Science for Sport Podcast

In this episode of the Science for Sport Podcast, Richard Graves welcomes back Dr Warren Bradley, Co-Founder and Head of Elite Performance at Hytro, to explore how blood flow restriction is being used at the highest level of sport.

With the biggest World Cup in history placing huge demands on players, staff, travel logistics, recovery windows and match preparation, Warren explains where BFR now fits inside elite performance environments.

This conversation goes beyond the basic idea of BFR as a recovery tool. Warren breaks down how it can be used to support circulation, tissue preparation, injury risk reduction, return-to-play, long-haul travel strategies and squad-wide recovery workflows.

He also discusses the challenge every practitioner will recognise: how to balance research, data, individualisation and real-world practicality when time is limited and performance outcomes matter.

For coaches, sports scientists, physios and performance staff working in elite sport, this episode gives a clear look at how BFR is being applied in tournament football and why the next stage of recovery science may be less about collecting more data, and more about using meaningful interventions consistently.

In this episode you will learn

What blood flow restriction is and why its application has changed in elite sport

How BFR can be used for recovery, tissue priming, warm-ups and travel support

Why long-haul travel creates a major performance challenge during tournament football

How teams are adapting BFR protocols to fit real-world environments, including pools, the sea, flights and pitch-based warm-ups

Where BFR can help bridge the gap between low-grade injury and return-to-pla

Why Warren believes circulation is becoming a major focus in modern recovery science

How elite teams balance scientific precision with practical use across a full squad

Why highly specific numbers can sometimes become a barrier to implementation

How BFR protocols can be individualised without overcomplicating delivery

What Warren would study if he had unlimited access to World Cup players, wearables and performance data

About Dr Warren Bradley

Dr Warren Bradley is Co-Founder and Head of Elite Performance at Hytro, a company specialising in wearable blood flow restriction technology for performance, recovery and rehabilitation.

A sports scientist by trade, Warren has spent more than a decade working in professional sport, including Premier League football and international rugby. He completed a PhD in exercise physiology and has focused much of his work on making blood flow restriction safer, more practical and more accessible for athletes and practitioners.

Through Hytro, Warren works with elite teams and athletes across world sport, helping them apply BFR in realistic performance environments — from training grounds and recovery rooms to tournament travel, warm-ups and matchday preparation.

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Richard Graves welcomes Dr James Morehen back to the Science for Sport podcast for a practical conversation on what it really takes to work in elite performance nutrition.

James reflects on his journey from Liverpool John Moores University to rugby league, England football, Premiership rugby, international rugby, and his current work with England Rugby. But this episode is less about the polished version of elite sport, and more about the details that actually make performance environments work.

From gaining experience as a student, to building a trusted network, to solving problems on tour before they affect the athletes, James gives a clear view of the craft behind applied performance nutrition. He explains why degrees matter, but why they are only part of the picture, and why students and early-career practitioners need to get into clubs, support research, present to athletes, make mistakes, and learn from them.

James also shares examples from inside elite sport, including heat strategies, travel logistics, hydration planning, making weight for combat athletes, and the hidden operational details that can decide whether a practitioner is adding real value or simply reacting under pressure.

This is a valuable episode for sports nutritionists, sports scientists, S&C coaches, performance directors, students, and anyone interested in the reality of working behind the scenes in high-performance sport.

In this episode you will learn

Why academic knowledge is essential, but not enough on its own

How students can build meaningful experience while still at university

Why volunteering, research participation, and applied placements can separate candidates in a crowded field

What James looks for when interviewing or mentoring young practitioners

How to build a professional network that genuinely improves your practice

Why elite sport often comes down to simple details done exceptionally well

How practitioners use networks to check, challenge, and improve strategies

What travel, heat, hydration, and logistics look like inside international rugby

Why mentorship matters at every stage of a practitioner’s career

How James is now helping clubs and practitioners develop better nutrition systems

About Dr James Morehen

Dr James Morehen is a performance nutritionist working at the highest level of elite sport. He is currently Lead Performance Nutritionist for England Rugby and has supported athletes and teams across rugby league, England football pathways, Premiership rugby, international rugby, and professional boxing.

