A thought-provoking review on low carbohydrate diets and substrate oxidation rates was recently published in the journal Frontiers in Physiology (10). The author list includes a couple of the big names in low carbohydrate research, Tim Noakes and Jeff Volek. In this blog, I will summarise some of the key messages and takeaways from the review.

The traditional model of exercise and substrate oxidation

During prolonged, endurance exercise, we primarily use two fuels to support our metabolism and keep us moving. We have carbohydrates, which are stored as glycogen in muscles and in the liver, and we have fat, stored in fat cells and in muscle. The rate at which we use carbohydrates and fats to support metabolism changes with things like exercise intensity and duration (14, 17), heat stress (6), and recent diet (2, 16). As our carbohydrate stores are relatively modest, we can become carbohydrate-depleted, and fatigued as a result, after exercise of sufficiently demanding intensity and...

In this video, Dr Dan Plews gives an overview of his latest research (12 week very low carbohydrate (<50g) sports performance study) involving low carbohydrate diets (<50g) in recreationally trained athletes. This study is unique, as to our knowledge, it's one of the longest Low Carb High Fat (LCHF) studies conducted.

Watch the video to get Dan's take on the Low Carb Triathlon training needed, and understand what this data means for those LCHF athletes training for Long Distance Triathlon!

Click here for more information on our online course Endure IQ LDT101: The Practical Application of Low Carbohydrate Performance for Long Distance Triathlon.

Fresh off the plane from Zurich, I’m still on a high after seeing my good friend and athlete Jan van Berkel finished on top of the podium at the last ever Zurich-hosted Ironman Switzerland last weekend in a blistering time of 8:17:04. Jan likes to call himself The Ketocop, so the title of this blog is very appropriate.

Jan led the field out of the water with a 51:38 swim, led the field off the bike after a 4:35:14, and romped home to a 6-min victory over countryman Sven Riederer after a 2:46:41 marathon. Jan’s victory seems like an appropriate time to talk you through the journey we have been on through his Ironman career to date.

Jan approached me in 2016 as a very talented triathlete with quality results in Olympic distance triathlon but he was struggling to transition to Ironman. He had, as many do, been consistently blowing up in the last 10-15 km of the marathon, full of gels but out of gas. Given his pedigree at the Olympic...