Triathlon Nutrition Academy

• Ep 214: Sweat Science
• Ep 251: How Do You Carb Load for a Triathlon Without Feeling Bloated and Heavy?
• Ep 253: Is Carb Loading a Myth?

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Oct 29, 2026 39 min

How to Fuel a Hot Race Without Falling Apart on the Run

Episode 265

Show notes

Two of the best triathletes on the planet came undone in the Kona heat in back-to-back years, so how do you fuel a hot race without falling apart on the run?

After two decades of working with triathletes, I can tell you that most hot races are won or lost before the gun even goes off. As an age-grouper you’re out on course for hours longer than the pros, in the hottest part of the day, often on a race nutrition plan you built and tested through winter. I break down what the heat actually does to your body, why falling apart in a hot race comes down to much more than toughness and what should change in your plan when the forecast says it’s going to be a scorcher.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

• Why your body burns through stored carbohydrate faster in the heat, and why your aid stations can only top up so much
• The 3 ways triathletes fall apart in a hot race that look identical from the side of the road, and why they need opposite fixes
• Why “it’s hot, drink more” is the advice that puts age-groupers in the medical tent
• What heat does to your gut, and why backing off your fuel can make it worse
• The 4 mistakes I see over and over when the forecast is hot
• How one of my Academy athletes went from walking between poles at Spudman to crossing the line at the 70.3 World Championship in Nice

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Introduction
01:28 How heat changes your body's job
03:30 3 ways to fall apart in a hot race
07:03 Why your gut struggles in the heat
09:16 4 mistakes when the forecast is hot
13:08 How to prepare for a hot race

STUDIES MENTIONED

• Almond, C. S. D., Shin, A. Y., Fortescue, E. B., Mannix, R. C., Wypij, D., Binstadt, B. A., Duncan, C. N., Olson, D. P., Salerno, A. E., Newburger, J. W., & Greenes, D. S. (2005). Hyponatremia among runners in the Boston Marathon. New England Journal of Medicine, 352(15), 1550–1556. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa043901
• González-Alonso, J., Teller, C., Andersen, S. L., Jensen, F. B., Hyldig, T., & Nielsen, B. (1999). Influence of body temperature on the development of fatigue during prolonged exercise in the heat. Journal of Applied Physiology, 86(3), 1032–1039. https://doi.org/10.1152/jappl.1999.86.3.1032
• Hew-Butler, T., Rosner, M. H., Fowkes-Godek, S., Dugas, J. P., Hoffman, M. D., Lewis, D. P., Maughan, R. J., Miller, K. C., Montain, S. J., Rehrer, N. J., Roberts, W. O., Rogers, I. R., Siegel, A. J., Stuempfle, K. J., Winger, J. M., & Verbalis, J. G. (2015). Statement of the Third International Exercise-Associated Hyponatremia Consensus Development Conference, Carlsbad, California, 2015. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, 25(4), 303–320. https://doi.org/10.1097/JSM.0000000000000221
• Jentjens, R. L. P. G., Wagenmakers, A. J. M., & Jeukendrup, A. E. (2002). Heat stress increases muscle glycogen use but reduces the oxidation of ingested carbohydrates during exercise. Journal of Applied Physiology, 92(4), 1562–1572. https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.00482.2001
• McCubbin, A. J., Allanson, B. A., Caldwell Odgers, J. N., Cort, M. M., Costa, R. J. S., Cox, G. R., Crawshay, S. T., Desbrow, B., Freney, E. G., Gaskell, S. K., Hughes, D., Irwin, C., Jay, O., Lalor, B. J., Ross, M. L. R., Shaw, G., Périard, J. D., & Burke, L. M. (2020). Sports Dietitians Australia position statement: Nutrition for exercise in hot environments. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 30(1), 83–98. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsnem.2019-0300
• Mougin, L., Macrae, H. Z., Taylor, L., James, L. J., & Mears, S. A. (2025). The effect of heat stress and dehydration on carbohydrate use during endurance exercise: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Medicine, 55(11), 2825–2847. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-025-02294-3
• Parkin, J. M., Carey, M. F., Zhao, S., & Febbraio, M. A. (1999). Effect of ambient temperature on human skeletal muscle metabolism during fatiguing submaximal exercise. Journal of Applied Physiology, 86(3), 902–908. https://doi.org/10.1152/jappl.1999.86.3.902
• Périard, J. D., Racinais, S., & Sawka, M. N. (2015). Adaptations and mechanisms of human heat acclimation: Applications for competitive athletes and sports. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 25(S1), 20–38. https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.12408
• Roberts, W. O., Armstrong, L. E., Sawka, M. N., Yeargin, S. W., Heled, Y., & O’Connor, F. G. (2021). ACSM expert consensus statement on exertional heat illness: Recognition, management, and return to activity. Current Sports Medicine Reports, 20(9), 470–484. https://doi.org/10.1249/JSR.0000000000000878
• Snipe, R. M. J., Khoo, A., Kitic, C. M., Gibson, P. R., & Costa, R. J. S. (2017). Carbohydrate and protein intake during exertional-heat stress ameliorates intestinal epithelial injury and small intestine permeability. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 42(12), 1283–1292. https://doi.org/10.1139/apnm-2017-0361
• Snipe, R. M. J., Khoo, A., Kitic, C. M., Gibson, P. R., & Costa, R. J. S. (2018). The impact of exertional-heat stress on gastrointestinal integrity, gastrointestinal symptoms, systemic endotoxin and cytokine profile. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 118(2), 389–400. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-017-3781-z
• Speedy, D. B., Noakes, T. D., Rogers, I. R., Thompson, J. M. D., Campbell, R. G. D., Kuttner, J. A., Boswell, D. R., Wright, S., & Hamlin, M. (1999). Hyponatremia in ultradistance triathletes. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 31(6), 809–815. https://doi.org/10.1097/00005768-199906000-00008
• van Wijck, K., Lenaerts, K., Grootjans, J., Wijnands, K. A., Poeze, M., van Loon, L. J. C., Dejong, C. H. C., & Buurman, W. A. (2012). Physiology and pathophysiology of splanchnic hypoperfusion and intestinal injury during exercise: Strategies for evaluation and prevention. American Journal of Physiology: Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, 303(2), G155–G168. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpgi.00066.2012

RESOURCES MENTIONED

START YOUR HOT RACE WITH A FULL FUEL TANK

If you have a hot race coming up in the next 12 months, the fuel tank you take to the start line is your buffer. My Carb Loading Masterclass shows you exactly how much carbohydrate to eat, when to eat it and what to eat, so you can carb load properly without feeling heavy and bloated. Get the Carb Loading Masterclass

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Oct 22, 2026 18 min

How Masters Triathletes Can Stay Fast After 50 with Joe Friel - RECAST

Episode 264

Show notes

Are you still training like you did in your 20s, going hard every session and wondering why recovery takes so much longer than it used to?

