Science of the Stride: Energy Balance & Performance with Hannah Caldwell

In episode #155 we talk with researcher Hannah Caldwell about:

  • The importance of maintaining optimal energy availability for muscle repair, hormone production, and overall health.
  • Study Insights: Exploration of a study on low energy availability, revealing a performance impairment in endurance-trained athletes despite high training volumes.
  • Tips on recognizing signs of low energy availability, including monitoring performance perception, menstrual cycle changes, and mood.
  • Guidance for coaches on identifying energy deficits and preventing under-fueling in athletes.
  • Emphasis on strategic carbohydrate timing and colorful plant-based diets to support immune function during intensive training periods.

Hannah Caldwell is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Copenhagen and University of British Columbia. Hannah’s expertise is in integrative cardiovascular physiology in the context of energetic stress and female ultra-endurance performance.

Connect with Hannah Caldwell:

Mentioned:

  • Calculation: your energy intake – your exercise energy expenditure / your fat free mass
    • 65 kilogram female, with approximately 20 % body fat, you could have a fat free mass of 50 kilograms.
    • If you don’t know fat free mass, estimate with online calculators or circumference measurements

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