Episode 170: Dr. Stephen Seiler - What Decades of Research REALLY Unveils About High Performance
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If you care about performance, if you want to understand the mechanics of training, if you’re invested in optimizing your training returns to yield the best adaptations, then this episode is assuredly for you.
Matt Dixon welcomes a conversation with Exercise Physiologist, Dr. Stephen Seiler, a living legend in the world of Sports Science and Training Methodology.
After unpacking Dr. Seiler's background and journey to becoming the preeminent Sports Scientist, they dig right in on a variety of topics and myths related to performance.
The premise behind his polarized approach to training
Season planning and how it is the most important thing an athlete can do, but with a caveat that sometimes planning is futile
Dialing in the prescription of training and the mistakes athletes and coaches make when drawing up the training recipe
Dr. Seiler's definition of stress and why our body's ability to perform diminishes in stress
Finding Control in Calm and Chaos
His Trinity of Training Perspectives
Quick hits on: gadgets, tools, metrics, fasting, machine learning, AI
According to Dr. Stephen Seiler, "No Pain, No Gain" is B.S. and we appreciate his decades of research that has led to the following conclusion:
Biology is not the same as building a garage on the side of your house. It's just not that simple and the training blueprint must be adaptable. Success, even at the elite level, is mostly about consistency, making small adjustments, and creating sustainable intensity over long periods of time. It's not about pain, suffering, and brutality. Instead, it's about enjoyment, persistence, and patience.
Episode Timestamps
00:40-07:30 - Welcome and Intro to Dr. Stephen Seiler
07:30-1:23:20 - Interview with Dr. Stephen Seiler
Episode Resources
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About Dr. Stephen Seiler:
After growing up in the US and earning his doctoral degree from the University of Texas at Austin, Stephen Seiler, PhD FACSM, has lived and worked in Norway for over 20 years as a university teacher, researcher, and leader. He is past Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation and past Dean of the Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences at the University of Agder in Kristiansand, Norway. Currently Dr. Seiler is Professor in Sport Science at the same institution. While anchored in an academic environment, Seiler has over the years served as research consultant and scientific advisor for a research foundation, sports teams, a regional hospital and the Norwegian Olympic Federation. From 2014 to 2019, professor Seiler served on the Executive Board of the European College of Sport Science, where he founded the Elite Sport Performance Special Interest Group in 2014.
Over the last 15 years, Seiler has become internationally known for his research publications and lectures related to the organization of endurance training and intensity distribution. This work has included both descriptive and experimental approaches, investigating cyclists, rowers, XC skiers, orienteers, and distance runners. His work has influenced and catalyzed international research around training intensity distribution and the “polarized training model”. Seiler has published ~100 peer-reviewed publications and written over 100 popular science articles related to exercise physiology and the training process. Professor Seiler has also given scientific lectures across Europe, the United States, China, South Africa, and Australia. He is also a founding editorial board member of the International Journal of Sport Physiology and Performance.