47 / Kerr in Control / Dos Santos Delivers / Broadcast Underperformances
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Show notes
Our recap of the final night of the Ultimate Championship in Budapest:
Ultimate Championship Day 2 Recap / Kebinatshipi's 43.39 with a New Race Plan / Werro Controls the 800m to Cap a Dominant Season
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Show notes
Our day two recap, and a preview of the final night of the Ultimate Championships:
Ultimate Championship Day 1 Recap / Ingebrigtsen Reigns Supreme / Masai Russell's World Record Season
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Show notes
Our day one recap, and a look ahead to a much bigger day two:
Incentives, Toxic Cultures and Doping in School Sport / “Cowards” and “Losers” on Track / It’s Too Damn Hot at the Vuelta
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Doping in South African schoolboy rugby, the end of the track season, and racing in 44 degree heat at the Vuelta. In the news this week:
Two World Records in Zurich: Alison dos Santos and Masai Russell / Femke Bol's Fascinating 800m Transition / Cycling We Haven’t Seen for Ten Years in The Vuelta
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Show notes
Inside The World of Sports Broadcasting
Briton Tony Davies has pretty much seen it all when it comes to television sport broadcasting. With over 20 years' experience in broadcast TV as a director, producer and writer, Davies has made a number of documentaries, including the RTS-nominated A Bat and Ball War, and worked on numerous sports events including the FIFA World Cup, Rugby World Cup, Olympic Games, Paralympics, Asian Games, Wimbledon, Open Championship and Tour de France.
His broadcast experience opened the door to event management roles, and Davies has worked as Broadcast Venue Manager on the past three Rugby World Cups. He was...
How can a 10,000m Runner Outsprint an 800m Runner? / Werro tops Hodgkinson, Again / Ansah's Missed Doping Test / Swimming World Record Watch
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Show notes
On the show this week, a European Championships wrap featuring Nadia Battocletti's astonishing 10,000m finish and Audrey Werro's win over Keely Hodgkinson, a German sprinter under a doping cloud, world records in the pool, and a follow-up on peptides.
The Science-Backed Truth About Peptides
Everywhere you look people are talking about peptides. But what exactly are they, how do they work and how safe are they for human consumption? Mike and Ross review the evidence, discuss the politics that continue to muddy the waters around peptide efficacy and regulation, and examine the dangers of using untested peptides. The team also look into the role of the popular GLP-1's that have revolutionised diabetes and weight loss and the controversial BPC-17 peptide, touted as a miracle treatment for tissue repair.
Links
The Undark article that describes the history of...
Kasia Niewiadoma's Mont Ventoux Masterclass / The Physiology of Losing a Yellow Jersey / A Doping Ban That Fits a Familiar Pattern
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Show notes
On the show today, the physiology behind the best women's Grand Tour we can remember, and a doping ban that fits a pattern we have seen many times before.
What Causes a Stitch When You Run? / Josh Kerr's Mile Dominance / Pogačar's VO2max of 100 / Another SA Schoolboy Doping Ban
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Show notes
Josh Kerr, the Commonwealth Games, a stitch explained, the Tour de France Femmes, and yet another South African schoolboy rugby doping ban. In today's show:
FEATURE: How To Beat the Heat
Ross Hemingway, OBE, is a Sport & Exercise Medicine Practitioner at the Commando Training Centre for the Royal Marines. His clinical expertise centres on exertional collapse, in particular the prevention, acute management, and rehabilitation of exertional heat illness (EHI) in elite, amateur, and tactical athletes, and is recognised as a UK national expert in this field. Hemingway is also a member of the UK Heat Illness Advisory Group and a contributing author to the Faculty of Pre-Hospital Care’s (FPHC) UK consensus statement on the management of Exertional Heat Illness.
In this interview, Hemingway breaks down the theory of...
Why Anti-Doping Needs Target Testing and Investigation / Pogačar's Record Tour de France / The Weight-Loss Double Standard
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Show notes
This week we recap Tadej Pogačar's record-breaking Tour de France, and then get into the meat of it: why anti-doping leans so heavily on investigation and targeted testing, with insights from our interview with Brett Clothier, head of athletics' Athletics Integrity Unit.
The Art and Science of Perfect Pacing (Members' Exclusive Show, Now Unlocked for All)
Quick heads up before we start: this is not a brand new episode. If you are one of our Members you will have heard it in full about six weeks ago, when we released it as a Members' only Applied show. But we thought it was too interesting and relevant to stay behind the paywall, so we have cut it down into this shorter version and opened it up to everyone, partly because we want sports science to reach as many people as possible, and partly because it is a taste of exactly what supporters get every week, ad...
The Tour de France 2am Drug-Test Controversy: Why Pogačar and Vingegaard Were Woken to Test / Josh Kerr's Mile World Record / A World Cup Final to Forget
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Show notes
The big story this week is another Tour de France anti-doping row, with race leaders Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard woken to give samples at 5am and 2am. But first, we discuss a forgettable World Cup final and a long overdue Mile world record
A "Concussion Sensor" Comes to the Tour de France / Spain Dismantle France / Does SA Rugby Have a Doping Problem?
