veohtu noun.
Pronunciation: vee-oh-two.
1. The volume of oxygen consumed per minute (VO2).
2. A measure of aerobic metabolism.
2. A measure of aerobic metabolism.
Hello, I'm Thomas Solomon, the founder and sole owner of Veohtu.
I’m a former Associate Professor turned endurance performance and nutrition consultant, and would describe myself as a trail-running, gravel-riding, cross-country skiing, rock-climbing, photograph-taking, craft beer enthusiast with a big orange beard.
My mission is to help people improve their running performance while they learn how to master their training journey, forever.

Equality in education, health, and sustainability is important to me. I was lucky to be born into a social welfare system where higher education was free. Sadly, that is no longer true. Consequently, to provide access to exercise science and sports nutrition education to folks from all walks of life, I publish freely accessible high-quality exercise science and nutritional science content.


Be informed
Stay educated
Think critically.













IMPORTANT: I have an undergraduate degree in Biochemistry and a Doctorate in exercise science but do not provide medical treatment or medical counselling. I am a Registered Nutritionist (RNutr) with the Association for Nutrition but do not practice medical nutrition therapy. I am an ACSM-certified Exercise Physiologist (ACSM-EP) and ACSM-certified Personal Trainer (ACSM-CPT) with a VDOT Distance Running Coaching Certification but do not provide physical therapy. I always operate within my remit and will advise in finding the correct practitioner outside of my remit. The information I provide is not medical advice. Before making any changes to your habits of daily living based on any information I provide, always ensure it is safe for you to do so and consult your doctor if you are unsure.

I was educated in the UK at the University of Birmingham, earning my BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry in 2002 and a PhD in Exercise Science in 2006. I then trained in clinical biochemistry at Derby Royal Infirmary and Queens Medical Centre, after which I moved to the USA to complete a three-year postdoctoral fellowship in metabolism and endocrinology at the Cleveland Clinic. I then jumped back across the pond to spend five years in Denmark, first as a Senior Researcher/Assistant Professor leading a human physiology research group at the Centre for Inflammation and Metabolism (recently rebranded as the Center for Activity Research) at Copenhagen University Hospital (Rigshospitalet), and then as an Associate Professor of Molecular Metabolism at the University of Copenhagen. In 2015, I returned to the UK with a Marie Curie Individual Fellowship from the European Commission to work as a Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Physical Activity and Health at the University of Birmingham.
To explore other opportunities and seek new challenges, I left academia in 2018 to begin my self-employed business owner life as a freelance consultant. My passion for scientific writing, grantsmanship, and data analysis led me to establish Blazon Scientific to consult for scientists at universities and biotech companies. I also developed Veohtu, an endurance performance and sports nutrition education resource for scientists, clinicians, coaches, students, and athletes. However, my direct role in academia is far from over: I keep my brain “switched on” to the developments in exercise science by continuing to participate in weekly journal clubs with other academics, peer-reviewing grants and journal manuscripts, and investing every Friday in reading what new delights have spawned onto PubMed.
My area of expertise is in metabolism, specifically related to exercise metabolism and macronutrient metabolism. I’ve explored this field since 2002 using clinical observational studies, randomised controlled trials, systematic reviews and meta-analyses, and in vitro cellular models. My success is demonstrable through more than 80 peer-reviewed journal publications, research grant awards amounting to approximately £960,000; over 20 media interviews; and more than 50 invited talks and keynote presentations at universities and medical societies. I’ve also taught and led university courses at the BSc, MSc, Medical Student, and PhD levels in biochemistry, metabolism, exercise physiology, physical activity, and nutrition. The impact of my work is measured as an H-index of 48 with 6200 citations.
Since 2002, I have worked with hundreds of people to integrate a physically-active lifestyle and better nutrition choices into their daily habits. Over the past 10 years, I have also advised, coached, and designed training programmes for athletes of all levels, from the armchair through to elite international racers. I am driven to help people learn and understand the underlying principles of health science. In doing so, it is my passion to relay accurate, evidence-based scientific knowledge to the real world, and to use my expertise to help people optimise their health through physical activity or to maximise their performance with up-to-date endurance and strength training methods. I have studied the philosophies of some of "the greats" from the running world, including Arthur Lydiard, Jack Daniels, Mihaly Igloi, Harry Wilson, Renato Canova, Steve Magness, and Peter Coe, consulted strength coaches on power development, and consulted bouldering coaches on grip training strategies. I have developed my expertise from a wide range of experiences as a scientific researcher, lecturer, coach, adviser, athlete, and climber. I personally test everything I prescribe so I can understand my client's phenotypic feelings, effort levels, and recovery expectations from each session. With my passion for learning, I have widely studied the principles of training approaches and nutrition/diet-exercise interactions and have always sought to understand the why in such methods. This has helped me achieve several fitness qualifications: I am an an ACSM-certified Exercise Physiologist, an ACSM-certified Personal Trainer, a Dr Jack Daniels certified VDOT O2 Distance Running Coach, and a Registered Nutritionist (RNutr) with the Association for Nutrition. I have also pledged to the Clean Sport Collective and am "I run clean" certified by European Athletics.
With my PhD, I am also constantly in touch with current evidence, connected with experts, and am trained in critical evaluation of scientific papers. This optimises my ability to coach, advise, and train, helping people to successfully achieve their goals. Continuing education is an important part of anyone's skill set. As a PhD, I personally entertain this, but it is also requisite in order to maintain my qualifications. I attend conferences and scientific meetings, hold weekly journal clubs (including those with other coaches), read journals and books, and take continuing education courses. I also learn a lot every single day from the athletes I work with.... Every day is a school day.
My coached athletes have had many successes including:









