Science for Sport Podcast
Behind the Scenes of Elite Performance – Unlocking the Science, Stories, and Strategies That Make the Best Even Better
Displaying items 1-10 of 54 in total of Science for Sport Podcast with the tag "strength and conditioning".
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324: Joe Truman: Training of a GB Track Sprinter
June 15th, 2026 | 24 mins 2 secs
athlete monitoring, athlete-led programming, bfr training, blood flow restriction training, british cycling, cadence, cycling performance, elite athlete, elite sport, joe truman, keirin, kilo time trial, la 2028, olympic cycling, peak power, performance coaching, physiology, power training, race-specific training, recovery, richard graves, s&c, science for sport, sport science, sports science, sprint cycling, sprint performance, strength and conditioning, tapering, team gb, team sprint, track cycling, training load
Richard Graves welcomes Great Britain track cyclist Joe Truman to discuss the science, training and decision-making behind elite track sprinting. Joe reflects on his journey through the British Cycling pathway, his first major individual European title, and the British record performance that marked a major breakthrough in his career. The conversation explores how studying sport and exercise science has shaped Joe’s training philosophy, why he now takes a more active role in his own programming, and how methods such as blood flow restriction training, tapering, cadence management and race-specific preparation are helping him push performance forward. For practitioners, this episode offers a detailed look at how an elite athlete blends science, experience and self-awareness to keep improving at the highest level.
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323: The Unseen Work of S&C and Sports Science
June 8th, 2026 | 29 mins 16 secs
athletic performance, catalan dragons, coaching, decision making, elite rugby, elite sport, gps data, high performance, high performance puzzle, leadership in sport, leicester tigers, matt parr, performance data, performance environment, performance leadership, performance teams, player management, return to play, richard graves, rugby league, rugby performance, rugby union, s&c, science for sport, sports medicine, sports performance, sports science, sports science podcast, strength and conditioning, training load
Richard Graves welcomes Matt Parr back to the Science for Sport podcast to explore the invisible work behind elite performance. Matt discusses why data, GPS reports, and training plans only tell part of the story, and why relationships, trust, standards, alignment, and decision-making are often what determine whether performance systems truly work. Drawing on his experience across Leicester Tigers, Catalan Dragons, and High Performance Puzzle, Matt offers practical insight for sports science, S&C, medical, and coaching staff working in elite sport.
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321: Preparing for the World Cup: Physical Performance Under Extreme Pressure
May 25th, 2026 | 46 mins 34 secs
292 performance, altitude training, athlete monitoring, athlete readiness, ben rosenblatt, dr ben rosenblatt, elite football performance, elite sport, england football, fatigue management, fifa world cup 2026, football sports science, gb hockey, heat acclimation, high-performance sport, international football, olympic performance, performance coaching, physical performance, pressure training, recovery, rehabilitation, return to play, richard graves, science for sport podcast, sports science, strength and conditioning, the football association, tournament preparation, world cup preparation
Dr Ben Rosenblatt joins Richard Graves to discuss the physical performance demands of preparing players for the 2026 Men’s World Cup. Drawing on his experience with England, Olympic athletes and GB Hockey, Ben explores tournament readiness, rehabilitation, recovery, heat and altitude preparation, individualised support and the importance of preparing athletes to perform under extreme pressure.
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320: The Challenges of Modern Collegiate Sport
May 18th, 2026 | 32 mins 19 secs
ai in sport, athlete monitoring, athlete wellbeing, coaching, collegiate sport, data analytics, female athlete data, female athletes, gps, heather farmer, high performance, human performance, interdisciplinary teams, ncaa, performance data, rehabilitation, return to play, science for sport, sport science, sports medicine, sports performance, sports science, sports technology, strength and conditioning, transfer portal, university of nevada las vegas, unlv, wearable technology
Richard Graves is joined by Heather Farmer, Assistant Athletics Director, Sports Science at UNLV, to discuss how sport science has developed within collegiate sport and how UNLV has built a human-first, data-informed performance model. Heather explains why data should support decision-making rather than replace practitioner judgement, how to build coach and athlete buy-in, and why the lack of female athlete data remains a major challenge. The episode also covers wearable technology, AI, return to play, the transfer portal, and the importance of strong communication across the whole high-performance team.
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319: Acceleration, Plyometrics and the Transfer to Performance
May 11th, 2026 | 34 mins
acceleration, athlete communication, athlete development, bobsled, bobsleigh, coaching philosophy, elite sport, eric franke, fatigue management, german bobsleigh, high performance coaching, jump training, latvian bobsleigh, latvian skeleton, olympic bobsleigh, olympic performance, olympic silver medallist, performance coaching, plyometrics, pyeongchang 2018, rate of force development, richard graves, science for sport, skeleton, sliding sports, speed training, sports performance, sports science, sprint training, strength and conditioning, testing and monitoring
Richard Graves is joined by Olympic silver medallist and high performance coach Eric Franke to discuss the demands of elite bobsleigh, the pressure of competing at the Olympic Games, and the key principles behind speed development. Eric explains why speed must be prioritised properly, how plyometrics and sprinting can support performance, and why his coaching philosophy focuses on communication, individualisation and helping athletes become better decision-makers.
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318: ACL Rehab: Training Age, Force Progression and Return to Sport with Carmen Bott
May 4th, 2026 | 35 mins 15 secs
acl rehab, acl rehabilitation, adolescent athletes, ai in sports science, artificial intelligence in sport, athlete development, carmen bott, coaching, dynamic strength training, elite sport, exercise prescription, force progression, injury rehabilitation, isometrics, kinesiology, performance coaching, plyometrics, professional sport, return to play, return to sport, richard graves, science for sport, sports injury, sports medicine, sports performance, sports science, strength and conditioning, youth athletes
Richard Graves speaks with Carmen Bott about her career in kinesiology, strength and conditioning, and athlete rehabilitation. The episode explores how practitioners can better support coaches and athletes, particularly during ACL return-to-play decisions. Carmen explains why training age, communication, force progression and real coaching skill are central to effective rehab, and shares her perspective on where AI can and cannot support practitioners in the future.
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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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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.