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Show notes
This week our headline topic is a "concussion sensor" being trialled by some teams at the Tour de France, and why it is a welcome innovation, but one that, for now, invites potentially dangerous false hope. We also take...
The Science Behind a Pro Cycling Team
Team NSN Cycling is one of the most exciting teams in the World Tour peloton, and Lausanne-based Briton David Bailey is its Head of Sport Science. Amid the pressures of being at the cutting edge of athletic performance, Bailey talks us through the current trends in pro cycling, including nutrition, training, health, tech, and even the role of AI and data management. Bailey has over 20 years of experience in elite sport as a coach, scientist, and performance director, I has supported world-class athletes, including multiple Olympic and World Champions. Bailey has also worked for the BMC and Bahrain Victorius...
Stop Watching the Ball: Michael Cox Unlocks the Fascinating Hidden Sides of Football
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Show notes
Most of us watch football and follow the ball. Football journalist Michael Cox watches the spaces, the shapes and the patterns that few others understand. As we build towards the FIFA World Cup Quarter-finals, Ross and Gareth sit down with one of the sharpest tactical analysts in football writing, and perhaps...
England Survive Altitude and Mexico / The Doctor's Dilemma in Elite Sport - When Is Enough? / How Women Out "Pace" Men in Marathons
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Show notes
In this week's Spotlight, Ross and Gareth take on the news:
Inside the World of F1 Racing: An Engineer's Perspective
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Show notes
Formula 1 is one sport we've never properly tackled, so who better to guide us through it than a man who spent 25 years on the inside? Dom Riefstahl is a mechanical engineer who went straight from graduation into BMW's F1 programme, later moving to the Sauber F1 team and then to the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 outfit, where he worked with seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. Riefstahl...
BONUS SHORT: Altitude and the Mexico Problem. The Science Behind England's Sunday Showdown
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Show notes
A bonus hype show ahead of Sunday's World Cup round of 16 between Mexico and England, where altitude has become the story everyone is talking about. Sparked by Thomas Tuchel's lament over a FIFA rule and the team's potential "smash and grab" altitude adaptation theory, Ross explains why the idea of sneaking in and out before...
Durability - Trialled, Tested and Explained / Werro Edges Closer to the World Record / The World Cup's Extra-Time Problem / TDF and Heat Fears
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Oh, and play our Tour de France Fantasy League - we have one special rule - no Pogacar allowed! It's league number 90980, Science of Sport, and the password is ISMPJ
Show notes
This week's...
The Creatine Episode
From muscle growth to a treatment for Alzheimers, creatine has been touted as the 'King of Supplements'. But what does the science say about one of the most researched products in sport? Enter Dr Eric S. Rawson, Chair and Professor of Health, Nutrition, and Exercise Science at Messiah University in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, who has spent two decades studying the effects of creatine on the brain and muscle. In this in-depth interview, Rawson breaks down the long history of creatine research, how it works, who it works best for, and the latest research into its cognitive benefits. Rawson has been...
Re-Release: The Art and Science of the Perfect Football Penalty
British football journalist Ben Lyttleton literally wrote the book on football penalties. As the author of 'Twelve Yards: The Art and Psychology of the Perfect Penalty' and 'Edge: What Business Can Learn From Football', Lyttleton is arguably the world's leading authority on the subject. His encyclopedia-like and passionate knowledge of both the game of football and the controversial penalty, make this one of the most entertaining podcasts we have done yet. This podcast was first published in August, 2022, but is sure to be relevant to the final weeks of this year's edition as we head into the knockout stages.<...
A Doping Refusal and Four Year Ban That Divided Tennis / Hodgkinson's Hamstring Scare / World Cup Science
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This week's Spotlight focuses on the doping case of Marketa Vondrousova's four year ban for refusing to provide a sample during an out of competition test in 2025. We also return to the USA for some Football World Cup insights, cover some injury science with implications for Keely Hodgkinson's season, and issue a call to arms for members ahead of our...
World Cup Water Breaks / What Will It Take to Break the 800m WR? / College Sprinting Goes Wild / Does Remco Have the Watts to Match Pogacar?
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Show notes
800m Plot Twists as History Beckons for Werro & Hodgkinson / Should the IOC Pay Olympic Athletes? / "Your computer screen is too big"
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In this show:
Sleeping Your Way to More EPO / Grand Slam Chaos / The UCI's Expensive Regulatory Defeat and a Weighing Scandal
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This week's Spotlight opens in Paris, where Roland Garros has delivered one of the most chaotic and compelling Grand Slams in recent memory, and ends on a Las Vegas track with a promise of $10 million unlikely to be fulfilled. Along the way, we explore retirements and comebacks, bike weight scandals, regulatory issues and a surprising way to boost your red blood cells.
In today's Show:
