Exercise science articles from Thomas Solomon

New article out now: Recovery Magic Tool — updated!

Thoroughly-researched summaries of cutting-edge scientific evidence in exercise science and sports nutrition.

For marathon runners, trail runners, ultra runners, obstacle course racers, and endurance athletes.

Researched and written by Thomas Solomon, PhD.

Click a button below to filter the articles by topic, then scroll down to find what you need.

Updated every 6-months.
Last update: 17^th January 2025.

The Recovery Magic Tool.

A free resource for scientists, practitioners, coaches, and athletes to help inform their choices in using various approaches for recovery.

Exercise science and sports nutrition for runners, obstacle course racers, and endurance athletes from Thomas Solomon PhD

1^st Apr 2025.
JUST FOR FUN:

FarThane CH₄.

Another ground-breaking advance in sports science to help boost your performance.

1^st Apr 2024.
JUST FOR FUN:

Recovery Chair 3000.

Another ground-breaking advance in recovery science to help boost your performance.

Updated every 6-months.
Last update: 1^st August 2023.

The Sports supplements tool.

A free resource for scientists, practitioners, coaches, and athletes to help inform their choices in using sports supplements to boost performance.

1^st Apr 2023.
JUST FOR FUN:

WaterPlusTwo.

Another ground-breaking advance in sports nutrition to help boost your performance.

28^th May 2022.
DEEP DIVE: Immunology.

Should you train after a vaccine?

26^th March 2022.
DEEP-DIVE: Fatigue in runners. Part 1 of 6.

What is fatigue?

2^nd April 2022.
DEEP-DIVE: Fatigue in runners. Part 2 of 6.

The causes of fatigue — do your muscles slow you down?

9^nd April 2022.
DEEP-DIVE: Fatigue in runners. Part 3 of 6.

The causes of fatigue — does your brain slow you down?

16^nd April 2022.
DEEP-DIVE: Fatigue in runners. Part 4 of 6.

What causes fatigue during exercise? Why do you slow down?

30^nd April 2022.
DEEP-DIVE: Fatigue in runners. Part 5 of 6.

How to resist fatigue. How to stop slowing down.

7^th May 2022.
DEEP-DIVE: Fatigue in runners. Part 6 of 6.

The final sprint — why is there always something left in the tank?

1^st Apr 2022.
JUST FOR FUN:

SuperMegaEnergySpinach — another ground-breaking advance in sports nutrition to help boost your performance.

~~31^st March 2020~~. Updated: 21^st Jan 2022.

Should you consider breath-hold training to boost your running performance?

11^th Dec 2021.
DEEP-DIVE: Muscle cramps. Part 1 of 2.

What causes exercise-associated muscle cramps?

11^th Dec 2021.
DEEP-DIVE: Muscle cramps. Part 2 of 2.

How to stop muscle cramps during training & racing?

27^th Nov 2021.

Continuous glucose monitoring for athletes.

OPINION:

The “glucose performance zone” is all hype.

16^th Oct 2021.
DEEP-DIVE: Training & racing in the heat. Part 1 of 3.

What does heat do to your body?

16^th Oct 2021.
DEEP-DIVE: Training & racing in the heat. Part 2 of 3.

How can you keep your cool on race day?

16^th Oct 2021.
DEEP-DIVE: Training & racing in the heat. Part 3 of 3.

How can you heat acclimate before race day?

~~5^th Feb 2020.~~
Updated: 16^th Oct 2021.
DEEP-DIVE: Training & racing in the cold. Part 1 of 3.

Understanding hypothermia.

~~17^th Feb 2020.~~
Updated: 16^th Oct 2021.
DEEP-DIVE: Training & racing in the cold. Part 2 of 3.

How to be safe and warm in the cold.

~~28^th Feb 2020.~~
Updated: 16^th Oct 2021.
DEEP-DIVE: Training & racing in the cold. Part 3 of 3.

Can you acclimate to brace the cold?

15^th Aug 2021.
DEEP-DIVE: Hydration. Part 1 of 4.

What we know about hydration.

22^nd Aug 2021.
DEEP-DIVE: Hydration. Part 2 of 4.

What we aren't sure about hydration.

29^th Aug 2021.
DEEP-DIVE: Hydration. Part 3 of 4.

What we don't know about hydration — the salty dilemma with sodium.

12^th Sept 2021.
DEEP-DIVE: Hydration. Part 4 of 4.

What you can do to stay hydrated.

8^th May 2021.
DEEP-DIVE: Performance nutrition. Part 1 of 6.

How much fuel is available in your body?

15^th May 2021.
DEEP-DIVE: Performance nutrition. Part 2 of 6.

How do your muscles use fuel to produce energy?

22^nd May 2021.
DEEP-DIVE: Performance nutrition. Part 3 of 6.

How long does your stored fuel allow your body to go?

5^th June 2021.
DEEP-DIVE: Performance nutrition. Part 4 of 6.

How can you establish high carbohydrate availability before a race?

13^th June 2021.
DEEP-DIVE: Performance nutrition. Part 5 of 6.