This is one of the most listened-to episodes of the Triathlon Nutrition Academy podcast, back by popular demand. I sat down with coach Joe Friel, co-founder of TrainingPeaks and author of Fast After 50, to talk about how masters triathletes can stay fit, fast and injury-free in their 40s, 50s and beyond. Joe covers the training side and my Ep 178 on key nutrients for masters triathletes covers the nutrition side, so listen to them as a pair.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

• What actually changes in your body as you age, and the one marker that holds up surprisingly well
• Why rest and recovery become your biggest performance lever after 40
• The 5:2 training week Joe uses with masters athletes (plus the nine-day alternative)
• Where strength and mobility fit into a busy training week, and the session you should never lift weights before
• How to use heart rate variability to decide when to train hard

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Introduction

02:00 Training as a masters triathlete

04:09 How your physiology changes after 40

09:18 Why rest and recovery matter more with age

11:21 The nine-day week vs the 5:2 training week

14:28 The tortoise, the hare and the lactate myth

19:27 Mobility and strength training for masters athletes

28:57 Why you should never lift weights before a run

30:48 Recovery weeks, testing and the off-season

35:11 Using HRV and wearables to guide training

39:00 Daily habits for longevity in the sport

42:24 Joe’s number one piece of advice

ABOUT JOE FRIEL

Joe Friel has coached endurance athletes for more than four decades. He is a co-founder of TrainingPeaks and the author of Fast After 50, a go-to resource for athletes who want to keep performing as they age. Connect with Joe

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• Fast After 50 by Joe Friel
• HRV4Training app
• Ep 178: Key Nutrients for Masters Triathletes
• Ep 179: the original release of this episode

READY TO STOP GUESSING WITH YOUR NUTRITION?

The Triathlete Fuel Kit brings together my Triathlon Nutrition Kickstart course, the Triathlete’s Kitchen recipe database and the Fuel Your Adventure recipe book, so you can get your everyday fuelling working for you, not against you. Get the Triathlete Fuel Kit

SUPPORT THE PODCAST HERE

CONNECT WITH TARYN

• Episode 235 with Julia
• Episode 237 on why DIY nutrition is not working
• Episode 259 with Kelly and the TNA crew at the 70.3 World Championship in Nice
• Episode 261 with Steve, Curt and Jade

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Oct 15, 2026 48 min

Three Questions Holding Triathletes Back From Dialling In Their Nutrition

Episode 263

Show notes

Why is your triathlon nutrition strategy still not working when you already know what to do?

I asked the triathletes who just finished my Triathlon Fuel Camp what they had spent money on to improve their performance. 70% had paid for a bike fit, 66% had a coach and 50% had bought a power meter and faster wheels. Only 20% had ever invested in a dietitian or nutritionist, and 57% told me they were winging their nutrition. These are smart, driven athletes with more information at their fingertips than any triathlete in history. So why is it still not working?

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL LEARN:

• Why more information is not what is missing from your nutrition
• What a strategy specific to you is actually built on (and why generic advice never holds for long)
• The 3 ways triathletes try to build a nutrition strategy, and the only one that lasts your whole racing life
• The 3 questions that keep triathletes on the precipice of dialling in their nutrition for years
• How Kelly, Steve and Julia from the Triathlon Nutrition Academy finally got off the fence

TIMESTAMPS

02:02 Why your triathlon nutrition strategy isn't working
10:15 3 questions holding triathletes back

EPISODES MENTIONED

READY FOR A STRATEGY THAT IS SPECIFIC TO YOU?

The Triathlon Nutrition Academy is my 9-month program where I teach you how to fuel your own training and racing, step by step, with an Advanced Sports Dietitian checking your work along the way. Find out more about the Triathlon Nutrition Academy here.

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Oct 8, 2026 19 min

The Triathlon Nutrition Academy in Under 10 Minutes

Episode 262

Show notes

If you have heard about the Triathlon Nutrition Academy and wondered what it actually is, this is your answer in under 10 minutes.

You already have a training system. You have a coach or a program, a week of sessions you love to turn green and the discipline to follow it. What most triathletes don't have is a nutrition system that is just as organised, and that is exactly what you walk out of TNA with. I take you through how my 9-month program works, the 4 things that change when your nutrition is dialled in and who it is genuinely for (and who it is not for).

WHAT YOU WILL TAKE AWAY

• How TNA is built so you actually put it into practice, rather than buying something and never using it
• Why being able to function like an adult after a long ride is one of my KPIs
• How Stephen went from nearly quitting triathlon over cramps to taking 64 minutes off his 70.3 time, and why magnesium was never the fix
• How the program fits into 1 to 2 hours a week, whatever your time zone and however full your life is
• What changes when you become the expert on you, from every gel to every supplement ad in your feed
• What Kelly Estes, 4 years in, says happens by the end
• Who TNA is for, from your very first season to your 30th, and who should not join right now

TIMESTAMPS

03:00 What changes when your nutrition is dialled in

07:16 Is this triathlon nutrition program right for you

ATHLETE STORIES MENTIONED

• Stephen Duquette and the TNA athletes who raced the 70.3 World Championship in Nice: Episode 259
• Jade, Curt and Steve, 9 months after joining TNA: Episode 261

If you want to see everything that is included, head to https://www.dietitianapproved.com/academy. When doors are open you can join the next cohort there, and when they are closed you can add your name to the waitlist so you are the first to know when they open again.

SUPPORT THE PODCAST HERE

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Oct 6, 2026 9 min

He Ate 1,000 More Calories a Day and Lost 8kg: What 9 Months of Triathlon Nutrition Actually Changes

Episode 261

Show notes

What happens when you eat 1,000 more calories a day? For Curt, a 54 year old triathlete from Texas, it meant losing 8kg, ditching the daily nap and finally making it through a training day without bonking. That is not a typo, and it is not a fluke.

Nine months ago, three brand new Triathlon Nutrition Academy athletes came on the show a few weeks into the program to share what it is really like on the inside. Now Curt, Jade and Steve have finished all three phases and they are back. Three different athletes, three different decades of life and three very different starting points: a 39 year old mum of three from WA in her second Ironman build, a scientist from Texas who watched from the sidelines for 4 years while his mate got faster and a 71 year old from San Diego with more than 300 races behind him and no formal nutrition education until now.

WHAT YOU WILL TAKE AWAY

• Why Curt lost 8kg while going from around 2,000 to closer to 3,000 calories a day, and why underfuelling was the thing keeping the body fat on
• The one change that eliminated Curt's post-workout naps and gave him back at least an hour a day
• How Jade went from years of fasted sessions to fuelling every session, and what changed when she hit 90g of carbs an hour on the bike
• Why Steve calls nutrition free speed after 30 years of hand waving it, and how a race week plan changed 5 national championship races in 3 days
• What separating fluid from fuel does to a race day plan
• The benefits nobody expected outside triathlon, from a happier marriage to more beach days and a kid who packs his mum's long run fuel
• What all three would say to the version of themselves sitting on the fence 9 months ago

Nutrition is not something you fix in a week, and it is not something you fix for life by collecting free nuggets from AI, YouTube or podcasts. It is something you learn, practise and make your own. That is exactly what the Triathlon Nutrition Academy is built for: 9 months learning how to fuel your body for your own training, with me and a group of legends like Curt, Jade and Steve beside you.

Doors to the Triathlon Nutrition Academy are open right now. Join the October cohort here before doors close on Saturday 10 October.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Introduction: Curt, Jade and Steve 9 months on

01:45 One word for their nutrition now versus then

03:20 Curt: no more bonking, no more naps, 8kg down while eating more

08:40 Jade: fitting TNA around 3 kids, work and an Ironman build

10:50 Jade: from fasted training to every session fuelled

12:20 Steve: the biggest mistake of a 30 year career and why nutrition is free speed

14:30 Steve: 5 national championship races in 3 days with a plan

16:10 Curt: race day now, and separating fluid from fuel

17:55 Jade: the Busselton build, 90g of carbs an hour and the scribbled paper plan

22:30 A year of listening to the podcast versus a year inside the program

24:30 What changed the most in how they fuel and race

27:05 What changed outside triathlon: smoothie bags, a happier wife and more beach days

30:40 Steve on strength training and getting bigger at 71

31:30 What they learnt about themselves that they did not expect

36:20 What they would tell themselves 9 months ago, and was it worth the investment

41:20 What is next: Busselton, Edmonton and a possible full distance

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Oct 1, 2026 47 min

How to Gain Muscle While Losing Body Fat

Episode 260

Show notes

Can you gain muscle while losing body fat at the same time, or is body recomposition just a clickbait headline?

For years the advice has been that you have to pick one. Eat in a calorie deficit and lose body fat, or eat in a calorie surplus and build muscle. A brand new study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology in April 2026 says the picture is more interesting than that, and it is already being butchered all over social media. I break the whole paper down for you. What the researchers did, what they actually measured, and the bits the headlines have quietly skipped over. Then I do the part that matters most, which is translating a study done on young resistance trained lifters into what it means for someone swimming, biking and running six days a week.

IN THIS EPISODE

- What body recomposition actually is, and why it is not the same thing as losing weight

- What the 2026 study did, and what happened to all three groups over 10 weeks

- Why an increase in fat-free mass does not automatically mean a kilo of new muscle

- The training detail that did just as much work as the nutrition did

- Whether you really need 2.5 grams of protein per kilo of body weight a day

- Why the size of the calorie deficit matters far more than most triathletes think

- Where this study stops transferring the moment you apply it to endurance training

- Who is well placed to recomp right now, and who is better off picking one goal

- The 4 things I would start with if body recomposition is your goal

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Can you build muscle and lose fat at the same time
02:01 What body recomposition actually means
04:03 Inside the 2026 study
05:26 The results after 10 weeks
07:05 Why fat-free mass is not the same as muscle
08:43 The training that made it work
10:51 The big protein question
13:19 Why the deficit was only 250 calories
14:29 Where triathletes need a different approach
15:40 Who body recomposition actually suits
18:26 The 4 things I would focus on
21:07 The big takeaway

STUDIES MENTIONED

- Vargas-Molina, S., Garcia-Palumbo, A., Garcia-Sillero, M., Bonilla, D. A., Petro, J. L., Aragon, A. A., Schoenfeld, B. J., & Benitez-Porres, J. (2026). Comparison of two nutritional protocols in body re-composition of resistance-trained participants. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 126, 4019-4030. [doi.org/10.1007/s00421-026-06209-6](https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-026-06209-6)

- Iraki, J., Fitschen, P., Espinar, S., & Helms, E. (2019). Nutrition recommendations for bodybuilders in the off-season: A narrative review. Sports, 7(7), 154. [doi.org/10.3390/sports7070154](https://doi.org/10.3390/sports7070154)

If body recomposition is one of your goals, this is a very good time to stop winging it and build a strategy around your training instead. The Triathlon Nutrition Academy is where I teach you how to work out your own numbers, against your own training program, in your own body, and then I am there every week while you actually do it. Doors only open a few times a year, so get your name on the list for the next cohort at [dietitianapproved.com/academy](https://www.dietitianapproved.com/academy).

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Sep 24, 2026 25 min

How 5 Masters Triathletes Fuelled the Hilliest 70.3 in the World

Episode 259

Show notes

What does it take to fuel the hilliest 70.3 in the world?

Six Triathlon Nutrition Academy athletes lined up at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Nice, France on 12 and 13 September 2026. A 1.9km swim in the Mediterranean, 90km on the bike with around 1190m of climbing, a long grind up the Col de Vence, an 11km technical descent with both hands on the brakes, then a flat half marathon in the baking French sun along the Promenade des Anglais.

One day after the race, five of them sat down with me to talk through what they did, what they would change and what they would tell you if Nice is on your bucket list. Most of them are masters athletes racing in the 60 to 69 age groups. Not one of them raced on the same nutrition plan.

Joining me are Kathleen Gilton, Kelly Estes, Stephen Duquette, Stanford Skelton and Daniel Walker.

WHAT YOU WILL TAKE AWAY

• Why the athlete who was most afraid of the bike had the best ride of her life
• How bike choice and gearing change what you can carry, and when you can actually drink it
• How to ride light on a long climb without under-fuelling the back half of your race
• What it takes to run a hot half marathon with no cramping, four years after cramping nearly ended a triathlon career
• The race week mistake that cost a well-prepared athlete 20 minutes on the run, and it had nothing to do with training
• Why six athletes on the same course, in the same heat, all fuelled differently and all got it right

TIMESTAMPS

01:46 Meet the athletes who raced Nice
02:47 Kathleen on the bike leg she feared most
08:53 Road bike or TT bike, and gearing
11:36 Losing 8kg without losing bike power
15:24 Riding light on the climb without under-fuelling
17:53 A hot run and the cramps that never came
23:02 When race day does not go to plan
31:54 Saturday women, Sunday men: the split day
40:05 What each athlete is most proud of
49:40 Would they have got there without nutrition

If you want to be the athlete who gets off a plane in a foreign country and knows exactly what they are doing, come and join us inside the Triathlon Nutrition Academy.

See https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sep 17, 2026 1 hr 1 min

The Next 4 Things I'd Fix If You Were My Athlete

Episode 258

Show notes

Most triathletes are working their nutrition list backwards. They start at number eight and skip one through seven entirely.

In Episode 229 I walked you through the first four things I fix with every triathlete I work with. The big rocks. This is Part 2, and it picks up at number five. If you have not heard 229 yet, go and listen to that one first, because these next four do not work without the foundations underneath them.

Number five is your hydration and electrolytes, which most athletes think they have sorted and almost never do. Number six is the three micronutrients that quietly put a ceiling on everything else. Number seven is your race nutrition strategy, which is a lot more than deciding which gel you are taking. And number eight is the fun stuff, the sprinkles on the icing on your cake, which is exactly where nearly everybody wants to start.

WHAT YOU WILL TAKE AWAY

• Why one standalone sweat test is not a number you can set and forget for life
• The three micronutrients that determine whether you can train and race well, and why supplementing blindly is the wrong first move
• What a race nutrition strategy actually involves, and why practising your fuel is not the same as practising it at race intensity
• The full roll call of supplements and gadgets triathletes ask me about, and where they genuinely belong in the order
• Why your recovery nutrition does not finish when you cross the finish line
• The order I would work through all eight in, so you get the best bang for your buck

TIMESTAMPS:

01:26 Hydration, sodium and sweat testing for triathletes
04:57 Iron, calcium and vitamin D for endurance athletes
08:59 Race nutrition strategy and recovery after racing
13:36 Performance supplements and what actually works
18:52 How to fix your triathlon nutrition in order

WANT ALL EIGHT BUILT OUT PROPERLY, IN THE RIGHT ORDER, FOR YOU?

