Most of the attention in training goes to the workout itself. But what happens after the workout that determines the result you get from it?
In this episode of Stronger With Time, Tony speaks with Professor John Hawley, one of the most influential figures in exercise metabolism, about what four decades of research can teach us about how we train, fuel and recover.
John is a Distinguished Professor at Australian Catholic University in Melbourne, where he directs the Centre for Human Metabolism and Performance. His research spans how exercise and diet regulate fat and carbohydrate metabolism in skeletal muscle, the molecular basis of training adaptation, circadian biology and nutrient timing, and how exercise improves insulin action.
John helped run some of the pioneering interval-training studies in Cape Town in the 1990s and has spent the decades since studying the mechanisms behind how training works.
In this episode:
What happens inside the muscle after the workout ends
How short, hard intervals compare with longer intervals for improving VO₂max and performance
What high-intensity training does differently from steady-state exercise
How often to go hard, and where lower-intensity training fits
Why carbohydrate availability matters when the work gets hard
When training with low carbohydrate availability may have a place
What the carbohydrate mouth rinse reveals about the brain’s role in performance
Concurrent training, the interference effect and when it matters
How exercise changes insulin sensitivity and glucose disposal
What John’s research on time-restricted eating is finding
Whether sex meaningfully changes the metabolic response to exercise
Where the search for an exercise mimetic stands
How John thinks about consistency, recovery and making exercise a priority
This conversation is for anyone who wants to train with more intent and understand what is driving the results.
Resources
Professor John Hawley
ACU profile: https://www.acu.edu.au/research-and-enterprise/our-research-institutes/mary-mackillop-institute-for-health-research/our-people/professor-john-hawley
Research and publications: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=%22John+Hawley%22+exercise+metabolism
On PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Hawley+JA+exercise+metabolism
Book: Peak Performance: Training and Nutritional Strategies for Sport, by John Hawley and Louise Burke https://books.google.com/books/about/Peak_Performance.html?id=3P5qQgAACAAJ
Dr Tony Boutagy / Stronger With Time
Website: https://tonyboutagy.com/
Explore Tony’s courses: https://tonyboutagy.com/explore-the-courses-page
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tonyboutagy/
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This episode is for general educational purposes only and is not intended as individualised exercise or nutrition advice.