Why you should consider maintaining high carbohydrate availability during a race?

3^rd July 2021.
DEEP-DIVE: Performance nutrition. Part 6 of 6.

Putting it into practice — how can you maintain high carbohydrate availability?

1^st Apr 2021.
JUST FOR FUN:

Nocarbozade — a ground-breaking advance in nutritional products that will boost your performance.

30^th Jan 2021.
OPINION:

What do you say to a (vapor)fly? … “Shoo”. But supershoes are probably here to stay.

28^th Dec 2020.
JUST FOR FUN: Comparative Physiology.

A dog is for life not just for Christmas.

21^st Nov 2020.
DEEP-DIVE: Nutritional manipulations for training. Part 1 of 6.

What are fat oxidation rates and why do they matter?

28^th Nov 2020.
DEEP-DIVE: Nutritional manipulations for training. Part 2 of 6.

Increasing fat burning during exercise — acute manipulations of carbohydrate availability.

5^th Dec 2020.
DEEP-DIVE: Nutritional manipulations for training. Part 3 of 6.

Chronic dietary manipulation of carbohydrate availability — 100-years of the low-carb, high-fat diet epic.

12^th Dec 2020.
DEEP-DIVE: Nutritional manipulations for training. Part 4 of 6.

Does a low-carb, high-fat diet offer a performance advantage to an endurance athlete?

19^th Dec 2020.
DEEP-DIVE: Nutritional manipulations for training. Part 5 of 6.

Understanding the “carb wars” using context and perspective.

23^rd Jan 2021.
DEEP-DIVE: Nutritional manipulations for training. Part 6 of 6.

Carb Wars: A New Hope. Carbohydrate periodisation.

28^th Oct 2020.
OPINION:

We are not getting faster; there are just more of us and we are more accessible.

15^th Oct 2020.
DEEP-DIVE: Recovery — the conclusion.

Optimal recovery is achieved by keeping it simple, stupid.

26^th Sep 2020.
DEEP-DIVE: Going beyond nutrition, sleep, and rest for recovery — is there anything else?

Should you use a splash of “magic” for recovery?

8^th August 2020.
DEEP-DIVE: Recovery Nutrition. Part 1 of 5.

Recovery nutrition starts with a healthy eating pattern.

15^th August 2020.
DEEP-DIVE: Recovery Nutrition. Part 2 of 5.

The “post-exercise nutrition window” is your between-session period for nutrient optimisation.

22^nd August 2020.
DEEP-DIVE: Recovery Nutrition. Part 3 of 5.

Eating carbohydrate replenishes muscle glycogen.

29^th August 2020.
DEEP-DIVE: Recovery Nutrition. Part 4 of 5.

Eating protein supports muscle protein synthesis to repair and build tissue.

5^th September 2020.
DEEP-DIVE: Recovery Nutrition. Part 5 of 5.

Carbohydrate plus protein is your recovery super power.

Nutrition reference tables (a supplement for the nutrition articles).

4^th July 2020.
DEEP-DIVE: Recovery Series.

Rest your body and your mind to get ready to go again.

17^th June 2020.
DEEP-DIVE: Recovery Series.

Sleep will supercharge your recovery but what about napping and your chronotype?

~~11^th June 2020~~. Updated: 15^th Dec 2023.
DEEP-DIVE: Recovery Series.

Sleep: a five-letter word to supercharge your recovery.

~~23^rd May 2020~~ 7^th Jan 2025.
DEEP-DIVE: Recovery Series.

Recovery 101 — Eat, sleep, rest, repeat.

10^th May 2020.
DEEP-DIVE: Training adaptations.

What happens in your muscles when you adapt to your training?

18^th April 2020.
DEEP-DIVE: Training load. Part 1 of 2.

Monitor your training load with help from your self-assessing brain.

25^th April 2020.
DEEP-DIVE: Training load. Part 2 of 2.

Metrics that "quantify" training load mdash; what are TRIMP, HRSS, and rTSS?

1^st Apr 2020.
JUST FOR FUN:

SuperMooJuice — a ground-breaking advance in nutritional products for recovery.

26^th March 2020.
DEEP-DIVE: Exercise immunology.

COVID-19 is your signal to stay active but prioritise recovery.

10^th Feb 2020.
OPINION:

World Athletics + rule change = confusion + sadness.

21^st December 2019.
DEEP-DIVE: Genetics.

Is your performance shaped by your genes or your hard work?

29^th November 2019.
OPINION: Part 1 of 3.

Be the architect of your training — plan your training.

2^nd December 2019.
OPINION: Part 2 of 3.

Be the architect of your training — design your training.

6^th December 2019.
OPINION: Part 3 of 3.

Be the architect of your training — review your training.

5^th Nov 2019.
OPINION:

Stress. Rest. Adapt. Grow. While being patient, staying calm, and having fun.

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Equality in education, health, and sustainability matters deeply to me. I was fortunate to be born into a social welfare system where higher education was free. Sadly, that's no longer true. That's why I created Veohtu: to make high-quality exercise science and sports nutrition education freely available to folks from all walks of life. All the content is free, and always will be.