That is exactly what the Triathlon Nutrition Academy is. It is not a meal plan and it is not one size fits all. It is me teaching you how to build your own nutrition strategy around your training, your race schedule and your actual life, so you walk out knowing how to do this for yourself for the rest of your racing life. We open the doors a few times a year. Get your name on the list at https://www.dietitianapproved.com/academy so you know the moment they open.

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Sep 10, 2026 22 min

How to Fuel an Ironman When You've Only Ever Raced 70.3

Episode 257

Show notes

You can get away with a fuelling gap over five hours. You cannot get away with it over 13.

Stepping up from 70.3 to Ironman is the exact moment most triathletes work out that their fuelling needs attention. Julie Whitton is 13 weeks out from Ironman Western Australia, her first full distance race after a decade of racing halves. She is a paramedic with New South Wales Ambulance, she has been a shift worker for 21 years, and she trains off a nine day roster that changes constantly. In this episode she takes Taryn through exactly what she has had to upgrade to get to that start line, and where the gaps showed up once the hours went up.

This is not a first Ironman story. This is the step up story, for the triathlete who already races 70.3 well and assumes that skill carries over.

IN THIS EPISODE

• What changes in your bike and run fuelling numbers when a race goes from five hours to 13 hours
• Why a small hourly shortfall you got away with at 70.3 compounds into a walk at full distance
• The shift from liquid fuel to solid food on long rides, and the trap of swapping over too fast
• How to gut train on gels without hitting flavour fatigue weeks before race day
• What Julie was doing at 70.3 that stopped working the moment the volume climbed
• Why she moved her recovery from 90 percent to 100 percent, and what that changed in her week
• Fuelling your body for what you want it to do rather than for how you want it to look

TIMESTAMPS

04:37 Training for Ironman around shift work
07:12 Bike fuelling from 70 to 80 grams
13:25 Run fuelling and flavour fatigue
17:35 What stopped working at full distance
23:35 Fuelling for performance not appearance

ABOUT JULIE WHITTON

Julie (Jules) Whitton is an age group triathlete and a paramedic with New South Wales Ambulance, where she has worked shift work for 21 years. She has been a Triathlon Nutrition Academy athlete since January 2023 and is now part of the Supercharged Squad. After a decade racing 70.3, she is stepping up to full distance at Ironman Western Australia on 6 December 2026. Julie was last on the show in Episode 119, Juggling Shift Work and Triathlon.

If you have a couple of halves behind you and a full quietly sitting on your list, the athletes who come unstuck are almost always the ones trying to learn how to fuel and how to train for 226 kilometres at the same time. Do one of those things first. Get your name on the list for our next cohort of the Triathlon Nutrition Academy at [dietitianapproved.com/academy](https://www.dietitianapproved.com/academy) and you will be the first to know when we open doors.

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Sep 3, 2026 32 min

Maurten vs Precision vs SIS Beta Fuel: A Triathlon Dietitian's Verdict

Episode 256

Show notes

Are you paying up to $5.20 a gel because that is what they hand out on course?

Maurten, Precision Fuel and Hydration and SIS Beta Fuel are the three gels I get asked about more than any others. So I put them side by side and worked out what is actually in the packet, what each one costs you per 100 grams of carbohydrate, and whether that price gap buys you anything at all. No brand has paid me a cent to talk about them. I am Switzerland when it comes to sports nutrition products.

One of these gels costs roughly two thirds more than another for the exact same gram of carbohydrate. Whether that is money well spent comes down to three things most triathletes have never been taught to look for.

WHAT YOU WILL TAKE AWAY

• What is actually inside each gel: carbohydrate, sodium, calories, caffeine and the main ingredients
• What it costs to fuel at 90 grams of carbohydrate an hour on each brand, in both Aussie and US dollars
• What the glucose to fructose ratio means in plain English, and the carbohydrate rate you need to be hitting before it matters to you
• Whether the hydrogel does what the marketing implies it does
• Which gel makes sense for Sprint, Olympic, 70.3 and full distance racing
• How to read a sports nutrition label so you are not at the mercy of whoever has the biggest marketing budget

STUDIES MENTIONED

• Currell, K., & Jeukendrup, A. E. (2008). Superior endurance performance with ingestion of multiple transportable carbohydrates. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 40(2), 275 to 281. [https://doi.org/10.1249/mss.0b013e31815adf19](https://doi.org/10.1249/mss.0b013e31815adf19)
• O’Brien, W. J., & Rowlands, D. S. (2011). Fructose-maltodextrin ratio in a carbohydrate-electrolyte solution differentially affects exogenous carbohydrate oxidation rate, gut comfort, and performance. American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, 300(1), G181 to G189. [https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpgi.00419.2010](https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpgi.00419.2010)

ALSO MENTIONED

• Episode 47: What is a Hydrogel? Does it improve endurance performance, with Andy King. [Listen here](https://www.dietitianapproved.com/podcast/episode-47)

The exact gel you use is the last 5% of your race nutrition strategy. If you want the other 95%, the Triathlon Nutrition Academy is my nine month education program that teaches you how to fuel your training week, train your gut and build a race plan that is uniquely yours. Doors open again soon, so register your interest at [dietitianapproved.com/academy](https://www.dietitianapproved.com/academy).

SUPPORT THE PODCAST (https://www.dietitianapproved.com/legend)

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Aug 27, 2026 18 min

Over 45 and Losing Power? Your Protein Isn't Working Like It Used To

Episode 255

Show notes

Everywhere you look, someone is telling you to eat more protein. If you are over 45 and your power is going backwards, more protein is not the fix you have been promised. Back in January the US dietary guidelines roughly doubled their protein recommendation, and that was overdue. But guidelines written for a sedentary population are a very different thing to guidelines for an athlete training 10 to 15 hours a week. Something real does change in your muscles as you get older, and the research on masters triathletes makes for uncomfortable reading. What it does not show is that eating more protein fixes it. In this episode I take you through what is actually happening in ageing muscle, what happened when researchers doubled the protein after a muscle damaging session, and the 5 protein levers to pull instead of just reaching for more.

WHAT YOU WILL TAKE AWAY

• What anabolic resistance is in plain English, and why the rules changed at about 35 without anybody sending you the memo

• Inside the Australian study that compared masters triathletes with younger ones, and what happened to their muscle repair and their cycling time trials

• What doubling the post exercise protein dose actually bought masters triathletes, and what it did not • Why your total protein intake stops paying you back once you are in a reasonable range

• The 5 protein levers, and why most triathletes only ever pull number 5

• Why your breakfast is almost certainly the weak link in your day

• Why the same mistake is happening right now with carbohydrate

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Everywhere you look, eat more protein

00:27 Over 45 and your power is going backwards

00:55 The number is the easy part, eating it is not

01:22 Welcome

01:43 What actually changes in your body as you get older

02:10 Anabolic resistance, in plain English

02:41 Inside the study: masters versus younger triathletes

03:40 What happened over the 3 days

04:04 It is not your fault, the rules changed at 35

04:43 So should you just eat more protein?

