Show overview
The Real Science of Sport Podcast has been publishing since 2019, and across the 7 years since has built a catalogue of 329 episodes, alongside 18 trailers or bonus episodes. That works out to roughly 400 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a weekly cadence, with the show now in its 8th season.
Episodes typically run an hour to ninety minutes — most land between 1h 2m and 1h 29m — though episode length varies meaningfully from one episode to the next. None of the episodes are flagged explicit by the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-language Sports show.
The show is actively publishing — the most recent episode landed 1 weeks ago, with 39 episodes already out so far this year. The busiest year was 2025, with 86 episodes published. Published by Mike Finch.
From the publisher
World-renowned sports scientist Professor Ross Tucker and veteran sports journalist Mike Finch break down the myths, practices and controversies from the world of sport. From athletics to rugby, soccer, cycling and more, the two delve into the most recent research, unearth lessons from the pros and host exclusive interviews with some of the world's leading sporting experts. For those who love sport. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Latest Episodes
View all 329 episodesRe-Release: The Art and Science of the Perfect Football Penalty
A Doping Refusal and Four Year Ban That Divided Tennis / Hodgkinson's Hamstring Scare / World Cup Science
World Cup Water Breaks / What Will It Take to Break the 800m WR? / College Sprinting Goes Wild / Does Remco Have the Watts to Match Pogacar?
800m Plot Twists and Beckoning History for Werro & Hodgkinson / Should the IOC Pay Olympic Athletes? / "Your computer screen is too big"
Sleeping Your Way to More EPO / Grand Slam Chaos / The UCI's Expensive Regulatory Defeat and a Weighing Scandal
Roland Garros' Zombie Heat Apocalypse / The Death of the Diversified Elite Athlete / World Athletics Raises the Performance Bar
Welcome to our PED Talk: Sean Ingle Reflects on The Enhanced Games
Caution for Contact Sport Athletes and CTE / Women's Rugby Six Nations and Smaller Balls / Worst Sport to be Elite at?
A Huge Doping Bust in Georgia Rugby / Epic Climbs and Concussions in Cycling / Who is the Greatest Track Athlete of Them All?
The Rise of Southern African Sprinting / London Marathon Pacing Blunders / Seixas to the Tour / Your Carb Questions Answered
Can You Trust AI For Health and Training Advice?
The Spotlight On The Sub-2: A Deep Dive Into Sawe's Marathon Masterclass
The Sporting Mind: Overcoming Mental Barriers For Better Performance
1:59:30! The Sub Two Hour Marathon Falls To Sabastian Sawe
Boston Bonanza - Course Record Analysis / Elite Runners Avoiding Carbs? / Acute Stress Anti-Doping Refusal
Cobbled Coronations in Roubaix / Benji Naesen vs UCI / Marathon Majors and Sawe's Doping Credibility Campaign
The Norwegian Way: What We Can Learn From Their Success
Why Cobbles Cost Cyclists / Cheap Carbon Shoes Break Records / Doping Confessions and Cons
Cycling, Game Theory and Group 2 Syndrome / Kerr's 222 Attempt / Teenage Phenoms Set up to Fail
Support the Science of Sport - become a supporter, show your support, keep us ad free, and you get access to the best sports science community around!Show NotesIn this Spotlight, we kick off with cycling, and wonder whether we're seeing a tactical evolution in cycling in response to long-range attacks. We also talk about Group 2 syndrome, and why elite cyclists could be a behavioural economist's ideal cohort. Cycling safety is in the Spotlight, after the inquest into the death of Muriel Furrer concludes, and new devices over-promise on risk reduction and head impact measurement.In athletics, Josh Kerr is going for a mile world record, and it'll actually be legitimate, while teen phenom Gout Gout is in the news, though not for winning this time. We discuss how misplaced the general expectation of teenage progress is, and why we may be setting young talent up to fail, no matter how it succeeds. Speaking of failure, Albert Korir failed three drugs tests and confessed, and is now serving a ban. Do we even care?And finally, another teenage phenom is in the news, as Indian 15-year old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi smashed a 15-ball half century to go with a 35-ball century last year. He's now old enough to play for India. But should he? That's a different question...LinksArticle on the Muriel Furrer inquestA device claims to measure head impact to protect MTBersJosh Kerr going for the mile World RecordGout Gout beaten in what is described as an "upset", but that betrays unreasonable expectationsArticle on Albert Korir's positive tests and banWhy Sooryavanshi should not be fast-tracked into the Indian T20 squad Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S8 Ep 7How To Win One of the World's Toughest Mountain Bike Races
bonusThe Absa Cape Epic is a 700km, eight-stage, two-man team mountain bike race renowned as one of the toughest and most prestigious in the world. But what does it take to win this event against some of the world's best mountain bikers? We spoke to Mike Posthumus, the Head of Performance for the Specialised Factory Racing Off-road team, about the preparation, recovery, race tactics, and behind-the-scenes work that helped his team of Matt Beers and Tristan Nortje win the overall title. From practical tips on recovery to the amazing stats behind the performance, this is a rare insight for anyone taking on a multi-stage endurance event. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.