Science for Sport Podcast
Episode Archive
Episode Archive
314 episodes of Science for Sport Podcast since the first episode, which aired on April 4th, 2020.
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315: The Under-fueling Problem in Professional Sport with Dr Nessan Costello
April 13th, 2026 | 31 mins 14 secs
al-ahli fc, athlete health, athlete nutrition, body composition, carbohydrate loading, creatine, disordered eating in sport, elite football nutrition, elite sport, football fitness, football performance, football science, fuelling for performance, hydration, match day nutrition, performance nutrition, pre-season nutrition, premier league nutrition, ramadan sport, recovery nutrition, saudi pro league, science for sport podcast, sports dietitian, sports medicine, sports nutrition, sports nutritionist, sports physiology, sports science, supplementation in sport, underfuelling
Dr. Nessan Costello, 1st Team Sports Nutritionist at Al-Ahli in the Saudi Pro League, joins Richard Graves to discuss the realities of nutrition in elite football. With experience at Chelsea, Newcastle and Leeds United, Nessan unpacks why so many professional players are chronically underfuelled, the truth about carbohydrate loading and post-match recovery, and why chasing ultra-lean body composition is actively harming performance. He also shares what Ramadan nutrition looks like from the inside, with training sessions at 10pm and cup ties kicking off past midnight, and what the World Cup heat conditions in North America will demand from nutritionists and athletes alike.
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314: Player Load, Practice Periodisation, and the Art of Keeping It Simple with Jackson Polk
April 6th, 2026 | 29 mins 24 secs
american football, athlete development, athlete monitoring, catapult, college athletics, college football, data analytics, elite sport, force plates, forcedecks, gps monitoring, high performance sport, jackson polk, load management, nfl preparation, oklahoma sooners, perch, performance data, player load, practice periodization, principal component analysis, recovery, richard graves, science for sport, sports analytics, sports performance, sports science, sports science podcast, sports technology, strength and conditioning, university of southern california, usc football, usc trojans, vald, velocity-based training, wearable technology
Jackson Polk, Director of Sports Science at USC Trojans football, joins Richard Graves to discuss how he built a sports science programme from the ground up using data analytics, GPS monitoring, and the art of genuine conversation. Jackson shares his unorthodox path from student videographer at Oklahoma to leading sports science at one of college football's biggest programmes, and offers a frank, grounded perspective on everything from Catapult metrics and force plate testing to the real limitations of AI in applied sport.
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313: Building Durability in Action Sports with Ryan Blake
March 30th, 2026 | 30 mins 8 secs
action sports, action sports science, adventure sports, ai in sport, athlete preparation, athletic durability, british water ski and wakeboard, elite sport, extreme sports, extreme sports performance, fatigue management, freestyle sports, high performance, injury prevention, jump testing, long term athletic development, ltad, olympic sports, performance coaching, periodisation, readiness monitoring, ryan blake, science for sport, snowboarding, sports coaching, sports performance, sports science, sports technology, strength and conditioning, vbt, velocity based training, x games, youth strength and conditioning
Ryan Blake, founder of Extreme Sports Performance and performance consultant for British Water Ski and Wakeboard, joins Richard Graves to make the case for a completely different approach to athlete preparation in action sports. Drawing on over 20 years of experience across elite sport and education, Ryan explains why durability, not peak output, is the real target in disciplines defined by unpredictability, variable terrain, and repeated decision-making under fatigue. He walks through his Restore, Apply, Own framework, the role of technology in bridging the gap between training and competition, and why the explosive growth of the X Games League and Olympic action sports makes this one of the most exciting frontiers in performance science right now.
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312: The Role of Environment in Player Performance
March 23rd, 2026 | 36 mins 30 secs
athlete mindset, coaching, coaching psychology, elite sport, football coaching, football development, football performance, high performance sport, leadership in sport, performance analysis, player development, player psychology, professional football, sports performance, sports science, talent pathways, team culture
A powerful conversation with Carl Asaba on the realities of professional football — from non-traditional pathways and career setbacks to team culture, psychology, and the importance of man management in elite sport.