05:08 The follow up study: double the dose

05:57 What doubling the protein actually bought them

06:43 Why simply more is not the fix

07:17 The bit that is genuinely hard for an age-grouper

08:01 What happens in the real world, week by week

09:14 The internet gives you a number and walks away

09:51 The barbecue study, Episode 141

10:14 You are a human, not a snake

10:51 Masters swimmers: the total was fine, the pattern wasn't

11:28 The 5 protein levers

12:17 Eating more is not a strategy

12:48 The recap

13:22 What to actually do about it

ALSO MENTIONED

• Episode 179 with Joe Friel on how masters athletes can get fast and stay fit after 50: https://www.dietitianapproved.com/podcast/episode-179

• Episode 141, affectionately dubbed the barbecue study, on large protein doses in one sitting: https://www.dietitianapproved.com/podcast/episode-141)

STUDIES MENTIONED

• Doering, T. M., Jenkins, D. G., Reaburn, P. R., Borges, N. R., Hohmann, E., & Phillips, S. M. (2016). Lower integrated muscle protein synthesis in masters compared with younger athletes. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 48(8), 1613-1618. [https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000000935](https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000000935)

• Doering, T. M., Reaburn, P. R., Borges, N. R., Cox, G. R., & Jenkins, D. G. (2017). The effect of higher than recommended protein feedings post-exercise on recovery following downhill running in masters triathletes. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 27(1), 76-82. [https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsnem.2016-0079](https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsnem.2016-0079)

• Santos de Souza, M., Zaleski Trindade, C. D., de Souza Castro, F. A., Buss, C., & Schneider, C. D. (2025). Protein intake by master swimmers: Implications for practice in sports nutrition, a cross-sectional study. Nutrition and Health, 31(3), 1095-1101. [https://doi.org/10.1177/02601060241276918](https://doi.org/10.1177/02601060241276918)

READY TO STOP GUESSING?

Knowing what to eat and when, around your own training program, is the whole game as you get older. That is exactly what I teach inside the Triathlon Nutrition Academy, and then troubleshoot with you every week in our Power Hour calls, so you are still doing it in 12 months time.

Register your interest for our next cohort at https://www.dietitianapproved.com/academy.

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Aug 20, 2026 15 min

Are you Overtraining or Under-Fuelling?

Episode 254

Show notes

Your legs are heavy, your easy sessions feel hard, and you are not improving despite training consistently. If you immediately thought overtraining, you are right. That is also the exact symptom list for under-fuelling.

Researchers went looking for every training overload study that also measured what athletes were eating. 21 studies made the cut, and in 18 of them, 86%, the athletes were under-fuelled. So the majority of athletes diagnosed as overtrained in the research were in fact not eating enough. Which raises a fairly uncomfortable question about that extra session you are thinking of adding to your training schedule right now.

In this episode, I show you how to tell whether you are overtrained or under-fuelled, why adding volume to an under-fuelled athlete makes everything worse, and the 3 signals plus 3 fixes to run through before you touch your training program.

WHAT YOU WILL TAKE AWAY

• Why overtraining and under-fuelling start in exactly the same place in your brain, and why that changes the fix
• What energy availability actually is, and why it is not the same thing as calories in versus calories out
• The maths run on a 75 kg age-grouper training 12 hours a week, and what his number actually comes out at
• Why overtraining is a diagnosis of exclusion, and what the professionals rule out first
• The 3 signals that tell you under-fuelling is on the table at all
• The 3 things to fix today, before you add another hour of training

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 The symptom list you are about to recognise
00:54 The number that should stop you adding a session
01:57 Same origin, same dials, different fix
02:20 You do not get fitter during your sessions
03:37 Inside the research: 18 out of 21 studies
04:17 Why overtraining is a diagnosis of exclusion
05:26 Energy availability, in plain English
07:15 Running the numbers on a 75 kg male age-grouper
09:35 The same maths for a female athlete
10:31 Why your own numbers will be different
11:37 What happens when training goes up and food does not
13:05 But I just need to train more, right?
14:55 Signal 1: your appetite has gone the wrong way
16:05 The feather, the brick and the truck
16:30 Signal 2: the scales are not behaving
17:36 Signal 3: easy is fine, your top end has gone
18:31 The fourth sign: illness and niggles that outstay their welcome
19:35 Fix 1: what you do during training
20:31 Fix 2: recovery nutrition and the 4 Rs
21:19 Fix 3: does your food move when your training moves
22:08 An important note if this episode touched a nerve
23:01 The recap
24:21 Run the sums before you add the session

STUDIES MENTIONED

• Meeusen, R., Duclos, M., Foster, C., Fry, A., Gleeson, M., Nieman, D., Raglin, J., Rietjens, G., Steinacker, J., & Urhausen, A. (2013). Prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the overtraining syndrome: Joint consensus statement of the European College of Sport Science and the American College of Sports Medicine. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 45(1), 186-205. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0b013e318279a10a
• Melin, A. K., Areta, J. L., Heikura, I. A., Stellingwerff, T., Torstveit, M. K., & Hackney, A. C. (2024). Direct and indirect impact of low energy availability on sports performance. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 34(1), e14327. https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.14327
• Stellingwerff, T., Heikura, I. A., Meeusen, R., Bermon, S., Seiler, S., Mountjoy, M. L., & Burke, L. M. (2021). Overtraining syndrome (OTS) and relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S): Shared pathways, symptoms and complexities. Sports Medicine, 51(11), 2251-2280. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-021-01491-0

READY TO STOP GUESSING?

Your day to day nutrition is the single most valuable thing I help my athletes with inside the Triathlon Nutrition Academy. I teach you how to fuel for training, racing and life, so you are not asking the internet random questions at 9pm every time your program changes or you see something shiny. Get your name on the list for our next cohort at https://www.dietitianapproved.com/academy

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Aug 13, 2026 26 min

Is Carb Loading a Myth?

Episode 253

Show notes

Is carb loading a myth? A paper published in June has social media convinced that it is.

A comment landed on my socials this week saying exactly that. It didn't appear out of nowhere. There is a new paper doing the rounds, the headlines have picked it up and sprinted into some pretty heavy clickbait territory, and they have taken it somewhere I don't think the authors ever wanted it to go. So I'm going to tell you exactly what that paper says, what it doesn't say and how to apply it to you as an age group triathlete.

I'll walk you through the 14 studies this whole argument rests on, why only 2 of them were double blinded and the detail in the research design that changes how you should read every one of those headlines. Then I'll show you brand new data on 27 real women racing at the 2024 World Champs, which I think is the far more important number for you.

