Guides

Bone Stress Injuries in Triathletes: The Warning Signs Before It Becomes a Fracture

Almost a quarter of German elite triathletes reported a stress fracture. Why swim-bike-run athletes are at risk, the early warning signs, and how energy availability and run load fit together.

Caffeine on Race Day: Dose, Timing and the Long Race

Caffeine is one of the best-supported race-day aids, usually at 3–6 mg/kg. What the evidence says about dose, timing, your daily coffee, caffeine late in a long race and sleep before an early start.

Cramping at Kona: Why Fluids and Salt Rarely Fix It

At Kona 2026, Patrick Lange kept cramping however much he drank. A 210-athlete Ironman study linked cramp to faster pacing and past cramps, not dehydration or sodium. What that means for preventing and treating cramp.

Creatine for Endurance Athletes: Masters, Women and the Weight Question

Creatine is the best-studied supplement for strength and sprints, but a meta-analysis found no benefit for endurance performance. Where it might still help triathletes, the weight gain question, and safety.

Critical Speed for Runners: The Field Test That Sets Your Run Zones

Critical speed is the running version of critical power and critical swim speed. How to estimate it from two or three hard efforts, how reliable it is, and how to use it to set training and race paces.

Foam Rollers and Massage Guns: Recovery Tool or Ritual?

Foam rolling gives a small, short-lived boost to flexibility and can ease soreness a little. Massage guns have even thinner evidence. What the meta-analyses show, when rolling is worth it, and who should be careful.

Humid, Not Just Hot: What a Sticky Race Day Does to Pacing and Cooling

At the same temperature, humid air slowed trained cyclists by a further 3.4%. Why humidity matters separately from heat, what it does to pacing, and what the evidence says about ice, slurries and cooling during a race.

When the Leg Goes Numb: Iliac Artery Endofibrosis in Triathletes

Leg pain, weakness or numbness that appears only on hard efforts and fades within minutes can be a blood-flow problem, not a muscle one. What iliac artery endofibrosis is, who gets it and how it's diagnosed.

Iron and the Triathlete: Ferritin, Fatigue and When to Get Tested

Iron deficiency is common in endurance athletes, especially women, but men aren't immune. What ferritin tells you, why the thresholds are debated, how exercise affects absorption, and why to test first.

How Long Does Your Ironman Long Run Really Need to Be?

There's no trial of Ironman long-run length, but marathon data from nearly 1,000 runners, an 85-study meta-analysis and a 5,205-runner injury cohort give useful limits. What they suggest for long runs, bricks and spikes.

Why the Ironman Marathon Falls Apart After 25 km: Running Durability and Heart-Rate Drift

Most of the time lost in a long-distance run is lost late. What data from 82,303 marathoners shows about heart-rate drift and durability, and what it means for pacing and training an Ironman run.

After the Finish Line: How Long Ironman Recovery Really Takes

Muscle damage and inflammation markers stay raised for at least five days after an Ironman, and some are still slightly up at 19 days. What the studies show, how long different systems take to recover, and how to return to training.

Tapering for an Ironman: How Much to Cut, and for How Long

Meta-analyses point to a taper of about two weeks, cutting volume by 40-60% while keeping intensity and session frequency. What the evidence shows, where it comes from, and what's inference for a full-distance triathlon.

The Kona Standard: What Age-Grading Says About How Much Slower You Really Get

IRONMAN now ranks Kona qualifiers by age-graded time. How the Kona Standard factors work, what they imply about ageing, and what 25 years of research on Ironman results says about swim, bike and run decline in men and women.

Lifting for Bone: Why Swim-Bike Athletes Need Impact and Load

Swimming and cycling do little for bone, and road cyclists often have low bone density. What heavy lifting and jumping trials show, who they studied, and how a triathlete can build impact and load safely.

Menopause and the Triathlete: What the Evidence Can and Can't Tell You Yet

Menopause symptoms are common in endurance athletes, and the research on training through them is thin. What a 2025 survey, heat, bone and exercise studies show, and where the gaps are.

The Off-Season: How Much Time Off Before Fitness Really Slips

A short break after a long season costs less than most triathletes fear, but a long one does cost fitness. What detraining research shows about VO2max, blood volume, muscle and strength, and how to plan the gap.

Walking the Aid Stations: Does a Run-Walk Strategy Cost You Time in an Ironman Marathon?

