The Real Science of Sport Podcast

By Professor Ross Tucker and Mike Finch

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, socce... more

· Sports

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The podcast currently has 354 episodes available.

Best of The Real Science of Sport Podcast

The most played episodes among Podcast App listeners.

Number 1: 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
Become a Supporter of the podcast, for the price of a coffee! You'll get ad-free listens, and our exclusive Applied show, including our upcoming dissection of Femke Bol's coach's insights on her amazing transition, as discussed on the show. Show notes (00:06:29) Alison dos Santos takes Karsten Warholm's 400m hurdles world record with 45.80s, catching Warholm by the fourth hurdle. We get into stride patterns, why Edwin Moses ran 13 strides and Kevin Young 12, which leg leads on the bend, and how shoes may have interacted with fatigue to drive hurdles forward more than sprinting.(00:15:59) Masai Russell's 12.09 is the first 100m hurdles world record set without a following wind since 1986. She was anticipated as the next WR holder, and she delivered, with the promise of faster and an 11.xx on the horizon.(00:24:35) Femke Broders-Bol takes the 800m out from the front against Audrey Werro, and why the tactic was right for her even though it suited Werro perfectly.(00:34:57) Bol revealed her LT and long run paces, to much amazement. But her coach Laurent Meuwly explained this in detail, and sets us up for a fascinating discussion on Bol's transition and ceiling. We talk about her statement that her endurance is "so bad for 800", why her 400m speed matters far more, and tee up our upcoming Applied show where we will dissect her coach's explanations to Citius Mag(00:27:23) Karsten Warholm on a chaotic calendar, with our thoughts(00:43:23) The Vuelta without Tadej Pogačar, where tactical mistakes carry a cost again, and cycling as we haven't seen for a decade. Plus, Tom Pidcock's mountain bike win.(00:52:11) Novak Djokovic's US Open exit, and a physio who refused to treat Terence Atmane's cramp. Is cramp an injury, or a conditioning problem?(00:58:22) Aaron Donald returns to the NFL at 35, and how much conditioning an athlete loses.(01:02:54) Yomif Kejelcha's 56:51 half marathon, and who breaks two hours this autumn? Ross reckons two might do it.(01:09:16) Jeff Browning's heart attack at UTMB, and Jenny Simpson's collapse. Fitness is protective, but it isn't immunity, with David Epstein's terrific article(01:13:35) South Africa against New Zealand, and racing robots in China, where our advice is to stop short of a wall. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
September 02, 20261h 20min
Number 2: 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 also the Broadcast Project Manager for the Special Olympics in 2019. During his early years, he worked on the legendary sports magazine show, Trans World Sport and his interviewed some of the biggest names in world sport, including Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali, Maradona, Pele, a 13-year-old Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Wayne Gretzky, Kip Keino and even Whitney Houston and John Candy. In this episode we talk about how commentators are chosen, the economics of sports broadcasting, how modern technology is changing how we watch sports and what the future holds in the digital age for viewers. Davies lives in Nelson, New Zealand, where he lives with his wife and six (yes, it's not a typo !) children. He enjoys a number of sports including cycling, running, boxing, hunting, fishing and paddling. He is a frequent visitor to the UK, where he still has a base, and to Asia, where he does production work for the BBC. Also, for our Real Science of Sport Members, stick around after the show for some bonus content as we continued our chat with Tony and got even more fascinating insights, including his thoughts on social media influencers as broadcast 'partners', why he doesn't buy into the 'all access' documentaries so frequently made about sports events, and his choice of best documentary ever made. If you're not a member, a small monthly donation gets you that bonus content, ad-free listening, exclusive shows and membership of our Discourse community, of which Tony is a member too! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
August 24, 20261h 34min
Number 3: How can a 10,000m Runner Outsprint an 800m Runner? / Werro tops Hodgkinson, Again / Ansah's Missed Doping Test / Swimming World Record Watch
