Podcast
The Athlete's Compass
Hosted by Athletica · EN
The Athlete’s Compass Podcast is your compass for navigating endurance training and health. In this show, we explore the cardinal directions of training, nutrition, recovery, and mindset, delving into the dynamic relationship that drives athletic success.
Athletes are more than numbers; they're individuals with unique lifestyles and mindset challenges. Coaches who understand these personal nuances play a vital role in their athletes' journey. While training details and data are important, tools like Athletica provide a solution to streamline the technicalities, allowing coaches to focus on the human connection which makes the human coaches the best they can be.
Each week, renowned sports scientist and researcher Paul Laursen will be our teacher and guide as we break down training principles so you can understand how best to train for your sport! We take a no-bullshit and practical approach to support age-groupers, masters, and everyday cyclists, runners, and triathletes like you as you find your direction as an athlete.
The hosts are Paul Laursen, sports scientist and founder of the Athletica.ai training platform, Marjana Rakai, coach, sports scientist, and triathlete, and Paul Warloski, coach and cyclist.
14episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Supplements That Actually Work for Endurance Athletes with Dr Jose Antonio
2w ago00:49:47Tap to summarizeDr. Jose Antonio, co-founder and CEO of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, joins Paul Warloski and Paul Laursen to separate effective sports supplements from overhyped products. He explains why protein, creatine, beta-alanine, nitrates, and caffeine form his evidence-backed top five, while also making the case for sodium bicarbonate. The conversation covers practical dosing, protein requirements, creatine for endurance athletes and cognitive health, ineffective testosterone boosters, the placebo effect, probiotics, personalized supplementation, and race-day carbohydrate strategies. Throughout the episode, Antonio advocates a pragmatic approach: identify the athlete’s goal, assess the potential benefit and harm, use the available science, and pay attention to what works in the real world.Key TakeawaysStart with the athlete’s goal. A supplement recommendation is only meaningful when tied to a specific performance, recovery, health, or body-composition objective.Antonio’s top five are protein, creatine, beta-alanine, nitrates, and caffeine. Sodium bicarbonate earns an additional place because of its buffering and performance benefits.Caffeine works, but dosage matters. Antonio discusses an effective range of roughly 1–6 mg per kilogram, with approximately 3 mg/kg as a common starting point.Creatine is not just for bodybuilders. It may support recovery and performance in cycling, swimming, paddling, and other sports where body weight is supported.Five grams of creatine per day is generally sufficient for skeletal muscle. Higher doses may be needed to influence cognition, although the evidence is still developing.Distance runners may prefer a lower creatine dose. Antonio suggests that around 2 g per day could provide recovery benefits while limiting unwanted weight gain.Protein should remain high even on rest days. Recovery continues when athletes are not training, so protein intake should not drop dramatically.One gram of protein per pound of body weight is presented as a practical athletic baseline. Higher intake may provide benefits, but affordability and adherence are real constraints.Beetroot-derived nitrates are preferred over arginine. Citrulline may help, but its effective dosing can be inconvenient.Testosterone boosters are among the most overhyped supplements. Tongkat ali and turkesterone have not demonstrated meaningful improvements in lean mass or sustained testosterone elevation in healthy athletes.Belief can affect performance. Antonio describes a caffeine experiment in which participants performed according to the dose they thought they received—even though every dose was a placebo.Practice fueling strategies in training. Whether an athlete uses 30, 60, or 120 grams of carbohydrate per hour, race day should never be the first experiment.Dr. Jose AntonioPaul Warloski - Simple Endurance CoachingMarjaana Rakai | Nordic Performance Lab
Transcribe →Why You Get Sore 48 Hours After Exercise and How to Fix It
