Ben Thorne Ltd

A crazy week with the Monaco podium being reinstated to an eventful race in Barcelona. More points in the bag and the streak continues . A solid effort from turning things around across the weekend

Awesome to see back on the top step

Reinstated Podium from Monaco. A deserved outcome for a classy drive. P3 on track. A relieved man after a rollercoaster of emotions all week.

Reinstated Podium from Monaco. A deserved outcome for a classy drive. P3 on track. A relieved man

Moments after the race where unfortunately had the podium taken away from him.

These are tricky moments and a real art in knowing the right thing to do or say as a coach… fortunately makes it easy for me. He conducts himself professionally despite being completely heartbroken and frustrated.

A bitter sweet weekend in Monaco, but looking forward to Barcelona this weekend…hopefully we can capitalise again.

Tough one to take but we’ll hold onto the P3 on track. An awesome drive, gave it everything.

Even when we looked to be out of the points he managed to salvage something to continue the points streak. One of his best!

Points streak continues for . I wouldn’t have believed that after Friday morning we’d have double team points on the Sunday! Hopefully more of the same in Monaco

Zone Insight #39: Isometric training should be added to runners gym work

Not the sexiest training method, and not what most runners think about when they hit the gym, but isometric strength training might be one of the simplest additions you can make to your routine to run more efficiently. Swipe across for the full protocol, or read below to understand how it works.

Most runners who add strength work reach for squats, deadlifts, or plyometrics, which all make sense, but there is a quieter option that produces some of the same adaptations at a lower fatigue cost and takes almost no time to implement. You can do it before your first squat or as part of your warm up, and the whole thing takes two minutes. You contract a muscle hard against something that does not move, no range of motion, no complex loading, just sustained maximum effort against an immovable resistance.

Every time your foot hits the ground your tendons act like a spring, absorbing force on landing and returning it on push off, and a stiffer tendon does this more efficiently, meaning less energy wasted. Tendon stiffness and running economy is one of the stronger mechanistic arguments in the endurance physiology literature, and isometric training appears to improve tendon stiffness.

Sustained high effort isometric contractions stimulate increases in collagen fibril number, diameter, and density within the tendon, making it structurally stiffer. That stiffness then cascades into reduced ground contact time and less vertical oscillation with each stride, improving running economy.

The evidence base is still small, with only three controlled studies examining this in endurance runners specifically and all in recreational to amateur populations. 2/3 studies found meaningful improvements in running economy following isometric interventions, and one found greater gains than from plyometric training.

It does not replace your existing strength work but sits cleanly alongside it, two exercises, 10 to 20 reps, 3s ON 3s OFF at maximum effort. Swipe to see the full protocol.

One Study. One Insight.
Each week I break down new research and what it means for performance, health, and longevity.

Thankfully no one is hurt. The safety in is incredible; a car flips and comes out all fine.

Despite today, it was still a positive weekend that we can take into Canada

Super pleased… 2:34

2:34:59 was the target, had to have a sprint finish to sneak in the time. I tried to bank a bit of time at the start as was cooler and slightly downhill. Then I found from 25km really tough in the city and the tall buildings affecting GPS, plus started to heat up.

I’m amazed by the guys at the front breaking the world record as clearly was perfect conditions but I felt it was hot, I’m clearly very wrong or they have loads left to come 😅

A super big thanks to everyone who donated toward we managed to hit the £3k target 🙌

Finally the biggest thanks to my amazing wife who has supported me through all my training and his being amazing!

Zone Insight #38: Heart Rate Recovery Could Indicate Fat Burning Efficiency

Very simply, this study found that how quickly your heart rate drops after a hard workout may reflect how well your body burns fat for energy during recovery.

Heart rate recovery can be a sign of cardiovascular fitness. This research suggests it also signals a more efficient metabolism.

Seventeen trained individuals completed 30 minute exercise sessions at moderate and vigorous intensities. They tracked over 1000 metabolites during recovery. The key finding was that individuals with faster heart rate recovery showed lower levels of lipid related metabolites following exercise, particularly after higher intensity work and during the later stages of recovery (90-180 minutes). Interestingly, this relationship only appeared after higher intensity exercise, potentially because harder efforts place greater stress on the system, making differences in how efficiently the body restores energy balance more visible.

Metabolites such as acylcarnitines tend to build up when fat oxidation is incomplete. Lower levels suggest the body is processing and using fat more efficiently after exercise. In other words, a faster heart rate recovery appears to reflect a system that can restore energy balance more effectively following exercise.

Practically, Heart rate recovery is a useful tool that is easy to measure and non-invasive, yet it may provide insight into metabolic fitness, something that usually requires lab testing.

A faster drop in heart rate may reflect how fit your heart is but ALSO how well your body recovers at a cellular level.