#331 ‒ Optimizing endurance performance: metrics, nutrition, lactate, and more insights from elite performers | Olav Aleksander Bu (Pt. 2)
Release Date: 01/13/2025
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The Peter Attia Drive
This is part one of a two-part mini-series on fertility and reproductive health, with next week's guest, Dr. Paula Amato, focusing on the female side of the equation. Paul Turek is a world-renowned expert in male fertility and reproductive health, the founder and medical director of the Turek Clinic, and host of the Talk with Turek podcast. In this episode, Paul explores the topic of male fertility, offering a detailed look at the complex and highly coordinated process of conception and the many challenges sperm face on their journey to fertilizing an egg. He shares fascinating insights...
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The Peter Attia Drive
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#349 - AMA #71: Building strength and muscle mass: how to optimize training, nutrition, and more for longevity
The Peter Attia Drive
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#348 ‒ Women’s sexual health, menopause, and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) | Rachel Rubin, M.D.
The Peter Attia Drive
Rachel Rubin is a board-certified urologist and one of the nation's foremost experts in sexual health. In this episode, she shares her deep expertise on the often-overlooked topic of women’s sexual health, exploring why this area remains so neglected in traditional medicine and highlighting the critical differences in how men and women experience hormonal decline with age. Rachel explains the physiology of the menstrual cycle, the complex hormonal shifts of perimenopause, and the wide-reaching health risks associated with menopause, including osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease,...
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The Peter Attia Drive
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The Peter Attia Drive
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#345 ‒ Chronic pain: pathways, treatment, and the path to physical and psychological recovery | Sean Mackey, M.D., Ph.D.
The Peter Attia Drive
Sean Mackey is a professor of pain medicine at Stanford University and the director of the Stanford Systems Neuroscience and Pain Lab, where his research explores the neural mechanisms of pain and the development of novel treatments for chronic pain. In this episode, Sean joins Peter for a wide-ranging discussion on the multifaceted nature of pain—as both a sensory and emotional experience—and its evolutionary purpose as a critical survival mechanism. He dives into how pain is transmitted through the nervous system, the different types of pain, and why different individuals perceive...
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#344 - AMA #70: Nicotine: impact on cognitive function, performance, and mood, health risks, delivery modalities, and smoking cessation strategies
The Peter Attia Drive
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#343 – The evolving role of radiation: advancements in cancer treatment, emerging low-dose treatments for arthritis, tendonitis, and injuries, and addressing misconceptions | Sanjay Mehta, M.D.
The Peter Attia Drive
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#342 ‒ Aging well: Peter shares strategies for improving longevity with residents at a senior living center
The Peter Attia Drive
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Olav Aleksander Bu is an internationally renowned sports scientist acclaimed for his coaching prowess with elite athletes spanning a diverse range of sports disciplines. In this episode, Olav returns to dive deeper into his groundbreaking work as an endurance coach, exercise scientist, engineer, and physiologist. The discussion explores his data-driven approach to coaching, unpacking key performance metrics like functional threshold power, VO2 max, and lactate threshold, while emphasizing the importance of consistent testing protocols. Olav shares insights on how training methodologies differ across sports, the impact of nutrition on endurance performance, and the evolving strategies for carbohydrate metabolism in fueling athletes for races. Olav concludes with a discussion on the use of artificial intelligence for optimizing training insights and performance.
We discuss:
- Olav’s unique, engineering-driven approach to endurance coaching [2:45];
- Definitions and applications of key performance metrics: FTP, power, anaerobic threshold, and lactate threshold [4:45];
- Lactate threshold: factors affecting lactate threshold, testing protocols, and how elite athletes' efficiency affects their performance and lactate profiles [14:15]
- VO2 max: definition, testing, factors affecting its accuracy, and methods for optimizing oxygen utilization in elite athletes [22:15];
- Testing VO2 max: common mistakes and key factors to consider—preparation, warm-up, timing, and more [34:00];
- VO2 max testing continued: measuring instruments, testing protocols, and advanced insights gained from elite athletes [41:45];
- The influence of supplements like beetroot concentrate and adaptogens on VO2 max and performance [49:45];
- How respiratory quotient (RQ) reflects metabolic shifts during exercise, the challenges in measuring and interpreting RQ in elite athletes, and the physiological adaptations needed for prolonged endurance events [53:30];
- Triathlon training: the challenge of maintaining elite performance across triathlon distances, metabolic efficiency, and swimming challenges [1:03:15];
- How reducing drag in swimming could revolutionize performance and the role of biofeedback tools in optimizing efficiency across various endurance sports [1:07:00];
- How endurance athletes prioritize effort regulation using RPE, heart rate, and power output, and the role of lactate in cardiac and athletic efficiency [1:20:00];
- Lactate’s role as a fuel, buffering methods to combat lactic acidosis, and the variability in athlete response to bicarbonate supplementation [1:25:45];
- The physiological mechanisms behind differences in performance between two elite athletes: lactate transport, cardiovascular efficiency, and compensatory systems [1:33:00];
- Comparing interventions like acetaminophen to enhance performance in high-heat conditions versus natural adaptations to heat [1:37:15];
- Advancements in nutrition science, changes in cyclist body composition, and the impact of fueling strategies on athletic performance and growth [1:39:30];
- Optimizing endurance performance with utilization of carbohydrates, and the potential role of ketones [1:48:00];
- Insights gained from elite performers in the 2020 and 2024 Olympics [1:58:30];
- The use of artificial intelligence to optimizing training insights and performance [2:06:30]; and
- More.
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