In 2018, I was named “Coach of the year” by the OCR Audio podcast. In 2019, four of my athletes were selected to be a part of the first-ever Spartan UK Pro Team. In 2020, one of my athletes was selected to represent the UK as an elite athlete at the inaugural FISO World OCR Championships.
Over the past 25 years, I have maintained a high level of athletic performance beginning as a rogue youngster with soccer, basketball, middle-distance track racing, and cross country running, coached in Kingston-upon-Thames by Stan Belton and Dave Lucas until 1998. As a youngster, I represented county and regional teams and by age 17 had run 52.12 for 400m and 1:56.98 for 800m. I became a little bored with running and ventured into road and track cycling, coached by Luke Moseley and advised by Jack Hill and Alan Milway until 2003, riding as a domestique for Jack en route to his British University Road Race champs win. That was when my interest in coaching was sparked, and thereafter I started observing, reading, and knowledge sponging so I could self-coach and begin to advise others. To combine cycling with running, I moved into duathlon racing, finding success with a 10th place finish at the 2003 World Championships. But I fully returned to running when I moved to the USA in 2007, running sub-16 for 5 km and sub-33 for 10 km aged 27, later achieving a marathon racing best in 2015 of 2:37:14 at the London Marathon aged 35, all self-coached.
However, something was missing. It turned out that my love for the ruggedness of the outdoors was being neglected and this led me to seek out trails and off-piste scenery. Hence the development of my passion (read: borderline obsession) for trail running, mountain climbing, bouldering, gravel biking, cross-country skiing, and obstacle course racing (OCR). From 2016 to 2018, I dedicated my athletic pursuits to OCR and finished 9th in the UK OCR League in 2016 and had several top 5 and podium finishes in elite wave races. I finished the 2018 Spartan Race season ranked 42nd elite male in the world, 5th elite male in the UK National Series, and was very proud to race under the UK flag at the Spartan Race European Championships in Morzine and the Spartan Race World Championships in Tahoe. In 2019, aged 39, I retired from dedicated racing but continue to train for fun and continue to enter events to recce new developments in the trail / mountain / OCR world to provide current information for helping educate athletes. In doing so, I've maintained decent fitness as a Masters athlete, entering several mountain running events each year.
I have always supported my own training as well as my coaching/advising with a focus on mobility and strength. I am an advocate for the mastery of body movement and spatial awareness and engage in activities like bouldering and callisthenics since the skills one develops from such activities (mobility, balance, and proprioception) are transferable to mountain/trail and obstacle success. They also engage my most important mantra for leaving the house to train:
If it isn't fun, make a change.
What did I do over the last 12 months to keep learning how to be a better performance consultant?














