Episode 206 - Periodized Nutrition and the Real Science Behind Fueling the Worlds Best Athletes w/ Dr. Sam Impey

Hello everyone. Welcome to the latest episode of The Matchbox Podcast powered by Ignition Coach Co. I’m your host, Adam Saban, and on this week’s episode we’re talking to the co-founder of Hexis, Dr. Sam Impey.    As always, if you like what you hear, share this with your friends and leave us a five star review and if you have any questions for the show drop us an email at [email protected] or head over to ignitioncoachco.com and fill out The Matchbox Podcast listener question form.    Links from today’s episode: https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/ijsnem/aop/article-10.1123-ijsnem.2026-0135/article-10.1123-ijsnem.2026-0135.xml, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29453741/   Alight let’s get into it!   For more social media content, follow along @ignitioncoachco @adamsaban6 @dizzle_dillman @dylanjawnson @kait.maddox       https://www.youtube.com/c/DylanJohnsonCycling https://www.ignitioncoachco.com  https://www.youtube.com/@DrewDillmanChannel   Intro/ Outro music by AlexGrohl - song "King Around Here" - https://pixabay.com/music/id-15045/    The following was generated using Riverside.fm AI technologies   Summary    This episode is a practical conversation about how nutrition can be personalized around training, not just tracked after the fact. Dizzle is joined by Dr. Sam Impey, co-founder of Hexas, to break down how the platform uses training data to recommend carb intake, support body composition goals, and make fueling easier for athletes and coaches.They also get into the newer frontier of performance nutrition, including bicarb, lactate gels, and why day-to-day nutrition habits matter for recovery, adaptation, and long-term consistency.   Timestamps 00:00 — Welcome and introduction to Dr. Sam Impey 02:00 — How Hexis started as a PhD research tool 03:08 — Why the platform was built to scale nutrition recommendations 04:31 — Hexis does not replace a nutritionist 05:01 — Early adoption by Uno-X and other tech-forward teams 06:16 — How the app syncs with TrainingPeaks and daily ride data 08:08 — Periodizing carbs around hard rides and recovery days 09:04 — Dizzle’s Leadville weight-loss block and what he learned 10:51 — Pro riders naturally vary nutrition with training load 12:12 — Why good carb timing improves adaptation 13:10 — Did weight loss affect power numbers? 16:03 — Late-night cereal, hunger, and cutting calorie-dense foods 17:28 — How vegetables support gut health and carbohydrate tolerance 19:15 — How a different environment made nutrition easier to follow 20:20 — Why training camps can improve compliance beyond the workouts 22:19 — App versus desktop use for athletes and nutritionists 25:00 — Hexis onboarding and how personalization starts 26:53 — Lose, maintain, or gain goals and how the plan adapts 28:30 — Food-tracking updates, barcode scanning, and favorites 30:10 — Natural-language food logging and meal correction 32:27 — How the app adapts calorie and macro targets throughout the day 34:34 — Education features and why the old video feed did not stick 35:37 — Interactive explanations for why recommendations change 36:43 — A plate-visualization idea that did not make it into the app 37:47 — Comparing Hexis with other performance tech and wearables 40:32 — Why total intake is only part of the nutrition picture 44:02 — Why nutrition sparks strong opinions 45:40 — What cycling can learn from other sports 46:27 — Cycling as an early innovator in heart rate, power, and fueling 48:23 — Recovery lessons cycling can borrow from rugby and football 50:57 — The rise of higher carb intake during competition 52:57 — Whether high carb intake creates health concerns 54:01 — Bicarbonate, lactate, and newer supplements 55:08 — How sodium bicarbonate works and why it may help performance 58:28 — Bicarbonate dosing, timing, and testing before race day 60:24 — When preloading and on-bike bicarbonate gels might make sense 66:03 — Why bicarbonate dosage is tied to performance, not just lactate numbers 68:16 — Lactate gels, theoretical effects, and emerging science 72:14 — Broccoli shots and isothiocyanates as a potential supplement trend 75:48 — Three common nutrition mistakes endurance athletes make 78:12 — Why protein matters more than many endurance athletes think 79:25 — Why race-day fueling should be trained, not improvised 83:27 — Why cutting on-bike fuel is usually the wrong move for weight loss 86:18 — Fasted training versus low-glycogen sessions and when each may make sense 91:10 — Low energy availability and why carbs around training matter for health 93:32 — How Hexas aims to help athletes fuel better around training 94:13 — How coaches can use Hexas to support off-bike nutrition 96:09 — Closing thoughts, partnership mention, and discount code