NDURANZ Podcast

Calorie-tracking apps can tell you exactly how much to eat each day. But how accurate are those numbers?

Fitness trackers can miscalculate energy expenditure, everyday activity can significantly change how many calories you burn, and even logging your food accurately is more complicated than it seems. From differences in exercise efficiency to the way food is prepared, small inaccuracies can add up to hundreds of calories.

For endurance athletes, relying too heavily on these estimates can lead to underfueling, poor training performance, and unintended weight loss. Calorie-tracking apps can still be useful for understanding eating habits and energy needs, but the numbers should be treated as estimates rather than exact targets.

Everyone knows what Zone 2 is. Or do we?

In this episode of the Nduranz Podcast, Alex Rhodes and Dr. Tim Podlogar are joined by Aitor Altuna, cyclist and PhD researcher at the University of Exeter, to make sense of training zones and what they actually mean in practice.

They discuss why Zone 2 can mean different things depending on the model you use, the difference between polarized and pyramidal training, why perceived effort still matters even when you have power, pace or heart rate data, and how nutrition should support the purpose of each session.

You’ll also hear why making every workout harder isn’t necessarily better, how low-intensity training helps you accumulate more sustainable training load, and what amateur athletes commonly get wrong when structuring their week.

Lactate has long been blamed for muscle burn, fatigue, and declining performance. Now, some athletes are consuming it as a potential fuel source. Alex and Dr Tim Podlogar break down what lactate actually does in the body, why it is not simply a waste product, and whether the latest performance claims are supported by science. They also explore the potential problems with lactate supplementation, from gastrointestinal issues to questionable benefits when carbohydrate intake is already high.

Alex and Dr. Tim Podlogar break down what really happens when you race in the heat, why performance can drop so quickly, and how to prepare before temperatures become a problem. From heat acclimation and smarter pacing to hydration, carbohydrate intake, and caffeine, they explain the key mistakes athletes make in hot conditions and how to adjust your strategy so you can keep performing when the temperature rises.

In this episode of the NDURANZ Podcast, Alex and Dr. Tim Podlogar break down the fueling behind the sub-2 marathon, looking at how much carbohydrate the top athletes reportedly used and whether 70g, 100g, or even 120g of carbs per hour can make a real difference.

They also explain why marathon fueling starts before race day, how carb loading and low-fiber eating can help, and what everyday runners can learn from elite marathoners without blindly copying them.

As AI becomes more common in training and nutrition platforms, we decided to put it to the test. In this episode, we compare AI-generated answers with real sports nutrition practice, looking at questions around race fueling, coffee rides, and cramp prevention. Some of the advice is reasonable, but much of it lacks the context, nuance, and practical detail needed to make it truly useful for endurance athletes.

In this episode of the NDURANZ Podcast, we break down fat metabolism, fasted training, and whether burning more fat actually improves endurance performance. We also discuss fat adaptation, metabolic flexibility, and why athletes should focus less on fat-burning numbers and more on training quality and fueling appropriately.

A new review paper by Tim Noakes has reignited the debate around carbohydrates, fatigue, and endurance performance. The paper proposes that maintaining blood glucose during exercise may be more important than maximizing glycogen stores, and that relatively small carbohydrate intakes could be sufficient to support performance.

After reviewing the arguments and the studies cited, we see several limitations in how the evidence is interpreted and how the conclusions are applied to real-world endurance sport. While the importance of blood glucose regulation is well established, performance in training and racing is influenced by multiple factors, including intensity, variability of effort, total energy demands, and recovery, making the picture more complex than a single mechanism can explain.

Science progresses through debate and critical analysis, and our aim is to examine these ideas in context and compare them with the broader body of research and practical experience in endurance athletes.

Study discussed:
https://academic.oup.com/edrv/advance-article/doi/10.1210/endrev/bnaf038/8432248

Henrique Avancini made plenty of nutrition mistakes throughout his career and learned from every one of them. Over time, he realised that nutrition is not an area where experimentation comes without consequences. Once you find what works, changing it just for the sake of change can hurt performance. Training, on the other hand, allows room for experimentation, because mistakes are easier to recover from. With nutrition, a single wrong decision can break your performance.