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311: The Future of Weight Room Monitoring with Perch P2
March 16th, 2026 | 28 mins 46 secs
athlete monitoring, athlete performance data, catapult sports, computer vision in sport, elite sport performance, machine learning in sport, perch system, performance technology, s&c coaching, sports science, sports technology, strength and conditioning, strength training analytics, velocity based training, weight room monitoring
Richard Graves is joined by Jordan Lucier, Senior Director of Engineering at Catapult and Co-Founder of Perch, to discuss the evolution of weight room monitoring technology. The conversation explores the development of Perch, the launch of the new P2 system, and how advances in computer vision and machine learning are helping coaches better understand strength training performance.
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310: Why Female Physiology Still Needs Greater Attention in Sport with Dr Candice Macmillan
March 9th, 2026 | 30 mins 42 secs
athlete health, athlete monitoring, elite sport science, female athlete health, female athlete performance, female physiology, hormonal contraception, injury prevention, menstrual cycle, performance science, sports medicine, sports physiotherapy, sports science, strength and conditioning, women in sport
Dr Candice Macmillan joins the Science for Sport Podcast to explore the complex relationship between hormonal contraceptives, female physiology, and athletic performance. The episode highlights why education, communication, and symptom awareness are essential for practitioners supporting female athletes in elite sport.
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309: Building Smarter Performance Systems with Emily Jacobson
March 2nd, 2026 | 31 mins 33 secs
acl rehabilitation, acute chronic workload ratio, applied sport science, athlete monitoring, catapult sports, collegiate athletics, data visualisation, gps tracking, high performance, load monitoring, ncaa, performance analytics, performance coaching, power bi, return to play, sports science, strength and conditioning, u.s. soccer, velocity based training, women’s sport research
Emily Jacobson shares how she has built a simplified, collaborative and athlete-centred sports science model at Marquette University. The episode explores workload monitoring, return-to-play systems, data visualisation, and the importance of humility and communication in applied performance environments. A practical discussion for elite practitioners seeking to turn complex data into meaningful impact.
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308: Peak Demands and Decision-Making Under Fatigue with Stan Parker
February 23rd, 2026 | 30 mins 50 secs
afl, ai in sport, athlete monitoring, brisbane broncos, contextualisation, gps tracking, high performance sport, injury prevention, interdisciplinary collaboration, load management, peak demands, performance analytics, phd in sports science, sports science, sports technology, team sport analytics, western bulldogs
In this episode, Stan Parker explains how elite sports science is evolving beyond basic load monitoring toward contextualised performance analytics that genuinely inform coaching decisions. Drawing on experience across multiple professional codes, he outlines how data, vision, communication and interdisciplinary collaboration combine to enhance availability, performance and long-term athlete development.
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307: Performance Science in AFL and NRL with Brendan Fahrner
February 16th, 2026 | 27 mins 30 secs
afl, athlete buy-in, athlete monitoring, coaching science, elite sport, gps tracking, high performance, injury risk management, nrl, performance analytics, performance culture, performance leadership, practitioner wellbeing, rugby league, sports data, sports science, sports technology, strength and conditioning, team sport science
Brendan Fahrner reflects on a career spanning premiership-winning AFL environments and the NRL, sharing why trust, clarity and relationship-building matter more than complex analytics. He explains how simplifying data, aligning with coaching philosophy, and focusing on athlete-centred systems can create meaningful performance impact. A grounded discussion for practitioners navigating modern high-performance sport.
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306: The Evolution of Professional Cricket Through Ryan Sidebottom’s Career
February 9th, 2026 | 35 mins 3 secs
athlete longevity, athlete preparation, cricket performance, elite sport, england cricket, fast bowling, high performance sport, performance mindset, professional cricket, sports psychology, sports science, strength and conditioning, swing bowling, t20 world cup, talent development
Ryan Sidebottom joins the Science for Sport Podcast to reflect on a 20-year professional cricket career shaped by resilience, preparation, and constant learning. From semi-professional beginnings to World Cup success, Ryan shares honest insights into longevity, mindset, and the unseen work behind elite performance.
