Your Performance Is Dropping? Here's Why | Dr Phil Maffetone

About this episode

Dr. Phil Maffetone discusses the impact of overtraining, stress, and nutrition on running performance.

My new book Running Breakthroughs is available now as audiobook, authographed book and eBook at https://florisgierman.com . It's a summary of 10 years podcasting lessons, takeaways from coaching thousands of athletes and my own breakthroughs in running and life. Today Round 5 with Dr. Maffetone on The Extramilest Show. Overtraining is one of the most common reasons runners plateau, burn out, or get slower despite training harder. Dr. Maffetone breaks down how hidden stress, poor recovery, and misunderstood nutrition can quietly sabotage performance + tools to build health first so speed and consistency can follow. Watch this full video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/NO6GBkODkR4 CHAPTERS: 0:00 - Low Heart Rate Training + Overtraining + Recovery 1:43 - Running Breakthroughs signed copies 2:42 - My favorite running apparel Path Projects 3:22 - Round 5 with Dr. Phil 4:41 - What creates athlete breakthroughs 10:16 - How stress slows you down 14:28 - The "gray zone" & low heart rate training 20:29 - Lactate shuttles & aerobic speed 27:44 - Why low HR training doesn't work for some 32:47 - Refined carbs & brain health 36:07 - Common carbs & better alternatives 39:16 - Are there better…

People in this episode

Host: Floris Gierman

Guest: Dr Phil Maffetone

Topics covered

• overtraining
• nutrition
• recovery
• running performance
• stress management
• heart rate training

Keywords

• overtraining
• nutrition
• recovery
• heart rate training
• running performance
• stress
• athlete breakthroughs

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Path Projects, YouTube

Books & works: Running Breakthroughs

More episodes of The Extramilest Podcast

• #125: Sara Hall's Advice For Non-Elite Runners · April 24, 2026 · 1h 18m
• #124: Ryan Hall 2.0 on Strength Training For Runners, Lifting Heavy & Trail Running · April 17, 2026 · 1h 29m
• #123: Why Most Runners Quit Too Early (Not What You Think) | Kerry Ward · April 1, 2026 · 1h 33m
• #122: You're Doing Zone 2 Wrong (Even If You Think You're Not) | Scott Johnston Round 2 · March 27, 2026 · 1h 31m
• #121: How to Build an Unstoppable Aerobic Engine (Even If Starting From Zero) | Scott Johnston · February 28, 2026 · 1h 13m
• #120: Stress Is Killing Your Running (The Relax Fix You're Missing) with Dr Kasim Al-Mashat · February 1, 2026 · 1h 25m