Leigh Yong, a triathlete and clinical physiotherapist based in Victoria, Australia, was recently featured on the Triathlon Nutrition  Academy podcast hosted by Taryn Richardson. 

Leigh shared her triathlon journey, starting from a mini triathlon in Barwon Heads to completing a full Ironman race after three years of training (thanks COVID!). She mentioned that although the Ironman race was a great achievement, she realised that she enjoyed short-course triathlons better, which led her to focus on sprint and Olympic distance events in the 2XU Tri Series. Leigh's endurance base, along with a focus on nutrition, helped her achieve faster times and better results in her age group, with three 5th places and two 3rd place podiums, and a 4th overall ranking in the series.

She shared how, after joining the Triathlon Nutrition Academy, learning how to be nutrition wise and changing her diet to match her training she has improved her performance, training and racing. Apart...

Being a cyclist before getting into triathlon, Steve has valuable insights to share about the nutritional challenges that come with training for three sports instead of one.

Recent podcast guest, Steve Duquette, is a Canadian triathlete from Ontario. Steve has been participating in triathlon for a couple of years and is now preparing to take on his first 70.3 this year. 

When asked about how he fell in love with triathlon, Steve revealed that he was intrigued by the challenge of doing three sports. He was introduced to the sport through his cycling friends who were also participating in triathlons. Steve completed three events last year, including a sprint, a half Ironman, and an Olympic distance. He said he was proud of himself for finishing all three events, but he knew he needed help because he had difficulty completing the runs. Steve sought the help of the Academy program and has been a member for six months now.

Steve shared that the biggest...

It's the Easter long weekend and what better time to talk about chocolate and sports performance.

But before we dive into the topic, let me introduce myself. My name is Taryn, and I am an Advanced Sports Dietitian with a passion for endurance sports. I have been helping athletes of all levels achieve their nutrition goals for over a decade now. If you're interested in improving your triathlon nutrition, I invite you to grab my Triathlon Nutrition Checklist, which is available for free at dietitianapproved.com/checklist. It's a 50-step checklist that covers everything from pre-workout meals to post-race recovery.

Now, let's talk about chocolate. I know it's not something you would typically associate with triathlon nutrition, but hear me out. In 2015, a paper was published exploring the idea of chocolate and performance, and I think it's worth discussing again. While chocolate is high in calories and sugar, dark chocolate, in particular, contains a number of beneficial...

Kirsty Howatson – a past Triathlon Nutrition Academy athlete who, to date, has only done Phase One lives in New Zealand and, while not technically a triathlete, recently raced the Coast to Coast in February, which is an epic multi day event.  She shared her story.

What is the Coast to Coast event?

The Coast to Coast is a race from the coast of one side of New Zealand to the coast of the other side of New Zealand.

The aim is that you're going to cross the country, which is 243 kilometres on foot, bike and in a kayak.

Over two days there is the Longest Day which is a one day event as well, which is like the world multi sport championship event – essentially the Coast to Coast that needs to be completed within 14 hours.

For the Longest Day, you start at 6 am with a 2.2 km run.

You go into a 55 km bike, which you're allowed to draft in, and then it's 30 kilometers over Goat Pass, which is just one of the passes in the middle of the Southern Alps with 1000...

Is nutrition a bit of a blindspot for you?

Do you eat on the fly, winging it with nutrition choices and don’t really have a plan?

Is grocery shopping one of those painful adulting chores you hate and struggle through?

Well, it’s probably time to get your sh!t together in the food department!

If you want to be a successful triathlete, it’s time to get proactive with your nutrition rather than reactive. Which means that spending a little bit of time meal planning and organising your nutrition is key if you want to eat to support triathlon training.

Let me share some tips and tricks with you on how to prioritise your health and nutrition without having to spend hours slaving away in the kitchen or breaking the bank.

Fueling Your Body Like a High-Performance Machine: The Importance of Systematic Meal Planning and Organisation.

When it comes to fueling your body, you don't want to settle for anything less than the best. Just like a high-performance engine...

