Every guide, one place
Every guide we've published, newest first. Each one lists its sources at the end.
Hydration for Athletes: How Much to Drink and When to Add Salt
How much to drink before, during and after exercise, how to find your sweat rate and when electrolytes are worth it.
How to Stay Motivated to Exercise When You Don't Feel Like It
Why motivation fades, why habits beat willpower and research-backed ways to keep training through busy weeks and bad weather.
Sleep for Athletes: How Much You Need and How to Get More
Why sleep matters for performance and injury, how much athletes need and practical ways to sleep better around training.
Creatine for Athletes: Benefits, Dosage and Is It Safe?
What creatine does, who benefits, how much to take, whether to load and what the research says about safety and side effects.
Interval Training Explained: VO2 Max, Threshold and Sprint Sessions
The main types of interval training, what each one improves, how hard to go and sample sessions you can try this week.
Visualisation for Athletes: How to Use Mental Imagery That Works
What mental imagery does, what the research shows, and a step-by-step method for practising it so it carries over to competition.
Runner's Knee: Causes, Exercises and How to Get Back to Running
What causes pain around the kneecap, the hip and knee exercises that work best and how to keep running while it settles.
How Much Protein Do You Need? A Practical Guide for Athletes
Daily protein targets for runners, lifters and team-sport players, how much to eat at each meal and the best sources.
Strength Training for Runners: The Exercises That Actually Help
Why lifting makes runners faster and less injury-prone, the exercises worth doing, how heavy to go and a simple twice-a-week plan.
How to Start Running: A Complete Beginner's Guide and 8-Week Plan
How slow to go, what kit matters, how to avoid beginner injuries and an eight-week run-walk plan to 30 minutes of running.
Carb Loading: How to Do It Properly Before a Marathon or Long Race
What carb loading does, who needs it, how much to eat and when, a sample menu and the mistakes that leave runners heavy and flat.
Plantar Fasciitis: Causes, Treatment and Exercises for Heel Pain
Why the heel hurts with your first steps, the stretches and strength exercises that help most, insoles, and recovery time.
Muscle Soreness After Exercise (DOMS): Why It Happens and What Helps
Why muscles ache a day or two after hard exercise, what actually helps, whether to train through it, and soreness versus injury.
Mental Toughness in Sport: What It Really Is and How to Build It
What mental toughness really means, why it's more skill than personality, and practical ways to build it in training.
Zone 2 Training: The Slow Work That Makes You Fast
Why elite endurance athletes spend most of their time going slow, how to find your Zone 2 heart rate and how to fit it into a busy week.
What to Eat Before, During and After Exercise
How to fuel training properly: what to eat and when, how much carbohydrate and protein you need, hydration, and easy meal ideas.
Shin Splints: Why They Happen and How to Get Back to Running
What causes shin splints, how to treat them, the exercises that help and a step-by-step plan to return to running pain-free.
Pre-Game Nerves: How to Turn Anxiety Into Performance
Why trying to calm down often backfires, and practical techniques to make pre-competition nerves work for you.
Choose where to start
Not sure which guide fits? Pick the lane that matches your biggest question right now.
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1
Training
Endurance, strength and how to plan a week. Getting fitter month after month without burning out or breaking down.Now reading: Interval training explained
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2
Nutrition
What to eat, when and how much. Fuelling training, competition and recovery without the fads.Now reading: Hydration for athletes
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3
Recovery
Injury prevention, rehab and the recovery habits that keep you training. Sleep, load management and common sports injuries.Now reading: Sleep for athletes
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4
Mindset
Sport psychology made practical. Nerves, focus, motivation and confidence for match day and every day.Now reading: Staying motivated to train
Read in any order
Every guide on Sports Health Guide is written to stand on its own. You don't need to read them in order, and you don't need any background in sports science.
If you're new to structured training, start with Zone 2 training. It introduces ideas, like training load and easy versus hard effort, that come up across the site.
If something hurts, go straight to the Recovery lane. Our shin splints guide includes a step-by-step return-to-running plan that also works as a template for other overuse injuries.
If you have a big event coming up, read the fuelling guide and the pre-game nerves guide together. Between them they cover most of what goes wrong on race day.
Each guide opens with a short summary, so you can get the main points in a minute and come back for the detail later. The contents list on the left (or at the top on a phone) lets you jump straight to the section you need.
Quick corrections
A few of the most common bits of bad advice we see, with links to the guides that go deeper.
MythEvery session should leave you exhausted.
What the evidence saysMost endurance athletes improve faster when the majority of sessions are easy. Exhaustion every day usually means stalled progress and higher injury risk. Why easy training works.
MythYou have to eat protein within 30 minutes of training.
What the evidence saysYour daily total matters far more. A normal meal within a couple of hours is fine for most people. Our fuelling guide.
MythRest completely until the pain is gone.
What the evidence saysFor most overuse injuries, reduced activity that doesn't aggravate symptoms works better than complete rest. The shin splints guide shows how.
MythIf you're nervous, just calm down.
What the evidence saysTrying to force calm often backfires. Reframing nerves as excitement tends to help more. The pre-game nerves guide.
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New guides as they come out, plus one practical training idea. Sunday mornings, and short enough to read over coffee.