3w ago00:36:34Tap to summarizeWhy can a hard workout feel manageable at first, only to leave you struggling with stairs two days later? In this episode of The Athletes Compass Podcast, Paul Warloski and Dr. Paul Laursen explain delayed onset muscle soreness, or DOMS, and the role eccentric muscle contractions play in creating microscopic muscle damage. They explore why downhill running is especially punishing, how the repeated bout effect makes athletes more resilient, and why sport-specific preparation matters even for highly trained athletes. The conversation also covers protein timing, sleep, BCAAs, caffeine, hydration, warm-ups, and practical ways to decide whether soreness is mild enough to train through—or a sign that recovery should take priority.Key TakeawaysDOMS usually peaks around 24–72 hours after unfamiliar or demanding exercise.Eccentric contractions—when a muscle lengthens while producing force—are a major trigger for soreness.Downhill running creates particularly high eccentric loading and should be introduced progressively.Soreness is not required for an effective workout and should not be treated as the goal.The repeated bout effect means the body experiences less damage and soreness after repeated exposure to the same movement.Athletes should prepare for the specific mechanical demands of their event, not just its cardiovascular demands.Gentle movement may help mild soreness feel better, but severe soreness requires patience and reduced loading.Total daily protein intake is likely more important than hitting a narrow post-workout “anabolic window.”Sleep supports the repair and adaptation processes that occur after training.Caffeine may reduce the perception of discomfort, but masking soreness can make it easier to overreach.A practical warm-up test can help guide training: if mild soreness improves as you move, the session may be manageable; if it persists or worsens, backing off is prudent.The most important workout is often the next workout, so today’s session should not create more damage than the training plan can absorb.Dr. Paul LaursenPaul Warloski - Simple Endurance Coaching
Transcribe →Why 50% of Girls Quit Sport (and How to Stop It)
4w ago00:29:48Tap to summarizeIn part two of the conversation with Dr. Julia Casadio, the team explores why so many adolescent girls leave sport during their teenage years and how coaches, parents, and support teams can better respond. Julia explains how female puberty affects performance, injury risk, confidence, menstrual health, fueling, and enjoyment, while emphasizing that many girls simply need better education, patience, and practical support. The episode highlights the work of Her Strength, including coach education, menstrual cycle awareness, training load adjustments during growth spurts, and simple nutrition tools such as PFC eating: protein, fat, and carbohydrate at each meal.Key TakeawaysTwo out of three girls are lost to sport during the teenage years, making adolescence a crucial intervention point.Female puberty can temporarily disrupt performance through growth, changes in body composition, wider hips, injury risk, periods, and hormonal fluctuations.Coaches should avoid treating adolescent girls as smaller versions of boys; their physical and psychological needs can be very different.A rapid growth spurt combined with a sudden training-load increase is a major injury-risk red flag.Menstrual health is a key marker of overall health, not an inconvenience to ignore.Missing periods, severe pain, heavy bleeding, or not having a first period by age 15 should be investigated.Male coaches can still create safe, supportive environments by normalizing conversations and making period products available.When performance plateaus, coaches can shift focus toward skills, strength, nutrition, recovery, and confidence rather than only results.PFC eating — protein, fat, and carbohydrate at each meal — gives young athletes a simple framework for better fueling.Keeping girls in sport requires practical behavior change, not just awareness.Her Strength - Dr. Julia CasadioDr. Paul LaursenPaul Warloski - Simple Endurance CoachingMarjaana Rakai | Nordic Performance Lab
Transcribe →Heat Training for Female Athletes: How to Adapt and Perform
