Paul Laursen is a coach and scientist known for his exercise physiology and high-performance sports expertise. He holds a PhD in Exercise Physiology and has a teaching, research, and coaching background. Paul has published over 140 peer-reviewed papers, has more than 14,000 citations, and is co-founder of the parent company HIIT Science. His work often focuses on strategies to optimise performance, including high-intensity interval training (HIIT), heat acclimation, and the role of technology in sports. Paul is also a lifelong athlete, having completed 18 Ironman triathlons.

Paul is on my podcast today to talk about Athletica, a personalised AI coaching platform that adapts to your current sport, fitness levels, goals, training sessions and life. We discuss why a coach or athlete might use Athletica, including individualised step-by-step daily training plans, wearable data input, and comprehensive session analysis. Paul also explains how an AI coach can help combat workout boredom, injury, and scheduling challenges.

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

[00:02:01] AI coach, Athletica.

[00:02:13] Brianna Stubbs; NBT Podcasts featuring Brianna: Ketones for Performance, Cognition, and Cardiovascular Health (2019), The Latest Research on Exogenous Ketones and Other Performance Enhancers (2019), Women in Science: Bridging the Gender Gap (2018), World Champion Rower and Ketone Monoester Researcher Brianna Stubbs (2017), The D-BHB Ketone Monoester Is Here (2017).

[00:04:39] What Athletica can do.

[00:04:56] Power or pace profile, user time constraints.

[00:06:27] Athletica on YouTube, see workouts populated on a calendar.

[00:07:06] Paul's previous podcasts with NBT: How to Automatically Adapt Your Training Plan (2021), Science and Application of High Intensity Interval Training (2019), and Why Do and How to High Intensity Interval Training (2017).

[00:07:13] HIIT Science and Paul's book: Science and Application of High Intensity Interval Training: Solutions to the Programming Puzzle, by Paul Laursen and Martin Buchheit.

[00:09:52] WHOOP strap; integrating wearables.

[00:12:17] Internal training load measures; blood lactate.

[00:15:46] Exporting data when it's time to work out.

[00:20:19] Fast Talk Laboratories podcast; Paul's episode: What Impact Will AI Have on Training Software?

[00:23:43] Workout reserve.

[00:28:35] Stephen Rollnick on Motivational Interviewing.

[00:32:24] Athletica vs ChatGPT.

[00:41:09] Next step for Athletica: educating coaches.

[00:43:45] Visit the NBT forum for Virtual Ted (Naiman), Virtual Huberman, and Virtual Malcolm (Kendrick).

[00:48:31] Key features of Athletica.

[00:49:49] Plantiga.