Are you a triathlete struggling with grocery shopping? You're not alone.

Many people find it overwhelming and challenging, especially when it comes to picking the healthiest, most nutrient-packed foods at the best price. But don’t stress! I’ve put together the Ultimate Grocery Guide for Triathletes to help you shop SMARTER and FASTER.

As a sports dietitian, I believe that nutrition is the fourth leg of triathlon. You have to swim, bike, run, and eat. My passion is to set you up for success now and in the long term, not just a quick fix. The grocery guide provides the foundations to help you structure your shopping trip to get all the things you need as an endurance athlete.

Here are my top tips:

1. Go in with a plan

As a triathlete – your nutrition differs from the general population – you can’t throw anything in your trolley and hope for the best.

Make a choice for health and performance because nutrition is the make or break when it comes to a...

So, what’s the deal?  What is sodium bicarbonate? How does it work? And is it something you should be looking at?

There’s a new supplement on the market from one of the big supplement companies that markets heavily to triathletes – bicarbonate aka bicarb of soda, baking soda or sodium bicarbonate.

Athletes within the Triathlon Nutrition Academy get to dive deep into this during the program, but I thought it was important to provide you with a quick summary – so you can make an informed decision on whether it’s worth the investment.

So, what’s the deal?  What is it? How does it work? And is it something you should be looking at?

Sodium Bicarbonate

Sodium bicarbonate is produced by the body and it's an integral component of our body's primary pH buffering system.

Also known as bicarb soda or baking soda – a white powder you buy from supermarkets, used in baking to help food rise.

Why would you use sodium bicarb to improve...

Vitamins play many important roles in the body.

There are 13 essential vitamins our body needs for normal, healthy functioning.

Our body cannot make these itself (or cannot make enough of them) so, for the most part, we need to get them through our diet.

When vitamins are missing from the diet, poor health and illness can occur.

Vitamin C deficiency = Scurvy

Vitamin D deficiency = rickets

Calcium deficiency = porous, weak bones & teeth

You may be surprised to know vitamins are usually only needed in small amounts. Too much of some can cause symptoms or toxicity.

The 13 vitamins are:                      

• A
• B1    
• B2    
• B3  
• B5
• B6
• B7
• B9
• B12
• C
• D
• E
• K.

Wondering what happened to the missing letters? They were named in order, but later discovered that some weren’t vitamins, others were related...

How do you taper for triathlon? How do you taper for Ironman? And how do you optimise your triathlon taper?

I hear lots of mixed messages when it comes to tapering for a triathlon race. You put all this effort into training, not tapering properly can have a massive impact on how you perform on race day.

Pro Triathlete and TriDot Coach, Elizabeth James, recently joined me on the Triathlon Nutrition Academy podcast. She generously shared her knowledge and experience from both the athlete and coaching perspectives.

Tapering is this progressive decrease in training load.

And we got into the details of how to do that and what that means.

• What is an exercise taper?

• A gradual reduction in the training load

• Why do you need to taper? Why is it so important for exercise performance?

• The gradual reduction provides for the physiological adaptation, or rest and recovery, that allows us to be ready for race day
• Tapering allows the body to really replenish and regulate itself
• Allows an...

While the swim is the shortest component of a triathlon, it can be the make or break of your race.

Whether you are a natural swimmer or feel like you’re swimming in a washing machine, we can all benefit from improving our technique.

Ex-national swimmer turned swim coach, Brenton Ford of Effortless Swimming, helps everyday athletes like you and me become faster, more efficient swimmers.

He recently joined me on the Triathlon Nutrition Academy podcast where he answered all the questions I know you’d want asked and gave his very practical tips around becoming a confident, faster, more efficient swimmer and improving your race time in the swim.

What are the biggest mistakes triathletes makes when it comes to swim technique (and how do we fix them)?

When assessing someone’s swimming technique I’ll follow a structured order: Body, head, kick, rotation, arms, extremities and timing.

Often one of the biggest mistakes triathletes makes when it comes to their...