Planned walking breaks don't have to cost you time. What the one randomised marathon trial found, why an Ironman run is different, and how to walk on purpose rather than walk because you've blown up.

Should You Raise Your Cadence? What Step-Rate Research Shows About Injury and Speed

A higher step rate reliably changes how your knees and hips are loaded. Whether it prevents injury or makes you faster is far less certain. What the research shows, and how to change cadence safely.

Running Power Meters: What They Actually Measure and Whether a Triathlete Needs One

Running power looks like bike power on your wrist, but it isn't measured the same way. What validity studies show about foot pods and watches, where run power is weak, and when pace or heart rate does the job better.

One Pair or Three? Shoe Rotation, Shoe Mileage and Injury Risk

Rotating running shoes was linked to a lower injury risk in one 264-runner study. The famous 500 km replacement rule rests on 1980s machine tests. What the evidence supports, and what it doesn't.

Does More Sleep Make You Faster? What Sleep-Extension Studies Show

Sleeping longer improved sprint times in 11 basketball players and a cycling time trial in 9 endurance athletes. What sleep-extension studies show, how small they are, and how to use naps and early race starts.

Bicarbonate Without the Gut Bomb: Does It Work for Long-Course Racing?

Sodium bicarbonate is well proven for hard efforts of 30 seconds to 12 minutes. New gel and hydrogel formats ease the gut problems, but evidence for long-course triathlon is still thin.

Treadmill Miles: Does the 1% Incline Rule Hold, and What Transfers to the Road?

The 1% incline rule comes from a 1996 study of nine trained men. What it actually showed, how treadmill and road running differ in effort and mechanics, and how to make winter treadmill miles count.

The 45-Minute Pool Session That Actually Makes You Faster

How to structure limited pool time so it builds speed as well as endurance: what goes in a 45-minute session, how much rest to take, where drills and toys fit, and how to rotate session types across a week.

Critical Swim Speed: Setting Swim Intensity Without a Coach on Deck

Two time trials and one subtraction give you a critical swim speed. How reliable the test is, why CSS is not a pace you can hold forever, and how to turn it into training paces.

Dryland Strength That Transfers to the Water

Strength training improves sprint swimming in competitive swimmers, mainly by raising stroke rate. Whether it speeds up a triathlete's 1,500 m is far less clear. What's worth doing, and why.

Kick, Pull Buoy, Paddles: Which Tools Help Triathletes and Which Become Crutches

Should triathletes kick or save their legs? Do pull buoys and paddles build speed or hide weaknesses? What the research says about the kick, swim toys and the shoulder, and how to use each deliberately.

No Pool? What Bands, Swim Benches and Dryland Can (and Can't) Replace

When you can't get in the water, swim fitness slips but doesn't vanish. What the detraining evidence shows, which parts of swim fitness dryland can protect, which it can't, and how to come back safely.

Where Should Your Next Training Hour Go? The Race Value of Getting Fitter in the Water

The swim is the shortest leg and the weakest predictor of finishing time. But swim fitness also changes how fresh you start the bike. How to weigh an extra hour in the pool against one on the bike or run.

Reading the Research as a Female Triathlete: What Transfers, What Doesn't, and Where to Look

A practical framework for female triathletes: which male-derived findings probably transfer, which need caution, what the women-specific evidence actually shows, and how to test it on yourself.

Out of the Water With the Right Group: The Pack Effect on a Non-Drafting Bike

Exiting the swim with stronger athletes can help your bike even with no drafting: you get there cheaper by swimming on feet, then ride legally alongside a group that pulls you along. What the evidence supports and where it's logic.

Six Months, Same Pace: Why Age-Group Swimmers Plateau and What Actually Moves the Needle

Months of swimming without getting faster is common. The usual culprits are wasted propulsion, the same steady session every time, too few swims a week and no testing. How to tell which one is yours.

Filming Your Stroke: What Swim Video Analysis Can and Can't Fix

Video is the most direct way to see what your stroke does, but the research on video feedback in adult swimmers is thin. What it shows, what it can't, how to film usefully, and when expert eyes are worth paying for.

Swimmer's Shoulder in Triathletes: Load, Not Just Technique

Shoulder pain in swimmers is mostly a load problem. Volume, sudden increases and paddle use show up repeatedly in the evidence. How triathletes can build swim training without paying for it in the shoulder.