IN THIS EPISODE:

• What the June 2026 commentary actually did, and why it is not the carb loading study everyone thinks it is
• How 10,422 papers were screened down to just 14
• Why most of that research doesn't reflect how you actually race
• What happened to muscle glycogen when athletes ate enough carbohydrate
• Why I never wrote Matt Hauser a carb loading plan, and what that tells you about yours
• The World Champs food diary data on what female age groupers really ate the day before their biggest race
• The second problem with this research that nobody is talking about yet
• What I want you to do differently before your next race

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 The comment that kicked this off
00:27 The paper behind the headlines, and what it actually is
02:58 From 10,422 papers down to 14
03:29 Why only two of them were double blinded
04:17 Riding with no fuel on board, and some of them fasted
05:42 The two studies the myth claim rests on
06:23 What actually happened to muscle glycogen
08:02 The one that was really a creatine study
09:33 Why I'm not calling this case closed
10:15 World Champs: only 26% hit their carb loading numbers
12:25 Train like a professional, eat like a beginner
12:48 Why Matt Hauser never needed a carb loading plan
14:34 There is a ceiling, but that doesn't mean your tank is full
15:40 The second problem nobody is talking about
16:26 Risk versus reward
17:54 What I want you to do before your next race
18:42 So, is carb loading a myth?

STUDIES MENTIONED

- Areta, J. L., [LILY: confirm the full author list from the paper before publishing]. (2026). Beyond belief? Absence of double-blinding and limited ecological validity in carbohydrate loading research. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsnem.2026-0058

- Burke, L. M., Hawley, J. A., Schabort, E. J., St Clair Gibson, A., Mujika, I., & Noakes, T. D. (2000). Carbohydrate loading failed to improve 100-km cycling performance in a placebo-controlled trial. Journal of Applied Physiology, 88(4), 1284-1290. https://doi.org/10.1152/jappl.2000.88.4.1284

- Tomcik, K. A., Camera, D. M., Bone, J. L., Ross, M. L., Jeacocke, N. A., Tachtsis, B., Senden, J., van Loon, L. J. C., Hawley, J. A., & Burke, L. M. (2018). Effects of creatine and carbohydrate loading on cycling time trial performance. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 50(1), 141-150. [https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000001401

- Jones, R. O., Areta, J. L., Bennett, S., Pugh, J., & Louis, J. B. (2026). Dose-response of dietary carbohydrate intake on skeletal muscle glycogen, gastrointestinal comfort and body composition in endurance-trained individuals in simulated preparation for competition. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 36(6), e70312. https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.70312

- Fortis, H. O., Whitehead, A. E., Cronin, C. J., Johnson, K. O., Shepherd, S. O., Hackney, A. C., Close, G. L., & Strauss, J. A. (2026). From intention to execution: Pre-race nutrition behaviours, influences, and performance outcomes in female endurance athletes at the IRONMAN World Championships. European Journal of Sport Science, 26(7), e70193. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsc.70193

If you want carb loading laid out properly in a way that is easy to understand, with a planner and a calculator that does all of the hard maths for you, my Carb Loading Masterclass is at https://www.dietitianapproved.com/carb-loading.

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Aug 6, 2026 20 min

Why Eating Healthy Isn't Enough to Fuel a Triathlon with James Anderson

Episode 252

Show notes

You can eat really good food all day long and still have no idea how to fuel a triathlon.

Dr James Anderson is a dentist, a Triathlon Nutrition Academy athlete and one of the most organised humans you will ever meet. Smoothie bags prepped in the freezer. Snack bags packed for every work day. Quality food, every single day. He was still eating the wrong things at the wrong time for three sports, and he had no idea until he went looking for the gaps. In this episode James shares what changed between joining the Academy and crossing the line at his first 70.3 in New Mexico, including the quadrathlon that scared him into taking the detail seriously, what carb loading and sodium loading did for his cramping and headaches, and the moment on the run where his fuel stopped working and he had to think his way to the finish line.

WHAT YOU WILL TAKE AWAY

• Why eating healthy and fuelling for triathlon are two completely different skills
• What being super organised with food still misses when you are training for three sports
• How conflicting advice online leaves smart, capable athletes stuck in paralysis by analysis
• What carb loading and sodium loading did for a big athlete racing at altitude
• How to troubleshoot on course when your race nutrition stops working, instead of taking a DNF
• Why James is leaving his bike computer and Strava behind next time

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Eating well and fuelling for triathlon are not the same thing

00:33 Meet Dr James Anderson, dentist and TNA athlete

01:47 The bike shop moment and a very optimistic swim time

05:26 Fitting three sports around a full time job and a business

06:40 The Apple Blossom story

09:04 Organised, disciplined and eating the wrong things at the wrong time

10:40 Why a smart, capable guy could not work it out on his own

12:51 The Mount Taylor quadrathlon reality check

16:27 How the nutrition actually went at his first 70.3

19:16 Open water panic and the note in the swim cap

25:00 What he would do differently next time

29:18 The Power Hour crew and what is next

31:10 Nobody is born knowing this

GUEST

Dr James Anderson is a dentist based in New Mexico, USA, a Clydesdale age grouper and a Triathlon Nutrition Academy athlete who has just finished phase three of the program. He fell for the sport after seeing his first triathlon bike in a bike shop, raced sprint distance for three years and Olympic distance for two, and recently completed his first 70.3, the longest event he has ever raced. He is not on social media, so the best place to find him is in the TNA Power Hour.

WANT THIS FOR YOURSELF

Nobody is born knowing how to fuel three sports and you will not learn it at school or at uni. Get your name on the list for the next cohort of the Triathlon Nutrition Academy.

Download the FREE audio seriesThe 5 Biggest Nutrition Mistakes Costing You Time on Race Day

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Jul 30, 2026 33 min

How Do You Carb Load for a Triathlon Without Feeling Bloated and Heavy?

Episode 251

Show notes

Want to build your own carb loading plan? Grab my complete Carb Loading Masterclass here: https://www.dietitianapproved.com/carb-loading

A giant bowl of pasta the night before your race is not carbohydrate loading. Not even close.

In two decades of working with age group triathletes, Taryn has never met one who carb loads properly. This episode fixes that once and for all. It breaks down the science of carbohydrate loading, why it is genuinely free speed out on the course, and the handful of mistakes that leave you feeling bloated, heavy and fading in the back half of your race.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

• What carbohydrate loading actually is, and why it is not the same as demolishing a pasta dinner
• Why carb loading delays fatigue rather than making you faster, and how it is worth 1 to 3% performance out on course
• The five common mistakes that leave you bloated and heavy (you are almost certainly doing at least one)
• Why the number on the scales going up is a sign you have done it right, not a reason to panic
• Whether women really do carb load worse than men, and what the research actually says

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 The pasta party myth

01:44 Why no triathlete carb loads properly

03:38 What carbohydrate loading actually is (glycogen, the fuel tank and supercompensation)

06:07 Free speed: why it delays fatigue instead of making you faster

07:21 The evidence: 90 minutes and a 1 to 3% gain

08:44 The five mistakes that leave you bloated and heavy

14:20 Do women carb load worse than men?