James completed his undergraduate, master’s and PhD studies at Liverpool John Moores University, where his interest in applied physiology and performance nutrition developed through his work in rugby league. Alongside his work in elite environments, James is the founder of the Performance Nutrition Network and is passionate about mentoring and developing the next generation of practitioners.

His work focuses not only on evidence-based nutrition, but on the practical systems, communication, logistics, and problem-solving needed to support athletes in real performance environments.

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This week on the Science for Sport Podcast, Richard Graves welcomes back Steve Jennings for part two of one of the most fascinating stories in sports nutrition.

Earlier this year, Steve joined us to tell the story of how creatine first entered the world of elite sport ahead of the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games. In this follow-up conversation, Richard and Steve look at where creatine goes next.

For decades, creatine has been viewed primarily as a strength, power and high-intensity performance supplement. But Steve believes the next phase of creatine will move far beyond the gym, the track and the changing room.

In this episode, Steve discusses the emerging research around creatine, cognition, fatigue, brain function, sleep deprivation, concussion, ageing, women’s health, shift work and everyday human performance. He also explains why education is now critical, particularly for youth athletes, parents, schools and practitioners who need to understand creatine in the right context.

The conversation also explores the future of creatine as an ingredient technology, with Steve outlining how new forms of creatine could be used in functional foods, gummies, drinks and other products designed for wider health and performance benefits.

This is a conversation about sport, science, innovation and the changing role of creatine in human performance.

In this episode you will learn

How creatine moved from elite sport into mainstream performance nutrition

Why Steve believes the biggest future breakthroughs may come outside traditional sports performance

The potential role of creatine in cognition, fatigue, brain function and sleep deprivation

Why education is so important when discussing creatine with youth athletes and parents

How practitioners can better frame creatine use in the right context

Why Steve believes three grams per day can be enough for many users

How creatine needs may change across the lifespan

Why creatine is becoming a major topic in women’s health, ageing and longevity

The challenges of creating liquid-stable and food-based creatine products

How ingredient technology could shape the next generation of creatine products

About Steve Jennings

Steve Jennings is one of the most influential figures in the history of sports nutrition.

A former professional racing cyclist, Steve founded Maxim Sports Nutrition in the early 1990s and played a key role in introducing creatine supplementation to elite sport ahead of the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games.

Over the last three decades, Steve has built, launched and developed nutrition brands across performance sport, active lifestyle and human health. Today, through Jenerise, he is focused on the next chapter of creatine: helping expand its role beyond traditional strength and power performance into cognition, vitality, healthspan and everyday human performance.

Steve brings a rare combination of lived sporting experience, commercial innovation and deep understanding of how science can be translated into practical, real-world use.

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​ Improve Your Athletes' Performance

​ Advance Forward In Your Career, Allowing You To Earn More Money And Work With Elite-Level Athletes

​ Save Yourself The Stress & Worry Of Constantly Trying To Stay Up-To-Date With Sports Science Research

This week, Richard Graves is joined by Anna Cruse, Assistant Athletics Director for Applied Health and Performance Science and Director of Football Performance Science at the University of Utah.

Anna’s route into sports science began as an international-level rower. Her interest in training, performance and data eventually took her from competing for the United States to helping develop the systems that support athletes across 19 sports at Utah.

In this episode, Anna explains how Utah has moved from manual data exports and generalised reporting to faster, integrated workflows that deliver relevant information to coaches and practitioners. She discusses why collecting more data is not always the answer, the importance of educating decision-makers and how greater context can prevent practitioners from drawing the wrong conclusions from a metric.

The conversation also explores individual athlete baselines, the limitations of fixed asymmetry thresholds and the need to make data specific to the athlete, position and sport. Anna also shares her perspective on artificial intelligence, including where it can improve performance workflows and why it should never replace qualified human judgement.

