That Triathlon Show

Mikael and Jack Hutchens each bring up four things they do in their coaching practice that the research does not support, or does not support in the form they use it. What the evidence says, what they do instead, and the reasoning they would defend it with.

HIGHLIGHTS AND KEY TOPICS:

• Tapering: Mikael prescribes 7 to 10 day tapers where the literature converges on two to three weeks, with a smaller volume cut than the meta-analyses land on. Why he thinks the study populations do not transfer.
• Torque training: Jack keeps low cadence work in every program despite a review finding no strong evidence it improves performance. His specificity case, and Mikael’s rationale from the cadence drop late in an Ironman bike.
• Electrolytes: why Mikael prescribes them liberally while accepting the evidence is thin, the one athlete variable no study has controlled for, and the profile that really does not need them.
• Grey zone intervals: polarised training wins the short intervention studies, so why does Jack lean on the zone in between? The time horizon argument, and Mikael’s three week VO2max block that stopped working after two.
• Heat training: ten sessions over two weeks for acclimation, five weeks of five for haemoglobin mass, against Mikael’s minimal effective dose. Jack’s pushback: does half a protocol buy half the adaptation?
• Strength training: where it sits in Jack’s list of levers when time is fixed, who he does prioritise it for, and Mikael’s rules on frequency, session length and the weekly hours threshold to bother at all.
• Sprint interval training: the protocol with a decent evidence base that Mikael almost never prescribes, what goes in that slot instead, and the cycling study published five days before recording that he never expected to see.
• Psychology: why Jack spends more coaching time on self-talk, goal setting and confidence than the evidence warrants, and Mikael’s theory for why it looks so weak in group studies.

SHOWNOTES, LINKS, RESOURCES AND RELATED EPISODES:

• Jack Hutchens is a triathlon and endurance performance coach with Scientific Triathlon and a professional long course triathlete. Follow Jack on his coach page and Instagram.
• The shownotes for today’s episode can be found here.
• The full podcast episode archives (including category filters) can be found here.
• Related episodes:
  • Including sprint training in cycling – training responses and peformance improvements with Nicki Winfield Almquist, PhD | EP#300
  • Bent Rønnestad, PhD | EP#386
  • Effective bike commutes, strength training for Ironman, group rides for triathletes, supershoe effectiveness on hills, and more! | Q&A | EP#693
• Related studies:
  • Effects of tapering on performance in endurance athletes: A systematic review and meta-analysis – Wang et al. 2023
  • Effects of tapering on performance: a meta-analysis – Bosquet et al. 2007
  • Effects of Cycling Training at Imposed Low Cadences: A Systematic Review – Hansen and Rønnestad 2017
  • The effects of a sugar-free amino acid-containing electrolyte beverage on 5-kilometer performance, blood electrolytes, and post-exercise cramping versus a conventional carbohydrate-electrolyte sports beverage and water – McIntosh et al. 2023
  • Effects of Sodium Intake on Health and Performance in Endurance and Ultra-Endurance Sports – Veniamakis et al. 2022
  • The effectiveness of polarized versus high-intensity training in moderately trained cyclists: a randomized parallel-design study – Moran-MacDonald et al. 2026
  • Long-term passive heat acclimation enhances maximal oxygen consumption via haematological and cardiac adaptation in endurance runners – Jenkins et al. 2025
  • Heavy strength training effects on physiological determinants of endurance cyclist performance: a systematic review with meta-analysis – Llanos-Lagos et al. 2026
  • The Effect of Strength Training on Endurance Performance Determinants in Middle- and Long-Distance Endurance Athletes: An Umbrella Review of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis – Ramos-Campo et al. 2025
  • The Effects of Sprint Interval Training on Physical Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis – Hall et al. 2023
  • Effects of High-Intensity Interval Training Versus Sprint Interval Training on Factors Related to Endurance Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis – Xiao et al. 2026
  • Effects of Including Sprints in One Weekly Low-Intensity Training Session During the Transition Period of Elite Cyclists – Almquist et al. 2020
  • The Inclusion of Sprints in Low-Intensity Sessions During the Transition Period of Elite Cyclists Improves Endurance Performance 6 Weeks Into the Subsequent Preparatory Period – Taylor et al. 2021

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