Not yet a member? Ad-free listening, the Discourse community, and a members' show every week, all for less than you spend on gels. 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. (00:01:41) A follow-up to the peptides show with Mike, and the thing Ross wishes he had said. The anecdote that BPC-157 failed to fix someone's Achilles is the human version of publication bias, because nobody ever tells you about the thing that didn't work.(00:12:23) The European Championships format and the broadcast, which featured more talking heads than athletics on the BBC, and an athletic programme with far too little action relative to downtime.(00:16:52) The women's 800m, where Werro beat Hodgkinson for her fourth sub-1:55 of the year, and Bol ran a national record in third. Whose trajectory looks best in the medium to long-term?(00:28:26) Batocletti's exceptional sprint finish, and a Tim Noakes tweet asking why she could speed up at all. Ross explains the end spurt, the reserve we all hold back, and why this particular race proves rather less than it appears to.(00:31:52) A stat from Jason Henderson: Batocletti's last 200m was 28.17, Werro's in the 800m was 29.11. Not a typo, and we explain why the fatigue of an 800m is a completely different animal, and speculate that it's probably more common than you'd think for the 10000m races to finish faster than the 800m ones(00:34:37) Andreas Almgren's solo 10,000m, run at 26:43 pace for the final 8.8km. Tactical optimization and a signal for a sub 26:30 in the future?(00:40:22) Amy Hunt's four golds, and a newspaper headline that poured cold water on them.(00:43:42) Owen Ansah wins European gold under a doping cloud, having refused a test because he had a flight to catch. What counts as "compelling justification", and why a 2016 case suggests he is in trouble.(00:52:26) The tragic death of Fin Tarling, the near-impossibility of policing a 1,300km course, and Adam Hansen's call for better helmets, which are certified only to 19.5km/h.(00:59:47) Swimming, where Kate Douglass broke the 50m freestyle world record twice in a day, a 19-year-old German went under 14:30 for the 1500m free, and Lani Pallister beat Katie Ledecky over 800m for the first time.(01:10:46) And finally, South Africa versus New Zealand has branded itself "Rugby's Greatest Rivalry". Gareth is not buying it. Ross offers the context for why it's about more than rugby, but also great rugby No news show next week, but there's an interview show planned for Monday, and the members' Applied show will take overtraining next week Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
August 19, 20261h 18min
Number 4: 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 BPC157 More on the FDA and the complex regulation of peptides A report on one of the FDA decisions about peptides - in this case BPC157 and KPV A paper from the discoverer of BPC157, who has published more than three-quarters of the research on it The human safety study on BPC157, with its two participants Systematic review of BPC157 evidence, suggesting promise but caution A well researched article by Dr Eric Topol raising concerns about safety and regulatory decisions Example of a public warning from a regulatory body, this one from South Africa Follow the money - Fortune 500 piece on why deregulation could create a multibillion dollar market Become a Supporter of The Science of Sport for about the price of a coffee, or a gel, and help us keep the lights on, and Gareth's candle burning! Plus, you'll get ad free listening, a weekly Applied show, and a community that argues better than the internet does! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
August 17, 20261h 21min
Number 5: 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 heat illness, how it happens, prevalence, and the best ways of dealing with EHI during exercise. Alongside his clinical practice, he is also the founder of Nereus Medical Ltd and inventor of the patented I-CWIK, a lightweight, robust and clinically proven system developed to provide effective cold-water immersion of heat stroke casualties in the pre-hospital and hospital environment. Become a Supporter of The Real Science of Sport, and for the price of a coffee, or a gel, you get a bonus Applied episode every week, ad-free shows, and the best cycling and running community going over on Discourse. SHOW NOTES The EHI Consensus Statement website The Full EHI Article, of which Ross is lead author One of the studies Ross alluded to, this one from the World Champs in Doha Another paper he mentioned, discussing athlete management ahead of the Olympic Games The baboon model for heatstroke discussed on the show We published a study years back documenting some heatstrokes in SA endurance events Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
August 03, 20261h 46min