Some of my work in the last 15 years has involved coach education for British Triathlon, generally at Loughborough University. Often we invite guest presenters to deliver on specialist subjects and that is how I met today’s guest, Dr. Jamie Pringle when he came to speak on physiology for triathlon.

Who is Jamie Pringle

Jamie is an applied sport scientist who has held various leadership roles within the British world-class sports sector, including Head of Science for British Athletics and Lead Physiologist for the English Institute of Sport, along with research, innovation, and education responsibilities. He worked across three Olympic cycles providing physiological support to a number of medal-winning national governing body programs. Most recently, Jamie was involved in the creation of the Boardman Performance Centre – a science, engineering, and medicine facility working with all levels of cycling performance – and now leading a similar venture with Vorteq Sports. He received his Ph.D. from Manchester Metropolitan University in Exercise Physiology, examining cardiorespiratory and muscle metabolism aspects of high-intensity exercise.  He maintains an active research and reviewing profile in collaboration with various universities and higher education funding councils. Jamie has 20 years of experience in advising cyclists and other endurance athletes and has coached riders to over 80 national titles and multiple British records.

It’s been a while since Jamie and I have chatted, so in addition to asking him about his work experiences, I also wanted to ask him some basic physiology questions to help you get a better understanding of how best to prepare for your triathlon races.

What did we chat about?

Buckle up for a physiology 101 with Dr. Jamie Pringle as we discuss:

  • Is coaching a science or a black art?
  • The crucial role of self-awareness in achieving performance goals
  • What Jamie learned from the wind tunnel to help you go faster on the bike
  • What you should focus on to be a better endurance athlete
  • If you want to build endurance capability, do more volume
  • Can we get along with just 3 training zones?
  • Polarised training – does it work if you only have 8-10 hours/wk to train?
  • Some training tips for older athletes (>50y.o.)

To follow Jamie and find out more about the work he does

please visit his website, https://www.psdistillery.co.uk/

And also Vorteq Sports, developing the world’s fastest performance products

You might also like https://silverstonesportshub.co.uk/

To follow Jamie and Vorteq on social media please use Twitter

@jamiepringle  @vorteqsports

Some other topics of our conversation

Books

Jamie recommended several books during our chat

 

For the best physiology book available McCardle Catch & Catch

And the book he has read most recently which had a significant impact

Better by Atul Gawande – a surgeon’s notes on performance

And if you just want a good read

Bill Bryson “A Short History of Nearly Everything”

Jamie also thought that Bill Bryson did a pretty good layman’s job at explaining the body in this book “The Body: A guide for Occupants”

Research

Some general links:

https://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/research/centre-for-human-performance/optimising-endurance-performance/

https://www.outsideonline.com/1745511/alex-hutchinson

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Stephen-Seiler

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