Exploring the Limits of Ultrarunning with Nicholas Berger, PhD #200

View all show notes and timestamps on the KoopCast website.

Episode overview:

Dr. Nicolas Berger is a Senior Lecturer in Sport & Exercise at Teeside University’s Centre for Rehabilitation. In this episode we discuss Nic’s new study on the limits of ultramarathon performance, which brings together a who’s-who of researchers in the ultramarathon space to create a framework of performance that will be foundational for years to come. We focus on the myriad of factors that influence performance outside of pure fitness including GI distress, psychology, durability, and the integrative way in which these factors combine to affect performance.

Episode highlights:

(28:26) Stephen Seiler’s chart: physiological improvement plateaus with time in trained athletes but performance does not, performance is multifactorial, during longer duration events multifactorial factors matter more, examples, small changes with big impacts

(43:40) Malleable strategies: recognizing that strategies must change based on environmental factors, example, gastric emptying, cycling example, taking advantage of features of the race

(46:54) Durability: Andy Jones and physiological resilience, how we perceive fatigue matters more than the physiology itself, nerve blocking example

Additional resources:

TU Research Profile

Google Scholar Profile

ResearchGate

Twitter

Limits of Ultra: Towards an Interdisciplinary Understanding of Ultra-Endurance Running Performance

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