Jul 200:34:14Tap to summarizeIn this episode of The Athletes Compass Podcast, Dr. Julia Casadio explains how athletes can use heat training as a powerful performance tool, especially when preparing for hot and humid races. Drawing on her experience with Olympic athletes and her research in applied sport physiology, she explains why women often need longer heat adaptation windows than men, how “thermal memory” allows athletes to reacclimate quickly after an earlier heat block, and why heat should be treated as a meaningful training stress rather than an afterthought. The conversation also covers practical strategies such as sauna or hot-tub exposure, timing heat blocks before race day, managing training load, supporting youth athletes in hot conditions, and recognizing signs of heat illness.Key episode takeawaysFemale athletes often take longer to adapt to heat than male athletes, with women commonly needing closer to 10–14 days rather than 4–7 days.Heat training should not be added casually to a hard training week. It works best during easy-to-moderate training blocks.Heat is an extra physiological load, so sleep, fueling, hydration, and recovery matter even more during heat exposure.A true heat stimulus requires getting genuinely hot: elevated core temperature and heavy sweating are key signals.Living in a hot place does not automatically mean an athlete is heat-adapted. The body has to experience repeated, meaningful heat stress.Heat blocks can be periodized. Athletes can do a proper block several weeks before an event, then use shorter top-up exposures closer to race day.“Thermal memory” means the body can reacclimate faster after prior heat adaptation.Passive heat methods such as post-exercise sauna or hot-water immersion can help athletes who do not live in hot climates.High-intensity sessions are not ideal for heat loading; easy aerobic sessions are usually safer and more effective.Youth athletes need extra caution in the heat because their cooling systems are less developed and they may be less likely to speak up when something feels wrong.Warning signs of heat illness include dizziness, lightheadedness, cool clammy skin, sudden performance drop-off, fainting, and, in more serious cases, hot red skin.Her Strength - Dr. Julia CasadioPaul Warloski - Simple Endurance CoachingMarjaana Rakai | Nordic Performance Lab
Transcribe →How Sleep Timing Impacts Recovery, HRV, and Endurance Performance
Jun 2500:53:06Tap to summarizeIn this episode of The Athletes Compass Podcast, Dr. Kristen Holmes, Global Head of Human Performance at Whoop, explains why sleep-wake consistency may be one of the most powerful yet overlooked drivers of performance, recovery, and long-term health. Drawing from years of athlete and wearable data, she shares how regular sleep timing is linked to better physiology, improved resilience, and stronger performance outcomes across sports. The conversation also covers practical circadian habits, including morning light, moderate exercise, breathwork, and time-restricted eating, plus strategies for athletes racing early, parents navigating broken sleep, and women experiencing perimenopause or menopause.Key episode takeawaysSleep-wake consistency may be more predictive of performance than many athletes realize.Even Division I athletes may show declines in resting physiology with as little as 45 minutes of sleep timing variability.Sleep consistency helps drive sleep quality, restoration, and autonomic robustness.Four free habits can support better sleep consistency: morning natural light, moderate activity, slow-paced breathing, and time-restricted eating.Low-to-moderate intensity exercise can act as a recovery-promoting tool, while high-intensity work should be used strategically.Breathwork after stress can help prevent stress from accumulating across the day and disrupting sleep onset.Eating most calories during daylight hours may support circadian alignment and reduce competition between digestion and sleep.For early races or travel, athletes can “bank resilience” by staying consistent in the days and weeks before disruption.Parents with young children should treat poor sleep as a temporary phase, use strategic naps, protect early-night sleep, and avoid bright light during night wakings.Fitness appears protective across many contexts, including shift work, menopause symptoms, and general resilience.Four core circadian behaviors that improve cardiorespiratory fitness through consistent sleepPaul Warloski - Simple Endurance CoachingMarjaana Rakai | Nordic Performance Lab
Transcribe →System Engagement Explained: How Much Is Left in the Tank?