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305: Building Resilient Athletes in High-Pressure Environments
February 2nd, 2026 | 38 mins 6 secs
applied sports science, athlete wellbeing, coaching philosophy, elite coaching, elite sport, football performance, high performance sport, leadership in sport, man management, performance culture, premier league history, professional football, resilience in athletes, sports psychology, team culture
Former England international Warren Barton reflects on elite football across contrasting eras, from Wimbledon’s culture-driven “Crazy Gang” to Newcastle United’s Entertainers, offering first-hand insight into resilience, leadership, and team identity. The conversation explores how psychology, man-management, and trust still underpin high performance, even in a modern game shaped by data, technology, and scrutiny.
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304: Uncommonly Consistent: Football to Formula One with John Noonan
January 26th, 2026 | 36 mins 20 secs
athlete preparation, burnout in sport, decision making under pressure, elite athletes, elite performance, formula one performance, high performance environments, high performance sport, interdisciplinary teams, mental performance in sport, performance coaching, skill acquisition, sports psychology, sports science podcast, strength and conditioning
Elite performance coach John Noonan shares insights from working across football, rugby, Olympic sport, and Formula One, exploring what truly drives performance at the highest level. The conversation focuses on consistency under pressure, skill execution, and why relationships and decision-making often matter more than programmes and protocols.
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303: Periodised Nutrition in Practice: Delivering the Plan Away From the Club
January 19th, 2026 | 42 mins 24 secs
applied sports nutrition, athlete fueling, athlete recovery, elite sport, high performance sport, interdisciplinary performance teams, macronutrients, matchday fueling, nutrition compliance, performance chef, performance nutrition, periodised nutrition, recovery nutrition, sports science, training load
This episode explores how periodised nutrition is delivered in practice away from the training ground, and the role performance chefs play in translating nutritionist-led prescriptions into compliant, real-world meals. Rachel Muse shares applied insights on macros, culture, and collaboration within elite performance systems.
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302: Creatine and the Evolution of Performance Nutrition
January 12th, 2026 | 32 mins 32 secs
applied sports science, athlete preparation, atp, creatine, elite sport, energy systems, evidence-based practice, exercise physiology, high-performance sport, olympic performance, performance nutrition, performance optimisation, professional sport, recovery, sports nutrition research, sports science, strength and conditioning, supplementation
Creatine is now a staple of elite sport — but its journey began with secrecy, risk, and a race against time ahead of the 1992 Olympic Games. In this episode, Steven Jennings shares the untold story of how groundbreaking research became real-world performance practice.
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301: Training for the Unknown: Olympic BMX Freestyle with Brian Roy
January 5th, 2026 | 24 mins 1 sec
action sports, applied sports science, athlete buy-in, athlete development, biomechanics, bmx freestyle, coaching philosophy, high-performance sport, injury prevention, olympic performance, performance training, sports science, strength and conditioning, training adaptation
Brian Roy joins the Science for Sport Podcast to unpack the unique demands of Olympic BMX Freestyle and why traditional strength and conditioning models often fall short in action sports. Drawing on a decade of experience, he shares how adaptable, athlete-led approaches, resilience training and emerging technology are shaping performance in a sport with no rulebook.
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300: Training Through Disruption: Managing Load, Time, and Performance in Winter with Michael Fennell
December 29th, 2025 | 26 mins 34 secs
applied sports science, athlete preparation, athletic development, elite sport, high performance, performance coaching, plyometrics, speed training, sports science, sprint performance, strength and conditioning, track and field, training load management, winter training
Michael Fennell joins Richard Graves to unpack how elite athletes and coaches should approach winter training, focusing on maintaining performance, avoiding early peaks, and prioritising fundamentals during a disrupted December. Drawing on experience across athletics and team sports, the episode explores micro-sessions, plyometrics, and why context and coaching judgement still matter in an age of data.