Mostly Men, Mostly Cyclists: How Well Does Triathlon Research Represent Women?

Women make up about a third of sport science participants and only 6-7% of studies are women-only. What that gap means for the triathlon research you read, and where it matters most.

Not All Kilojoules Are Equal: Why Riding Above Threshold Costs You Twice

In male pro cyclists, work above critical power cut critical power by up to 16%; the same work below critical power cut it by nothing. Here's the mechanism behind why surging is expensive.

Aero Until It Hurts: When Your Position Starts Taking Watts Back

The steady-state aero-vs-power trade-off is settled. What happens to your position over hours of racing isn't — and the evidence stops well short of a 70.3 bike leg.

Durability, Resilience, Fatigability: What Sports Science Is Actually Arguing About

A live 2025-2026 scientific dispute over what to call late-race fatigue resistance, and the practical split between physiological and performance durability every age-grouper should know.

Your Durability Test Is Mostly Noise — How to Run One That Means Something

Most published durability tests were never checked for reliability once riders were actually fatigued. Here's the evidence on why, and a protocol built to survive that scrutiny.

Feeding the Fade: What 120g of Carbs an Hour Buys You in Watts

A 2026 crossover trial measured exactly how many watts of critical power carbohydrate buys back after 3 hours of riding — and where the returns start to diminish.

How Long Does the Long Ride Actually Need to Be?

About 1,000 kJ is enough to expose real fade in amateur riders, and work above critical power — not raw kilojoules — is what degrades you. The popular 'intensity at the end' rule has never been tested against steady riding.

The Watts the Heat Takes

Heat cuts your power ceiling within 45 minutes even when you're perfectly hydrated. Here's what it does to your watts during the ride, what cooling really buys you, and the warning signs that mean stop.

Train Low, Race High — And Probably Don't

The mitochondrial case for train-low protocols is strong, but the pooled performance effect is null and durability has never been tested — here's the honest picture.

Two Sessions a Week: The Best-Evidenced Way to Train Durability

One randomised, performance-matched trial found strength and plyometric training twice a week lifted post-fatigue time to exhaustion by 35% in runners — with an honest caveat about transfer to cycling.

The W′ Bank: Why Every Surge Costs More Than You Get Back

W′ refills only ~46% in two minutes and ~59% in six — faster if you pedal genuinely soft — and the coaching-app model estimating it can be off by up to 30%. Here's what a surge really costs.

Why Watts Fade: It's Not Just an Empty Fuel Tank

The mechanisms behind late-ride power loss, honestly graded: fibre-level glycogen depletion, early central fatigue, rising oxygen cost, and a failed hunt for a single muscle marker.

Your Hour-Four FTP Isn't Your FTP: The Problem With Intensity Factor

Race %FTP targets are calculated against a fresh FTP — but that threshold falls 5–15% by hour three, so the same target quietly gets harder to hold as the race goes on.

15.0°C: The New Cold-Water Number (And Why the Rules Still Say 16)

A 2026 study found the median critical cold-water temperature for wetsuited swimmers is 15.0°C, yet World Aquatics kept its 16°C safety threshold. Here's why both numbers matter.

Calf and Achilles Capacity: Progressive Tendon Loading for Triathletes

Rest, ice, and new shoes aren't what the evidence supports for building Achilles capacity. Progressive tendon loading is the cornerstone — here's what's proven, what's still unresolved, and when to see a professional.

Double Threshold, Single Reality: What Age-Groupers Can Take From the Norwegian Method

The Norwegian double-threshold method is everywhere in endurance media, but no controlled study has tested it. Here's what's plausible to borrow — and what to leave to the elites.

Forget the 10% Weekly Rule: The 5,205-Runner Study

A 5,205-runner cohort found neither weekly mileage change nor ACWR predicted overuse injury — but a single run far longer than your recent longest run did, in a dose-dependent way.

Free Speed, Honestly Priced: What Aero Research Says to Change First

Aero research keeps pointing back to the rider, not the equipment. Here's the evidence-based order for what to change first — and why one field drag test shouldn't decide your next purchase.

Fresh Watts vs. Hour-Four Watts: Testing and Training Durability

Durability — how well your power holds up late into a long ride — is emerging as a fourth pillar of endurance fitness. Here's what the evidence says, and how to test it at home.