Jun 1800:32:57Tap to summarizeIn this episode of The Athletes Compass, Paul Warloski, Dr. Paul Laursen, and Marjaana Rakai explain Athletica’s Workout Reserve and the new Systems Engagement feature. Workout Reserve is described as a battery-like metric that shows how close an athlete is to their historical best across different durations, from short sprint efforts to long aerobic performances. The team discusses how athletes can use it in real time through Velocity or Garmin, how negative values can signal breakthrough efforts, and why good historical data is essential. They also explain how Systems Engagement helps athletes and coaches see which physiological systems were stressed in a workout or race, making it easier to reverse engineer training toward the actual demands of an event.Key episode takeawaysWorkout Reserve acts like a “battery” showing how much capacity an athlete has left relative to their recent historical bests.A value near 100% suggests the athlete is fresh relative to that effort, while 0% means they are approaching a known personal limit. Negative values indicate new, uncharted territory.Workout Reserve can be viewed retrospectively in Athletica, live in Velocity sessions, or through the Garmin Workout Reserve data field.Systems Engagement shows which energy systems were stressed during a workout or selected segment, such as neuromuscular sprint, anaerobic, VO2 max, threshold, or aerobic systems.A 30/30 interval session may engage both VO2 max and threshold systems, which matches the expected training adaptations.The tool is most useful when athletes have enough valid historical data, including power or pace tests such as FTP tests, 5K tests, or sport-specific calibration sessions.Workout Reserve and Systems Engagement are based on external load, such as pace or power, not internal load measures like heart rate, lactate, or RPE.Coaches can use Systems Engagement to check whether an athlete actually trained the intended system.Race analysis can help athletes identify which physiological systems were most taxed, then design training to target those demands.Not every session should push Workout Reserve to zero or negative; easy aerobic sessions still have a purpose.How a ProTour cycling coach uses Athletica Workout ReserveWorkout Reserve: A New Way to Understand Performance with Dr. Andrea ZignoliScientific Paper in Sports EngineeringRace Analysis - Volta ValencianaGarmin Connect IQ | HomeTrain and Race with WR on GarminAthletica Workout Reserve | HomePaul Warloski - Simple Endurance CoachingMarjaana Rakai | Nordic Performance Lab
Transcribe →Can You Be a Mom, Work Full-Time, and Train for an Ironman? with Dr. Iris Nafshi
Jun 1100:57:21Tap to summarizeIn this episode of The Athletes Compass Podcast, Dr. Iris Nafshi joins the team to discuss her research on “Iron Moms,” endurance athletes who train for Ironman while navigating motherhood, work, family expectations, and guilt. Drawing from her PhD dissertation, Beyond Grit and Guilt, Iris explains that athletic identity does not compete with maternal identity; it can expand it. The conversation explores how moms persist through complex schedules, emotional pressure, limited support, and societal expectations by reframing guilt, building systems, practicing self-compassion, and embracing the mindset that “something is better than nothing.”Key TakeawaysAthletic identity and maternal identity do not have to be separate or competing roles.“Balance” may be the wrong word; integration and seasons of focus are more realistic.Mom guilt often comes from societal expectations that mothers should be endlessly selfless.Many Iron Moms reframe training as role modeling strength, commitment, and self-respect for their children.Grit helps athletes start, but it is not enough to sustain long-term training through real life.Iris adds self-compassion to the HERO framework — hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism — creating “SHIRO.”Support systems matter. As Iris says, nobody does Ironman alone.Flexibility is essential: shortening a workout, moving it, or doing something imperfectly is often better than skipping entirely.“Something is better than nothing” becomes a powerful mindset for training, work, creativity, and life.Children are watching, and they often notice the dreams parents pursue — and the ones they give up.Dr. Iris NafshiPaul Warloski - Simple Endurance CoachingMarjaana Rakai | Nordic Performance Lab
Transcribe →A Stoic Philosopher's Guide to Endurance Training with Dr William Irvine
