Dear Coaches,
Here’s what’s coming up today:
Expert Opinion
The Volunteer Advantage
Twelve muscle biopsies. Countless blood draws. Hours sweating in research saunas.
Most students dodge the uncomfortable stuff.
Dr. James Morehen volunteered for it all.
Dr. Louise Sutton, Head of Sports Nutrition at Leeds Beckett University, has 25 years of experience in sports nutrition. Speaking on the GetPro FastFuels podcast, she's observed thousands of students throughout her career.
The difference? Volunteering.
"Those are the students who go on and carve out successful careers for themselves," Sutton reveals. "They've been willing to put themselves up there and out there, take any opportunities."
While classmates focused solely on coursework, Morehen raised his hand for every research project. The payoff wasn't just the experience—it was understanding the complete ecosystem.
"I learned so much about what it involved to be a PhD student and the intricacies of running studies and being participants and the ethics and signing consent forms."
The lesson extends beyond nutrition science. Every industry has its "muscle biopsy moments"—uncomfortable opportunities that separate the committed from the casual.
Volunteer for research, offer to help with projects, say yes to the uncomfortable opportunities your peers avoid.
The students who give back while learning are the ones who stand out when career opportunities arise.
In Partnership With
Performance Nutrition Network
Resource Roundup
News & Resources
Performance Tech
Whoop Replacement?
Subscription fatigue is killing client adherence to wearable technology.
Polar's new Loop addresses this directly with a £149.50 one-time purchase versus Whoop's ongoing subscription model.
The 29-gram screenless band uses Polar's Precision Prime optical sensor with 8-day battery life and automatic workout detection across 170+ sports. No buzzing, no notifications, no daily charging anxiety.
But the technical limitations matter for performance applications.
Single Bluetooth connection prevents heart rate broadcasting to gym equipment. No built-in GPS requires phone connectivity for route tracking. Device sync issues can double step counts when used alongside existing Polar watches.
Administrative overhead increases when automatic workouts default to "other indoor" classification, requiring manual sport tagging afterward.
The current Polar Flow app experience lags significantly behind Whoop's interface, though Polar has announced a complete redesign with no delivery timeline.
