Paul Laursen, PhD is an athlete, author, endurance coach, high-performance consultant and entrepreneur. He’s published over 125 peer-reviewed papers in exercise and sports science journals, and his work has been cited more than 8,000 times. We’ve had Paul on the podcast before to talk about High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), as described in his book and brought to life in his online course. 

On this podcast, Paul describes how he’s taken HIIT training to a new level by creating the Athletica software, to help athletes train smarter, not harder. Using the principles in his book, this software can adapt a plan based on your current fitness levels, goals, training sessions and life. As an athlete and software developer, I couldn’t resist asking Paul some tough questions about how it all works.

Here’s the outline of this interview with Paul Laursen:

[00:02:56] Paul's previous podcasts: Why Do and How to High Intensity Interval Training and Science and Application of High Intensity Interval Training.

[00:03:08] Paul’s Book: Science and Application of High-Intensity Interval Training: Solutions to the Programming Puzzle and video training course.

[00:03:22] High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) - periods of exercise in your red zone.

[00:04:25] Why to do HIIT.

[00:05:41] Book:  Fast After 50: How to Race Strong for the Rest of Your Life, by Joe Friel.

[00:06:21] STEM Talk Podcast: Episode 116: Marcas Bamman on the many benefits of exercise and strength training.

[00:07:58] David Raichlen podcast: Wired to Run: Why Your Brain Needs Exercise.

[00:09:18] Athletica.ai.

[00:21:33] The role of the human coaching relationship.

[00:24:40] Figuring subjective experience into recommended training; Sentiment analysis.

[00:28:41] Integrating software.

[00:30:24] Strava 2020 Year in Sport report.

[00:31:42] Garmin ecosystem; Garmin Connect.

[00:35:04] Oura ring; HRV4Training app.

[00:41:13] Book: The Best Interface is No Interface, by Golden Krishna.

[00:41:54] Sports serviced by the software.

[00:47:14] HIIT science website.

[00:48:05] Ambassador program.