— A life on our planet. By David Attenborough.
— The Future We Choose. By Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac.
— The Skill Code. By Matt Beane.
— The Secret Cyclist. By The Secret Cyclist.
— Visualize This. By Nathan Yau.
— The History of Bees. By Maja Lunde.
— The Anxious Generation. By Jonathan Haidt.
— Bayesian statistics the fun way. By Will Kurt.
— The coach's guide to teaching. By Doug Lemov.
— The Future We Choose. By Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac.
— The Skill Code. By Matt Beane.
— The Secret Cyclist. By The Secret Cyclist.
— Visualize This. By Nathan Yau.
— The History of Bees. By Maja Lunde.
— The Anxious Generation. By Jonathan Haidt.
— Bayesian statistics the fun way. By Will Kurt.
— The coach's guide to teaching. By Doug Lemov.

— Mind Set Win. From RedBull.
— Fueling Endurnce. From Steph Gaskell and Alan McCubbin.
— BJSM. From the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
— Inside exercise. From Glenn McConnell.
— The Drive. From Peter Attia.
— Finding Mastery. From Michael Gervais.
— Nordic Nation. From FasterSkier.com.
— The Psychology podcast. From Scott Barry Kaufman.
— Matt Stephens Unplugged. From Sigma Sports
— Just Ride. From Rob Warner and Eliot Jackson.
— Iron Culture. From Eric Helms, Eric Trexler, & Omar Isuf.
— The Real Science of Sport podcast. From Ross Tucker & Mike Finch.
— The Stronger by Science podcast. From Greg Nuckols.
— Koopcast. From Jason Koop.
— Science of running. From Steve Magness & Jon Marcus.
— TED talks Daily. From TED.
— Bobby and Jens. From Bobby Julich and Jens Voigt.
— The Move. From Lance Armstrong.
— Watts Occurring. From Geraint Thomas and Luke Rowe.
— Tetragrammaton. From Rick Rubin.
— DataFramed. From DataCamp.
— Fueling Endurnce. From Steph Gaskell and Alan McCubbin.
— BJSM. From the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
— Inside exercise. From Glenn McConnell.
— The Drive. From Peter Attia.
— Finding Mastery. From Michael Gervais.
— Nordic Nation. From FasterSkier.com.
— The Psychology podcast. From Scott Barry Kaufman.
— Matt Stephens Unplugged. From Sigma Sports
— Just Ride. From Rob Warner and Eliot Jackson.
— Iron Culture. From Eric Helms, Eric Trexler, & Omar Isuf.
— The Real Science of Sport podcast. From Ross Tucker & Mike Finch.
— The Stronger by Science podcast. From Greg Nuckols.
— Koopcast. From Jason Koop.
— Science of running. From Steve Magness & Jon Marcus.
— TED talks Daily. From TED.
— Bobby and Jens. From Bobby Julich and Jens Voigt.
— The Move. From Lance Armstrong.
— Watts Occurring. From Geraint Thomas and Luke Rowe.
— Tetragrammaton. From Rick Rubin.
— DataFramed. From DataCamp.
Think critically. Keep informed. Stay educated.
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Integrity is at the core of my values.
I have pledged to the Clean Sport Collective to create positive change in supporting athletes who are committed to clean sport.
I am not affiliated with / sponsored by / an ambassador for / receiving advertisement royalties from any brands.
My advice concerning branded nutrition, hydration, supplements, and equipment is objective, based on personal preferences, and never influenced by affiliations, sponsorships, advertisement royalties, etc.
Any recommendations I make are, and always will be, based on my own views and opinions shaped by the evidence available. My recommendations have never and will never be influenced by affiliations, sponsorships, advertisement royalties, etc.
I have conducted biomedical research for which I have received research money from publicly-funded national research councils and medical charities, and also from private companies, including Novo Nordisk Foundation, AstraZeneca, Amylin, the A.P. Møller Foundation, and the Augustinus Foundation. I’ve also consulted for Boost Treadmills and Gu Energy on their R&D grant applications and I've provided research and science writing services for Examine. Some of my articles contain links to information provided by Examine but I do not receive any royalties or bonuses from those links. Importantly, none of these companies had any control over the research design, data analysis, or publication outcomes of my work.
To inform the Veohtu Train Smart Framework, I do my utmost to use state-of-the-art, consensus, peer reviewed, and published scientific evidence combined with my empirical evidence observed in practice and feedback from athletes.
The information I provide is not medical advice. Before making any changes to your habits of daily living based on any information I provide, always ensure it is safe for you to do so and always consult your doctor if you are unsure.