Fueling timing isn’t just about how much you eat, but when you take it. This discussion breaks down what the research shows when total carbs are matched, comparing steady intake with front-loading and back-loading. It covers impacts on performance, exogenous carbohydrate oxidation, and gut tolerance, with practical takeaways for building a race-day fueling plan that works in the real world.

Tim's Carb Distribution Study https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/ijsnem/aop/article-10.1123-ijsnem.2025-0059/article-10.1123-ijsnem.2025-0059.xml

How do Type 1 athletes actually fuel long days? Dr. Simon Helleputte joins us to show how to hit 90–120 g/h with T1D. Although he does not have type 1 diabetes himself, he has extensive expertise in the topic. He explains when to trust your CGM, how to adjust insulin, and how to minimize hypoglycemia without compromising speed. We also tackle the big worry: do gels and sports drinks cause Type 2 diabetes?

How do elites actually fuel long days in the mountains? Sports dietitian Rebecca Dent from Elite Trail Team joins us to share practical ultra-trail nutrition, from how many carbs per hour to aim for to when “just one more gel” is the right move. We also discuss how to balance gels, chews, and real food without wrecking your gut and present a simple low-residue approach for the day before the race.

Former pro turned sports director Sam Bewley takes us inside the Tour de France team car — from strategy and fueling to the chaos of convoys and split-second decisions.

Forget the one-size-fits-all fueling strategy. In this episode, Alex Rhodes and Dr. Tim Podlogar sit down with Professor Gareth Wallis to explore how personalized carbohydrate fueling is changing the game for endurance athletes.

In this live episode of the Nduranz Podcast, Dr. Tim Podlogar explains why the biggest performance gains in modern endurance sports aren’t coming from fancy tech or secret supplements — they’re coming from smart, consistent fueling.

Drawing on his work with elite cyclists, years of lab research, and hands-on product development, Tim breaks down the common mistakes athletes make, from overloading on carbs to underestimating the basics. He challenges nutrition fads, exposes flawed logic behind low-carb trends, and shows how pros are using simple science to train harder, recover faster, and push performance to new levels.

📍Recorded live at the Nduranz booth, Eurobike Frankfurt 2025.

In this live episode of the Nduranz Podcast from Eurobike 2025, Benji Naesen opens up about his journey from 130kg and anonymity to becoming one of the most recognizable voices in cycling media.

What started as a personal struggle to improve his health turned into a full-blown career — podcasting, creating content, and interviewing the very pros he used to watch from the sidelines.

Benji shares how he found the courage to show his face, document his progress, and inspire thousands along the way — all while still figuring it out himself.

📍 Recorded live at the Nduranz booth, Eurobike Frankfurt 2025.

What does a 4x Tour de France winner eat before launching one of the most legendary attacks in modern cycling? 500g of rice — for starters.

In this rare live episode of the Nduranz Podcast, recorded at Eurobike 2025, Froome dives into how nutrition shaped his career, how fueling strategies have evolved, and what still drives him after years at the top.

No scripts. No fluff. Just one of the greatest cyclists of our time talking openly in front of a live audience.

📍 Recorded live at the Nduranz booth, Eurobike 2025

Benji Naesen has seen pro cycling from the inside and from behind the analysis screen. In this episode, he shares stories from his time as a video analyst for Jumbo-Visma and Lotto Dstny, including the strategies that changed the outcome of major races.
Benji opens up about his personal journey, struggles with impostor syndrome, and how he balances his love of cycling with a full-time content creation career.

The road never ends for Thomas De Gendt — it just changes terrain. In this episode, the Belgian breakaway legend shares how he got into cycling, his rise through the pro ranks, and what led him to embrace gravel racing.

We take a deep dive into his trademark move: the breakaway. From the mental battles to the physical demands, Thomas explains what it really takes to escape the peloton and why a breakaway win feels unlike any other.

Of course, we also talk nutrition — how his fueling strategy evolved over the years and the best nutrition advice he ever received.

In this episode, we dive into the world of trail running and ultra trails with elite athlete Kris Jones. From his roots in orienteering to podium finishes at major mountain races, Kris shares his journey, training philosophy, and how he approaches the unique demands of off-road running.

We discuss everything from downhill preparation and strength on the climbs to how he fuels for 5-hour ultras using over 110 grams of carbs per hour without gut issues.