Smarter training starts here. Athletica’s newsletters deliver science-backed insights, expert tips, and AI-powered training updates for endurance athletes of all levels. Catch up on past editions and subscribe to stay ahead in your training journey.
The muscle that matters most this race week
|
Hello Reader, I wanted to share a quick story and a new release I’m really proud of. Years ago, when Kyle Buckingham crossed the line first at Ironman South Africa, he reflected later and said to me: “Paul—I know you’re trained as a physiologist, but really, you’re more of a psychologist.” It made me smile. Andi Boecherer once told me almost exactly the same thing after winning Ironman Lanzarote. It took me back to my early days at the Australian Institute of Sport with my mentor Dr David T Martin, who taught me the truth that underpins every race-week plan I’ve written since: Belief is the real performance enhancer. The physiology just gives it a place to show up. That theme came up again when I spoke with Prof John Kiely on the Training Science Podcast. No matter how sophisticated our periodisation or taper numbers, in the end, the athlete’s mindset is what brings it all to life. And that is what our coaching process needs to deliver. So—how do we bottle that?This month, I’m excited to announce that Athletica’s AI-Coach now offers a fully personalized Race Week Countdown Plan—a daily, calm check-in that reminds you:
Every day, a short mindset prompt lands right when you need it most—mirroring what I’d say if I was there with you in person at the start line.
Let’s hear from youI know it’s Northern Hemisphere summer—and many of you are in the thick of race season (and even race week) right now. I’d love for you to have a read of your AI-Coach’s race week messages, put them into practice, and let us know in the Forum thread how it worked for you. I’m all ears—and our team is always listening to help us make it better for the next time you're standing on the start line. Yours in training and racing, Paul Laursen, PhD |
Athletica AI Coach and Training Science
Smarter training starts here. Athletica’s newsletters deliver science-backed insights, expert tips, and AI-powered training updates for endurance athletes of all levels. Catch up on past editions and subscribe to stay ahead in your training journey.
Hello Reader, The new Athletica Training Experience is now live. This update brings together a refreshed interface, a conversational AI Coach, and Athletica U into a single, integrated training environment. The best place to begin is by taking the Tour. Start with the TourFrom the left-hand panel, navigate to Learn → Tour. This guided walkthrough will orient you to the new experience and show you how the key parts of the platform fit together, including the Calendar, Dashboard, Roadmap, Plan...
Hello Reader, As we prepare to launch the next chapter of Athletica, I wanted to take a moment to speak directly to you and to recognize the people who made this release possible. This update has been a long time coming. It represents years of work across science, engineering, design, and coaching, all with one goal in mind: to build the most effective and trustworthy training system possible for athletes and coaches. Before outlining what is coming, it is important to acknowledge the team...
Hello Reader, As our team at Athletica puts the final pieces in place for the launch of our new platform, including the new UIX, conversational AI-Coach, and Athletica U, I wanted to pause and share a broader perspective. There is a lot of noise right now around “AI coaching.” Much of it is well intentioned, but some of it risks distracting from the real work that matters: helping athletes and coaches make better decisions day to day. The piece below is longer than a typical email, but it...