In this episode you will learn

How Anna moved from international rowing into applied sports science

Why Utah only collects data it can use to support athletes or performance

How the university delivers performance information across 19 different sports

Why coaches and support staff must understand the context behind every metric

How Utah has developed more sport-, position- and athlete-specific reporting

Why fixed thresholds can be misleading when assessing asymmetry

How integrated performance teams can make better use of limited resources

Where AI can support practitioners without replacing their expertise

Why athlete welfare must remain central to every performance decision

How strong systems create more time for meaningful analysis

About Anna Cruse

Anna Cruse is Assistant Athletics Director for Applied Health and Performance Science and Director of Football Performance Science at the University of Utah.

A former elite lightweight rower, Anna represented the United States at the World Rowing Under-23 Championships before moving into coaching, performance science and data analytics. Her career has included experience with the Philadelphia Union, Penn State and exercise intelligence company Svexa.

At Utah, Anna helps lead the systems used to collect, interpret and communicate performance information across the university’s athletic programme. Her work focuses on turning data into useful decisions while ensuring that technology and analysis remain grounded in good science and the needs of the individual athlete.

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​ Improve Your Athletes' Performance

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​ Save Yourself The Stress & Worry Of Constantly Trying To Stay Up-To-Date With Sports Science Research

This week on the Science for Sport Podcast, Richard Graves is joined by Great Britain track cyclist Joe Truman.

Joe has spent nearly a decade as a full-time professional athlete with British Cycling, progressing through the pathway from a talent ID session at 15 to becoming a senior member of the GB sprint squad. After years of European, World Championship and Commonwealth medals, Joe recently claimed his first major individual title with European gold in the kilo, setting a British record in the process.

In this episode, Joe gives a fascinating insight into the training methods, decision-making and performance science behind elite track sprinting. He explains how studying sport and exercise science changed the way he understood his own body, why he now has greater input into his own programming, and how that shift has helped drive a significant increase in performance.

Richard and Joe also discuss the practical use of blood flow restriction training, how BFR moved from a rehab tool after back surgery to a staple part of Joe’s training, and why lower-load, lower-volume methods can still create meaningful performance adaptations when used intelligently.

In this episode you will learn

How Joe Truman progressed from British Cycling talent ID to the senior GB podium squad.

Why his first major individual gold medal felt like a weight off his shoulders after years of silver and bronze medals.

How sport and exercise science changed the way Joe approaches his own training.

Why understanding the “why” behind a session can be a major motivational tool for elite athletes.

How Joe uses blood flow restriction training in the gym and on the bike.

Why BFR became a key tool after back surgery and later evolved into a performance method.

How Joe balances peak power, glycolytic capacity and race-specific cadence.

Why tapering can determine whether an athlete reaches their true performance ceiling.

How training quality, recovery and freshness influence maximal sprint output.

Why athletes should trust their own knowledge and listen closely to their body.

How Joe is preparing for the next phase of the Olympic cycle towards LA 2028.

About Joe Truman

Joe Truman is a Great Britain track cyclist and one of the senior members of the GB men’s sprint squad.

Originally from Portsmouth, Joe was identified by British Cycling at the age of 15 and has been part of the British Cycling pathway ever since. He progressed through the under-16, under-18 and under-23 squads before joining the podium programme full-time after his first World Championships in 2017.

Across his career, Joe has competed in the team sprint, individual sprint, keirin and kilo, winning medals at European, World Championship, World Cup and Commonwealth level. In 2026, he claimed his first major individual senior title with European gold in the kilo, setting a British record and going under 58 seconds.

Alongside his career as an elite athlete, Joe has studied sport and exercise science and now takes an active role in shaping his own training programme. His approach combines physiology, race-specific preparation, strength training, blood flow restriction training, recovery and athlete self-awareness.

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​ Optimise Your Athletes' Recovery

​ Position Yourself As An Expert To Your Athletes And Naturally Improve Buy-In

​ Reduce Your Athletes' Injury Ratese

​ Save 100's Of Dollars A Year That Would Otherwise Be Spent On Books, Courses And More

​ Improve Your Athletes' Performance

​ Advance Forward In Your Career, Allowing You To Earn More Money And Work With Elite-Level Athletes

​ Save Yourself The Stress & Worry Of Constantly Trying To Stay Up-To-Date With Sports Science Research