18:23 How to build your own carb loading plan

22:37 The five big takeaways

STUDIES MENTIONED

- McLay, R. T., Thomson, C. D., Williams, S. M., & Rehrer, N. J. (2007). Carbohydrate loading and female endurance athletes: Effect of menstrual-cycle phase. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 17(2), 189-205. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsnem.17.2.189

- Tarnopolsky, M. A., Zawada, C., Richmond, L. B., Carter, S., Shearer, J., Graham, T., & Phillips, S. M. (2001). Gender differences in carbohydrate loading are related to energy intake. Journal of Applied Physiology, 91(1), 225-230. https://doi.org/10.1152/jappl.2001.91.1.225

- James, A. P., Lorraine, M., Cullen, D., Goodman, C., Dawson, B., Palmer, T. N., & Fournier, P. A. (2001). Muscle glycogen supercompensation: Absence of a gender-related difference. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 85(6), 533-538. https://doi.org/10.1007/s004210100499

- Wismann, J., & Willoughby, D. (2006). Gender differences in carbohydrate metabolism and carbohydrate loading. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 3(1), 28-34. https://doi.org/10.1186/1550-2783-3-1-28

BUILD YOUR OWN CARB LOADING PLAN

You cannot copy a carb loading plan from your training buddy, your coach or the internet, because it is so individual. So Taryn has taken everything she teaches inside the Triathlon Nutrition Academy and put it into a complete carb loading masterclass, open to the public. Three video lessons, just over an hour, plus the exact tool she uses with her athletes to calculate your specific numbers and build your plan. Grab it here: https://www.dietitianapproved.com/carb-loading

Download the FREE audio seriesThe 5 Biggest Nutrition Mistakes Costing You Time on Race Day

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Jul 23, 2026 17 min

If Challenge Roth Is On Your Bucket List, Listen to This First

Episode 250

Show notes

Thinking about putting Challenge Roth on your bucket list? Three TNA athletes just raced it, and they are telling you exactly what to get right before you sign up.

Three TNA athletes share what it really takes to race Challenge Roth, from importing race nutrition into Australia to riding through Solar Hill. Real lessons on fuelling, logistics and pacing for anyone with this iconic full distance race on the bucket list.

Jo, Lisa and Leanne are all TNA athletes, all from Queensland, and they have just ticked one of triathlon's biggest bucket list events off the list: Challenge Roth in Bavaria, Germany. In this episode they share what training for and racing this iconic full distance event was really like, from importing race nutrition into Australia to talking themselves through a mid-race gut issue on the run.

In this episode you will learn:

• Why Australians book Challenge Roth through a travel company, and how fast the race actually sells out
• What to pack, and import, when the on-course sports nutrition brand is not sold at home
• How to handle a mid-race gut issue without abandoning your fuelling plan
• Why nailing your everyday training nutrition is what actually gets you to the start line healthy
• Why hiring a bike for race day can cost you more than it saves
• What Solar Hill is really like, and why it might make you cry

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Cold open: why you should never hire a race bike

00:41 Meet Jo, Lisa and Leanne, fresh from racing Challenge Roth

01:04 What Challenge Roth actually is, and why Solar Hill is legendary

02:06 Did the race live up to the hype

02:36 Leanne on her 19th full distance race, and feeling her best yet

03:10 Jo's emotional swim start and watching Lucy Charles-Barclay

04:33 5am beers and the Bavarian party atmosphere

05:02 Lisa on finally racing the event she watched her husband race in 2018

05:27 Getting a start line spot, and why you need a travel company

07:02 Packing and importing race nutrition from Australia to Germany

08:42 Smuggling Tim Tams, Vegemite and a confiscated jar through customs

09:19 Travelling with family, bike bags and European train stairs

10:38 Arriving early to acclimatise to the European heatwave

13:00 What they would have changed about their preparation

14:03 Testing a new tri suit at the swim practice, not on race day

14:37 Did race day nutrition go to plan

15:11 Lisa's mid-race stomach upset, and how dry pretzels fixed it

16:55 Jo losing her appetite in the carb-loading days before the race

17:50 Race morning timing, and eating on an 8:15am wave start

20:17 Jo's decision to build her own race after a stress fracture

24:10 Solar Hill: riding through a wall of 300,000 people

26:40 What they would change if they raced it again tomorrow

32:31 Their best advice if Roth is on your bucket list

33:37 How long it actually took to prepare

34:24 Why nailing everyday training nutrition kept them consistent

35:43 Practising on gravel, and an 18 month lead-in block

37:06 Confidence in your coach, and the surprises on race day

39:42 What's next: Norseman, a sub four hour marathon and a Roth return

45:10 Final thoughts and a well-earned rest

Jo Hurley, Lisa McDonald and Leanne Coghill are all Triathlon Nutrition Academy athletes and all Queenslanders, who travelled to Bavaria this year to take on Challenge Roth between them.

If Challenge Roth, or your first full distance race, is on your radar, the Triathlon Nutrition Academy is where we help you build a fuelling plan you can trust on race day. Get on the waitlist here.

Download the FREE audio seriesThe 5 Biggest Nutrition Mistakes Costing You Time on Race Day

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Jul 16, 2026 46 min

Pros Are Fuelling at 200g of Carbs an Hour. Should You?

Episode 249

Show notes

Pros are fuelling at up to 200 grams of carbs an hour. Should you be chasing that number too?

High carb fuelling is the hottest topic in endurance sport right now, and the numbers keep climbing. INEOS Grenadiers are fuelling their riders at up to 150 grams of carbs an hour on big Touar de France stages, and pro triathlete Cameron Wurf recently said he took on 200 grams an hour on the bike in a recent Ironman (yes, 200, in one hour). Every age grouper watching that unfold is tempted to copy it. In this episode Taryn breaks down the real science behind high carb fuelling, why it works for the pros, and the one thing most age group triathletes skip completely before they try to chase that number themselves.

You'll learn:

• Why the pros are pushing carb intake so high, and what the official guidelines actually say
• The genuine recovery benefits of higher carb fuelling, backed by real research
• Why eating past your absorption ceiling can wreck your race instead of fuelling it
• Why your fuelling ceiling is nothing like the pro's ceiling, and why that's completely fine
• A real athlete example of building fuelling tolerance the right way, over time, not overnight

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Why high carb fuelling is exploding in endurance sport

01:24 Meet Taryn and what this episode covers

02:19 The science behind pro level carb intake

03:42 The recovery benefits backed by research

04:08 The catch: high dropout rates from gut issues

05:14 Why there is a ceiling on how much carb can help you

05:38 The cycling study that found more was not always better

06:34 Where unused carbs actually go

07:01 Why your absorption capacity is not the same as anyone else's

08:07 The trap of copying the pro's number

09:39 How the pros actually built their tolerance

10:51 Why gut training is not a DIY podcast protocol

11:54 What you can start doing today

13:34 Case study: Lynn's fuelling turnaround

15:11 The real takeaway: find your number, not theirs

REFERENCES

- King, A. J., O'Hara, J. P., Morrison, D. J., Preston, T., & King, R. F. G. J. (2018). Carbohydrate dose influences liver and muscle glycogen oxidation and performance during prolonged exercise. Physiological Reports, 6(1), e13555. https://doi.org/10.14814/phy2.13555 | PubMed

- Viribay, A., Arribalzaga, S., Mielgo-Ayuso, J., Castañeda-Babarro, A., Seco-Calvo, J., & Urdampilleta, A. (2020). Effects of 120 g/h of carbohydrates intake during a mountain marathon on exercise-induced muscle damage in elite runners. Nutrients, 12(5), 1367. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12051367 | PubMed

- Urdampilleta, A., Arribalzaga, S., Viribay, A., Castañeda-Babarro, A., Seco-Calvo, J., & Mielgo-Ayuso, J. (2020). Effects of 120 vs. 60 and 90 g/h carbohydrate intake during a trail marathon on neuromuscular function and high intensity run capacity recovery. Nutrients, 12(7), 2094. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12072094 | PubMed

- Hearris, M. A., Pugh, J. N., Langan-Evans, C., Mann, S. J., Burke, L., Stellingwerff, T., Gonzalez, J. T., & Morton, J. P. (2022). 13C-glucose-fructose labeling reveals comparable exogenous CHO oxidation during exercise when consuming 120 g/h in fluid, gel, jelly chew, or coingestion. Journal of Applied Physiology, 132(6), 1394–1406. https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.00091.2022 | Free full text

- Wilson, P. B. (2026). A narrative review of the high-carbohydrate fueling revolution (≥100 g/h) in the professional peloton. Sports Medicine, 56(2), 295-313. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-025-02372-6

Our final cohort of the Triathlon Nutrition Academy for the year is opening again soon. If dialling in your race fuelling and training your gut to handle it is something you need to work on, register your interest now.