Jun 400:52:45Tap to summarizeIn this episode of The Athletes Compass, Dr. William B. Irvine joins Paul Warloski, Paul Laursen, and Marjaana Rakai to explore how Stoic philosophy can help endurance athletes train, race, and live with more resilience. Irvine connects rowing, coaching, discomfort, failure, and competition to practical Stoic ideas such as focusing on what you can control, reframing setbacks, practicing negative visualization, and valuing process over outcomes. The conversation moves from “keep your head in the boat” to “one more stroke,” offering athletes a grounded mental toolkit for handling race-day adversity, physical discomfort, self-doubt, and the temptation to tie self-worth to results.Key Takeaways“Keep your head in the boat” is a powerful Stoic metaphor: focus on what you can control, not the weather, competitors, or external conditions.Irvine’s practical Stoic advice: “Do what you can with what you’ve got where you are.”Athletes can reframe setbacks as “Stoic tests” rather than disasters.Discomfort and pain are not the same; endurance athletes learn to tolerate discomfort as part of growth.“One more stroke” is a simple mental strategy for surviving hard moments in training, racing, illness, or life.Failure is valuable when it comes from attempting something difficult and learning from the result.Competitive athletes can stay healthier mentally by focusing on process goals rather than outcome goals.Negative visualization helps athletes appreciate what they already have and prepare for what could go wrong.Last-time meditation can deepen gratitude: every race, ride, row, or run may someday be the last.Stoicism is not about suppressing emotion; it is about maintaining equanimity when life or sport gets hard.More Better Thinking | Dr. William B. IrvineJoin the Athletica 5K Virtual RaceDr. Paul LaursenPaul Warloski - Simple Endurance CoachingMarjaana Rakai | Nordic Performance Lab
Transcribe →Power & Pace Profiles: What Every Endurance Athlete Should Know
May 2800:35:36Tap to summarizeIn this episode of The Athletes Compass Podcast, Paul Warloski, Dr. Paul Laursen, and Marjaana Rakai break down the concept of power and pace profiles — the personalized performance fingerprints hidden inside your training data. They explain how these profiles reveal an athlete’s strengths, weaknesses, critical power, and sustainable race pace without expensive lab testing. The conversation explores how Athletica uses real-world wearable data and AI coaching to prescribe training zones, assess race readiness, and predict event performance. From marathon pacing to hill-specific preparation and anaerobic profiling, the episode offers practical guidance for endurance athletes looking to train smarter and race more effectively.Key TakeawaysA power or pace profile maps your best efforts across different durations and acts as a “performance fingerprint.”Critical power and critical pace help determine sustainable race intensity and training zones.Real-world wearable data may be more valuable than isolated lab testing because it reflects actual training environments.Athletica uses historical performance data to estimate physiological markers like VO2 max and threshold power.Accurate profiling requires maximal efforts across multiple durations — “garbage in, garbage out.”Profiles can reveal whether an athlete is more “twitchy” (explosive) or “diesel” (endurance-focused).AI coaching can analyze historical workouts and race-specific sessions to estimate realistic race pacing.Race specificity matters: athletes should train in terrain and conditions similar to their target event.Weekly training consistency and frequency may matter more than one extremely long workout.Monitoring threshold trends over time provides insight into long-term fitness progression.Join the Athletica 5K Virtual RaceDr. Paul LaursenPaul Warloski - Simple Endurance CoachingMarjaana Rakai | Nordic Performance Lab
Transcribe →How to Train With Limited Time
May 2100:34:31Tap to summarizeIn this episode of The Athletes Compass, Paul Warloski, Dr. Paul Laursen, and Marjaana Rakai discuss how everyday endurance athletes can make meaningful progress with limited training time, especially when balancing work, family, and life. The conversation centers on the “minimum effective dose” of training, why context and goals matter, how to use intensity wisely, and why consistency is often more important than perfection. They also explore the role of strength training, aerobic base work, walk-run programs, HIIT, recovery, habit stacking, and practical scheduling strategies for athletes training around five to seven hours per week.Key episode takeawaysThe best training plan depends on the athlete’s goal, background, fitness level, and available time.Five to seven hours per week can be plenty for some goals, such as a 5K, 10K, half marathon, or gravel event, but may be unrealistic for many athletes targeting an Ironman.Consistency is the first priority: spreading workouts across the week is better than cramming all training into one day.For newer athletes, walk-run sessions can produce major aerobic gains without any high-intensity training.HIIT is time-efficient, but it is not necessary or appropriate for every athlete.Three hard training days per week is likely the upper limit for most athletes.Strength training is worth the time investment, even if it is only 10 to 20 minutes at a time.Recovery counts as training, and sometimes performance improves after backing off.Calendar blocking, commuting, dog walks, playground workouts, and habit stacking can help busy athletes stay consistent.Doing something is usually better than doing nothing.Paul Warloski - Simple Endurance CoachingMarjaana Rakai | Nordic Performance Lab
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