Reading the Trend, Not the Number: What Heart Rate Variability (HRV) Actually Tells a Triathlete

Your watch gives you an HRV number every morning, but the science says single readings mean little. Here's what actually predicts overreaching, and what your device can't tell you.

Jumps or Iron? What Plyometric Training Really Does for Triathlon Run Speed

Plyometrics are pitched as a shortcut to a faster run split. The evidence says heavy strength training helps more on average, jumps work best at easy paces, and the one triathlon-specific trial improved movement, not economy.

Salt Tablets Won't Save You: Fluid, Sodium and Hyponatremia Risk

Sodium supplementation doesn't prevent exercise-associated hyponatremia, and scheduled over-drinking isn't the safe or fast choice either — here's the evidence and the emergency signs to know.

Smooth Beats Surgy: How Bike Power Variability Shapes Your Run Split

Average watts aren't the whole story: surging, variable bike power costs age-groupers time on the run, but the fix isn't as simple as “ride perfectly flat.” Here's what the evidence actually supports.

Swim Easy, Bike Faster? Why the Classic 'Hold Back on the Swim' Advice Is No Longer a Blanket Rule

The "swim at 80-90 percent" rule comes from tiny, male-only lab studies. New 2025 research in amateur triathletes found it can backfire for women and does little for men.

Under-Fuelled, Not Undertrained: Low Energy Availability in Age-Group Triathletes (Including Men)

If training isn't producing the gains you'd expect despite consistent effort, chronic under-fuelling - not lack of discipline - may be the reason. This affects men too, not just women.

90–120g of Carbs an Hour: Is the High-Carb Fueling Trend Right for You, or Just for Pros?

Pros report 120-200g of carbs an hour, but the science backing that jump for age-groupers is thinner than the trend suggests. Here's what's proven, what's not, and how to set your own number.

The Bike-to-Run "Brick" Problem

Dead legs off the bike are real and measurable — research points to altered mechanics and coordination, not just fatigue, and shows what dose of brick training actually helps.

Gut Training: The Evidence Behind Teaching Your Stomach to Handle Race Fuel

Roughly a third to half of endurance athletes deal with GI distress during racing. Gut training offers a structured, evidence-informed way to build tolerance - here's what the research supports and how to build a protocol safely.

Heat Acclimation for Race Day: How Many Days You Actually Need Before Racing in the Heat

How much heat prep actually works before racing in the heat, what the sports-science consensus says about timing, and the safety rules to respect along the way.

Is FTP “Dead”? What Critical Power Research Reveals

FTP isn't dead, but it's a rougher proxy than most training platforms suggest. Here's what Critical Power and W' research actually shows — and how to pace smarter without a lab.

The Minimum Effective Dose: How Little Strength Training a Time-Crunched Triathlete Actually Needs

Most triathletes skip strength training because there's no time. Here's what the research says about the smallest dose that still counts, and where the evidence gets extrapolated.

Open Water Sighting and Race-Start Anxiety: Why It's a Physiology Problem, Not Just a Mental Game

Race-start panic isn't just nerves: anxiety measurably amplifies cold shock, and poor sighting technique adds real drag. Here's what the evidence supports, and how to train both.

The “Peak Carbs” Era — How Much Carbohydrate Should Age-Groupers Eat on the Bike?

Pros report 150g+ of carbs per hour on the bike. Here's what the exercise metabolism research actually supports for age-group triathletes — and how to build tolerance safely.

Racing by Feel vs. Racing by Numbers: What Pacing Science Says About Power Meters, GPS, and RPE

What pacing research actually supports in the feel-vs-data debate, why even and negative pacing consistently beat aggressive starts, and how to combine RPE with power and pace data.

Should You Stretch Before You Run? What the Research Actually Shows

Pre-run static stretching is a near-universal habit, but multiple systematic reviews suggest it's performance-neutral to mildly negative and doesn't reliably prevent injury. Here's what to do instead.

Stroke Rate vs. Distance-Per-Stroke: What the Research Actually Says

"Just lengthen your stroke" is oversimplified. Decades of swim biomechanics research show the rate-vs-length balance depends on distance and fatigue — here's what age-groupers should actually train.

Do Carbon-Plated "Super Shoes" Actually Make Age-Group Triathletes Faster — and Are They Safe Off the Bike?

Carbon-plated racing shoes give a real but modest running-economy boost, with huge individual variability and a new, still-preliminary bone stress injury signal — here's how to use them sensibly.