This week, Richard Graves welcomes James de Lacey back to the Science for Sport podcast to examine conditioning for high-intensity intermittent sports, including rugby, football and combat sports.

James challenges the assumption that improving recovery between hard efforts always requires more low-intensity training. He explains the distinction between delivering oxygen to the muscles and the muscles’ ability to use it, and why identifying what limits an individual athlete should guide the training you prescribe.

They discuss what repeated sprint tests, heart rate responses and muscle oxygenation measurements can reveal, including why two athletes can achieve the same performance score through very different physiological responses. James also makes his case for short sprint interval sessions and explains why conditioning needs to complement the technical and tactical work athletes already do.

For practitioners working with limited time, the conversation raises a useful question: are you targeting the adaptation the athlete needs, or simply adding more work?

In this episode you will learn

• Why James questions the use of aerobic and anaerobic labels to prescribe conditioning.
• How oxygen delivery and oxygen use influence performance and recovery between intense efforts.
• Why peak speed, power and VO₂ max values provide only part of an athlete’s performance picture.
• How heart rate recovery patterns and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) can inform individual conditioning decisions.
• Where James sees a role for sprint intervals, longer intervals and low-intensity training.
• How to account for sport practice, training load and time constraints when planning conditioning.
• Why James argues that improvements from sprint interval training can continue beyond an initial training block.

About James de Lacey
James de Lacey is a strength and conditioning coach with experience in professional and international rugby union and rugby league. He holds a master’s degree in Sport and Exercise Science and has published research in strength and conditioning. His work now includes coaching combat sports athletes and educating coaches through Sweet Science of Fighting. He is also a longstanding contributor to Science for Sport’s research reviews.

FREE 7d SCIENCE FOR SPORT ACADEMY TRIAL

SIGN UP NOW: https://bit.ly/SFSepisode241

​ Learn Quicker & More Effectively
​ Optimise Your Athletes' Recovery
​ Position Yourself As An Expert To Your Athletes And Naturally Improve Buy-In
​ Reduce Your Athletes' Injury Ratese
​ Save 100's Of Dollars A Year That Would Otherwise Be Spent On Books, Courses And More
​ Improve Your Athletes' Performance
​ Advance Forward In Your Career, Allowing You To Earn More Money And Work With Elite-Level Athletes
​ Save Yourself The Stress & Worry Of Constantly Trying To Stay Up-To-Date With Sports Science Research