In this Spotlight episode, Ross and Gareth tackle a provocative question: should sports embrace fatigue to make the show better? We kick off with rugby union, where fresh legs off the bench and player welfare are fuelling debates about injury risks. But things quickly get philosophical. Some sports are basically designed to test how much fatigue you can take. Others are compromised when fatigue creeps in — skills drop, mistakes rise — yet fatigue also cranks up the drama and emotion. So, which sports thrive when athletes are running on empty, and which ones fall apart? And what would happen if you dialed up fatigue across the board — would it wreck the sport or make it even better?

We also take a quick spin through the opening Grand Slam Track meeting in Jamaica, and peek ahead to the LA Olympics, where a bunch of new sports and events just got announced. Plus, concussion protocols and management are in the spotlight: a study from Scotland provides the first results on the lowering of tackle height in the community game; cyclist Elisa Longo-Borghini was pulled mid-race at Flanders; and Aussie cricketer Will Pucovski retired after his 13th concussion. Finally, we throw out a few predictions for Paris-Roubaix this Sunday. Got thoughts on these topics? Come chat with us on Discourse — link’s in the show notes!

Show notes

To get stuck into these and other conversations in sports science, become a Patron of the podcast here, and then jump into the Discourse forum here

Links

• The Guardian article on the new events for the LA Olympics
• World Rugby announces no evidence that the forwards-backs bench split needs to be changed
• In 2023, I did a video presentation on the substitutes/fatigue injury risk issue, and you can watch that here
• Here is Discourse member Hamish Gornall's paper on the tackle height findings from Scotland
• Report on Longo-Borghini's Flanders crash and subsequent removal with concussion
• Will Pucovski's retirement due to repeat and worsening concussions

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Join the team as they dive into the complex world of event sports medicine with guest Dr Darren Green. The team talk about the complexity of setting up a medical facility for major sporting events while tackling the challenges of extreme weather, hydration, injuries and cardiac incidences. Dr Green explains how medical teams work with event organisers to ensure competitor safety and gives practical advice on how participants should look after themselves to ensure they don't end up in a medical tent.

There's also a detailed discussion on the infamous 'Bum Clinic' used at the Absa Cape Epic so be warned that this podcast does include some graphic content.

Dr Green heads up the corporate events department for Mediclinic Southern Africa, which entails oversight of all medical support to major events, setting up the pre-hospital and field hospital infrastructure with niche expertise and ICU capability in remote sites.

Dr Green functions as the Chief Medical Officer for many international sporting events including the World Cup Rugby Sevens, British and Irish Lions tour, Cape Town Cycle tour, Epic and Cape Town Marathon. He is an Alumnus of the University of Stellenbosch, where he completed both his undergraduate degree in Medicine and four years of postgraduate training in Neurology and, more recently, finished off a master’s in Sports and Exercise Medicine at the University of Stellenbosch.

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It's a heart-to-heart on Spotlight today, as Gareth and Ross kick off by discussing a Discourse question about whether running marathons is bad for your heart? Ross describes five cardiac "risks" that have been documented, giving context and a bit of reassurance in response to theory that excessive endurance training is damaging to heart tissue. We then talk about maximum heart rate, and why it's an imperfect anchor for training prescription and a poor comparison between people. We shift from heart to brain to briefly discuss whether coaches should be sanctioned when players tackle poorly in rugby, and end off with a brief look at two teen phenoms competing in Australia last week, wondering whether their trajectories are inviting unreasonable pressure at too young an age.

Discourse

As always, Spotlight is inspired by your engagement in our Discourse community, and you can become a member by visting the Patreon site, and pledging a small monthly amount that gets you access and an opportunity to engage with, and learn from, fellow listeners.

Show notes

• Ian's question about heart risk from marathon running, and some excellent Discourse replies - Members only
• The research paper on troponin elevation after marathons, which kicked off the Discourse discussion at the front of today's show
• Good insight and discussion on whether too much exercise is bad for you?
• Here's that article i mentioned where Tim Noakes punched some holes in the theory that marathon runners would be protected against coronary artery disease
• Ultimately, sudden cardiac death in marathon runners is rare. Here's a review that explores just how rare, and explains the risks
• A Discourse thread on max HR and why it's a limited anchor and set ceiling for training prescription and management
• Here's a paper that describes that sub-max HR test that can be used to identify training adaptation, overreaching and early signs of illness by looking at HR recovery after exercise
• Compound Score revisited and re-explained - following last week's Spotlight, Ross shared more thoughts to explain the Compound Score. Here's that article, available to all, but initially on Discourse
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