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PODCAST

The Athlete"s Compass

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

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All Episodes

23:29

The Hidden Endurance Secret of Hill Repeats

The Athlete"s Compass ·

2026/10/01

Hill repeats can provide endurance athletes with a powerful mix of strength, speed, neuromuscular, and cardiovascular benefits without requiring frequent all-out sprinting. Paul Warloski and Dr. Paul Laursen explain how running or cycling uphill changes muscle recruitment, why different hill workouts produce different adaptations, and how athletes can use short 30-second efforts, longer strength-endurance intervals, or downhill running depending on their goals. They also discuss gradient, recovery,

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25:48

Run Faster Without Running More

The Athlete"s Compass ·

2026/09/24

Episode SummaryWant to run faster but don’t have time—or the recovery capacity—to add more mileage? Paul Warloski and Dr. Paul Laursen explain how runners can improve performance by getting more from the training they already do. They discuss auditing training intensity, polarized training, high-intensity intervals, strides, hills, cycling, heat training, strength and plyometric work, running economy, recovery, and fueling. They also explain why one quality session per week may be enough to produce

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35:32

How to Improve Your Running Economy

The Athlete"s Compass ·

2026/09/17

Two runners can have similar fitness and VO₂ max numbers yet perform very differently. One reason is running economy—the metabolic cost of maintaining a given running speed. Paul Warloski and Dr. Paul Laursen explain why economy is different from mechanical efficiency, how it can be assessed in the lab and through everyday training data, and why it improves through consistent running, high-intensity work, heavy strength training and plyometrics. They also examine running form, vertical oscillation,

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31:36

Why Your VO₂ Max Isn’t Rising

The Athlete"s Compass ·

2026/09/10

VO₂ max is one of endurance sport’s most closely watched metrics, but what does it mean when the number refuses to rise? Paul Warloski and Dr. Paul Laursen explain why a plateau—particularly for experienced and older athletes—can actually indicate successful training. They explore the roles of aging, genetics, aerobic volume, Zone 1 and Zone 2 work, high-intensity intervals, fat oxidation, recovery, nutrition, and life stress. The central message is that VO₂ max development isn’t about finding a

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33:51

Why Stopping Was My Best Decision: 1,000km Across...

The Athlete"s Compass ·

2026/09/03

Endurance athlete and Athletica user Jens joins Paul Warloski and Dr. Paul Laursen to share the story behind Project Trans France, his ambitious attempt to run roughly 1,000 kilometers across France in just 17 days while pulling a self-supported trailer. Jens explains how years of ultrarunning and orienteering shaped his approach, how he incorporated high-volume training into an ordinary workweek, and how Athletica helped him adapt his workload based on heart rate, HRV, sleep, and recovery. Once the

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34:56

Norwegian Method vs Polarized: What’s Better?

The Athlete"s Compass ·

2026/08/27

The Norwegian method has become one of endurance sport’s hottest training topics, thanks largely to elite performances, double-threshold sessions, and lactate-guided intensity control. But is it really an alternative to traditional 80/20 training? Paul Warloski and Dr. Paul Laursen unpack what the so-called Norwegian method actually involves and explain why it may have far more in common with polarized training than athletes realize. The conversation explores lactate testing, sub-threshold training,

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31:37

How to Find Your Zone 2 Without a Lab Test

The Athlete"s Compass ·

2026/08/20

Episode SummaryZone 2 gets talked about constantly in endurance training, but most everyday athletes don’t have access to lactate testing or a metabolic lab. In this episode of The Athletes Compass Podcast, Paul Warloski and Dr. Paul Laursen explain practical ways to estimate Zone 2 using the talk test, breathing, perceived effort, heart rate, the MAF formula, power and pace. They discuss why athletes frequently drift into Zone 3, how threshold testing can improve accuracy, and when laboratory

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32:12

Do Hills and Sprints Cancel Your Zone 2 Benefits?

The Athlete"s Compass ·

2026/08/13

Does a short climb, town-line sprint, or brief surge above Zone 2 undo the benefits of an endurance workout? Paul Warloski and Dr. Paul Laursen explain why the answer is generally no. Brief excursions above LT1 or VT1 don’t suddenly erase aerobic adaptations, and short bursts can even provide useful neuromuscular stimulus. The bigger issue is repeatedly turning easy training into moderate or hard training, accumulating fatigue and compromising the quality of the sessions that are supposed to be

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32:46

When to Perform High-Intensity Intervals

The Athlete"s Compass ·

2026/08/06

Should endurance athletes complete high-intensity intervals while fresh, or place them later in a workout after accumulating fatigue? Paul Warloski and Dr. Paul Laursen explain why the answer depends on the type of fatigue involved. General systemic or neuromuscular fatigue may be a reason to postpone intensity, while lower muscle-glycogen availability can amplify signals associated with mitochondrial development and fatigue resistance. The discussion covers AMPK, fat oxidation, fast-twitch muscle

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35:41

How Much HIIT Do You Actually Need?

The Athlete"s Compass ·

2026/07/30

High-intensity interval training can produce rapid improvements, but repeatedly pushing to maximal effort may undermine recovery, consistency, and long-term progress. Paul Warloski and Dr. Paul Laursen discuss why HIIT must be supported by low-intensity aerobic training, how excessive intensity affects the nervous system, and why the appropriate dose depends on training history, age, conditioning, and individual recovery. They also explain how athletes can monitor heart-rate variability, sleep,

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49:47

Supplements That Actually Work for Endurance Athletes...

The Athlete"s Compass ·

2026/07/23

Dr. 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

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36:34

Why You Get Sore 48 Hours After Exercise and How to...

The Athlete"s Compass ·

2026/07/16

Why 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

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29:48

Why 50% of Girls Quit Sport (and How to Stop It)

The Athlete"s Compass ·

2026/07/09

In 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,

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34:14

Heat Training for Female Athletes: How to Adapt and...

The Athlete"s Compass ·

2026/07/02

In 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

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53:06

How Sleep Timing Impacts Recovery, HRV, and Endurance...

The Athlete"s Compass ·

2026/06/25

In 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

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32:57

System Engagement Explained: How Much Is Left in the...

The Athlete"s Compass ·

2026/06/18

In 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,

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57:21

Can You Be a Mom, Work Full-Time, and Train for an...

The Athlete"s Compass ·

2026/06/11

In 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

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52:45

A Stoic Philosopher's Guide to Endurance Training...

The Athlete"s Compass ·

2026/06/04

In 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

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35:36

Power & Pace Profiles: What Every Endurance Athlete...

The Athlete"s Compass ·

2026/05/28

In 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

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34:31

How to Train With Limited Time

The Athlete"s Compass ·

2026/05/21

In 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,

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148 results

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