Download the FREE audio seriesThe 5 Biggest Nutrition Mistakes Costing You Time on Race Day

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Jul 9, 2026 18 min

How to Swim Faster Off Just Three Sessions a Week

Episode 248

Show notes

Swimming more laps won't make you a faster triathlete. A three-time Olympian who used to swim 80 kilometres a week is here to tell you why.

Brian Johns is a three-time Olympian, former short-course 400-metre individual medley world record holder and now Head of Coaching Science at FORM. He's spent the back half of his career figuring out why some swimmers keep improving and others stay stuck in the same lane (sometimes literally), and in this episode he brings that to the time-poor triathlete who swims two or three times a week.

In this episode you'll learn:

• Why more kilometres in the pool almost never equals a faster triathlon swim
• The exact plan for getting faster off just three sessions a week, no coach required
• How to tell the difference between working hard and actually improving
• The recovery trick Brian used between a late session and an early morning swim
• Why open water fear is really about exposure rather than fitness, and the simple fix that builds confidence fast
• How to practise sighting in the pool long before race day
• A one-word cue to keep you calm and swimming smooth when the start line gets choppy

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Welcome to Brian Johns, Olympian, coach and FORM scientist

01:13 From 80km swim weeks to his best ever Olympic final

05:08 The injury that taught him to read his body's red flags

08:37 Why more metres doesn't mean a faster swim

13:03 The fuel check before you add more volume

15:21 How to teach technique without overloading a tired swimmer

19:30 What FORM Score reveals about real swimming efficiency

22:37 The one habit that separates improving swimmers from plateaued ones

27:10 Why open water rattles even confident swimmers

31:47 Learning to sight, the skill most triathletes skip

36:52 Surviving a rough, choppy race day swim

42:00 The three-sessions-a-week plan for the unsupported triathlete

48:18 Brian's go-to drill for every triathlete

50:43 Where to find Brian and FORM Goggles

ABOUT BRIAN JOHNS

Brian Johns is a Canadian three-time Olympian and former short-course 400-metre individual medley world record holder. He's the most decorated swimmer in Canadian university history, winning 33 of 34 races at the University of British Columbia and earning Canadian Interuniversity Sport Male Swimmer of the Year three times. After retiring from competition, Brian moved into coaching and now works as Head of Coaching Science at FORM, the smart swim goggles company, helping swimmers and triathletes train and race smarter with real-time data.

https://au.formswim.com/

You can train smarter in the pool, but if your fuelling isn't dialled in, you're leaving performance on the table too. That's exactly what we work through inside the Triathlon Nutrition Academy.

If you're ticking off the macro boxes every day without ever really being taught how to eat, the Triathlon Nutrition Kickstart course is built for exactly that. Learn how to fuel your training and recovery properly so you're never stuck when the plan changes. Head to https://www.dietitianapproved.com/kickstart

Download the FREE audio seriesThe 5 Biggest Nutrition Mistakes Costing You Time on Race Day

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Jul 2, 2026 50 min

Why Tracking Calories Is Making You Slower (Not Leaner)

Episode 247

Show notes

Is your calorie tracking app actually working against you?

You're logging everything, hitting your macros and training hard but your long sessions are falling apart, the scale won't budge and you're exhausted in a way that sleep just isn't fixing. The app says you're on track. So what's going wrong?

In this episode, Advanced Sports Dietitian Taryn Richardson breaks down why calorie and macro tracking apps - even the good ones built for active people - were never designed to teach a triathlete how to eat. The maths is educated guesswork, the protein targets are built backwards, and the app has no idea how to help you when your kid gets sick and your afternoon session gets cancelled.

In this episode you'll learn:

• Why calorie apps were built for the sedentary population and why that model falls over for a triathlete training 10 to 20 hours a week
• How inaccurate your wearable device actually is at measuring calorie burn (spoiler: up to 93% off)
• Why the standard percentage-based protein model cuts your protein at the exact moment you need it most
• The difference between hitting your macro numbers and actually knowing how to eat
• Why underfuelling sneaks in even when you're tracking perfectly - and how quickly it affects your training
• Two real athlete examples: one who was significantly underfueled despite doing everything the app said, and a vegan athlete whose app couldn't come close to meeting her needs

• What it actually looks like to fuel for the work required, adjust on the fly and never need the app to make a decision for you

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Introduction: the athlete who's doing everything right and still going backwards

02:42 Why calorie apps were built for weight loss, not endurance athletes

05:29 The fundamental problem: apps treat food as a budget, your body treats it as fuel

06:59 How inaccurate is your wearable at measuring calorie burn? Stanford research

09:01 The problem with estimating calories in — why we're all bad at it

11:22 Why percentage-based protein targets are built wrong for athletes

14:16 Hitting your macros is not the same as eating well

16:59 The knowledge gap: how to eat for a light day versus a heavy training day

18:28 When life throws a curveball - why the app can't help you adapt

20:18 How underfueling sneaks in (2023 REDS consensus statement)

21:39 What fueling for the work required actually means

22:39 Athlete example 1: training tanked despite doing exactly what the app said

24:44 Athlete example 2: vegan athlete whose app could never meet her needs

27:04 TLDR summary: macros versus nourishment, the knowledge gap, and what to do next

STUDIES MENTIONED

- Shcherbina A, et al. (2017). Accuracy in Wrist-Worn, Sensor-Based Measurements of Heart Rate and Energy Expenditure in a Diverse Cohort. *Journal of Personalized Medicine, 7*(2), 3. https://doi.org/10.3390/jpm7020003

- Mountjoy M, et al. (2023). 2023 International Olympic Committee's (IOC) consensus statement on Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs). *British Journal of Sports Medicine, 57*(17), 1073-1097. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2023-106994

If you're ticking off the macro boxes every day without ever really being taught how to eat, the Triathlon Nutrition Kickstart course is built for exactly that. Learn how to fuel your training and recovery properly so you're never stuck when the plan changes. Head to https://www.dietitianapproved.com/kickstart

Download the FREE audio seriesThe 5 Biggest Nutrition Mistakes Costing You Time on Race Day

SUPPORT THE PODCASTHERE

CONNECT WITH TARYN