Strength For Endurance Podcast

Getting your taper right in the lead up to an event can be the difference between successful performance and a miscalculated blow-up. How much you should back off, how far out from an event and what to do in terms of strength training are all major factors. We look at some key considerations to help you start thinking about your own taper plans.

If you're in a position where you are coming back from a recent injury or you are building up your training volume and intensity for a particular race, we need to see this as a journey you're about to embark on. What is vital during this journey, to ensure we get to your desired goal, is making sure that several things are taken into consideration accordingly. As your rehab or your training builds to bigger loads, longer efforts or higher intensities things like your recovery and nutrition need to change to support the physical demands that keep evolving.

Completing an Ultra-Distance race is no mean feat. Whether it's your first or fiftieth event ensuring that you are prepared for what you are about to do will be the key to success (or failure). In this episode, Kriss looks at our strength training approach when it comes to working with ultra-distance athletes. What are the physical, mental and psychological requirements needed and how do we achieve this through a great strength and conditioning program. So if you've got your sights set on your next adventure, let us help you lay the foundations to get off to a great start and avoid those unnecessary mishaps along the way.

Today we are joined by Kim Collison an elite level ultra-distance runner and running coach who lives in the Lake District. Kim boasts one of the most impressive running CV's out there, claiming a number of ultra-distance records and titles across the UK and overseas. In more recent years this included the Lakeland 24 hour Fell Record and in 2021 the Paddy Buckley round in Wales in a time of 16 hours 20 minutes and 40 seconds. Since recording our chat Kim recently went on to break the 24 hour munro record in the Cairngorms, Scotland - scaling 33 Munro's, 160 km distance and over 9000m of elevation. We're going to be deep-diving into what makes him so successful as both an athlete and coach and hopefully you'll get some great takeaways from our conversation.

Andy Blow is a Sports Scientist and the founder of Precision Hydration. Andy was formerly an elite-level triathlete who can count a couple of top-10 IRONMAN finishes and an Xterra Age-Group World title to his name. It was during his racing career that he discovered how individualised fluid and electrolyte replacement can make such a big difference to performance, and this led to him setting up precisionhydration.com - a company that specialises in sweat, dehydration, cramping, electrolyte replenishment, and helping athletes better understand their own hydration needs. We've known Andy for a few years and have enjoyed watching the growth of PH in that time. We discuss the science behind optimal hydration, what those athletes at the top of their sport are doing and getting things right (and wrong) on race day. Andy has a BSc (Hons) degree in Sport and Exercise Science from the University of Bath, UK. He currently lives in Christchurch, Dorset in the UK with his wife Lucy and their 2 young children Bobby and Bethany.

This week we're joined by 5 x Iron distance Champion, Professional Triathlete Laura Siddall. Born and raised in the UK Laura has since experienced life as an athlete in many countries, from Australia to San Francisco, New Zealand and now her current base of Girona, Spain. But as a self-confessed 'nomadic' athlete it's not all perfect weather, enviable training environments and learning languages over a good coffee (although these are a few perks). The life of a travelling professional brings its challenges and even more so for Laura over the past few years experiencing two significant injuries and the world coming to a halt with a global pandemic. Aside from her impressive performances and upcoming races, we discuss her pre-triathlon life as an Engineer, her 'British' food habits, new pillows and the awkward question of what life might look like after triathlon. Laura is a generous mentor, an active ambassador and an inspiring role model to many in and out of the sport, and it's clear she has absorbed the knowledge and experience she's been exposed to along her journey so far. She's open, honest and hardworking - a great listen!

Strength & Conditioning isn't just a nice addition to an athletes training plan. It's so much more than the '1% gain' that you often hear it being referred to. It is fundamental to your success, whether it's preventing you from getting into trouble or helping you get out. In today's episode Kriss explains how we use strength training as a vehicle to overcome many common issues that you might face, or have faced already, as an athlete; Injury, Optimal Weight Management (both reduction and restoration), Bone Stress Injuries & Under-performing. A great strength training will provide you with a safe, controlled and insightful 'road-map' through these obstacles and out the other side. So if you're yet to make it a staple in your training approach have a listen to today's episode and you might just find it's the answer to one or two problems you may be experiencing.

This week Kriss is joined by friend, client and professional, Dr Ruth Wilde. Ruth is an Integrative Medicine Doctor with a background in Emergency Medicine and General Practice, with 17 years service in the military. Through her own experience of injury and then struggle with chronic pain, she has come to understand more about the factors that underpin our individual experiences of health and wellness: genetics, lifestyle habits, energy imbalance, and the link between gut and brain to name a few. A very insightful episode and one we hope you enjoy!

With the abundance and variety of training options we have access to these days, it can be easy to fall into the trap of wanting to try everything. But is this smart if you have specific goals you want to achieve? In today's episode, Kriss discusses what to consider when choosing your strength train modality, how to filter your options and set yourself up for the best possible chance of success.

Whether it's injury, a health problem or a life-changing event, being told you can't participate in your sport for any length of time is a tough thing to hear and process rationally. But others have come through it and so will you. What you need now are some key action steps that you can put in place to reset, reframe and rebuild in a way that means you not only come back, but that you come back a stronger and smarter athlete than before. In this episode, Kriss takes you through a key framework that will help you flip your mindset and make the best out of a negative situation.