About
Coach. Physiologist. Performance nutritionist.
I'm Training Science Lead at the UK Sports Institute. Two Olympic Games, Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024. I'm also a regular contributor to the Altis MSc, teaching endurance physiology and training science, and performance planning and periodisation. Ian White Performance is where that work reaches endurance athletes outside the system.
No two performance journeys are the same
Which is why I combine two things that are often treated as alternatives. A systematic approach, built on evidence-based training and performance science, and a person-focused one, in which the training is adapted to the individual and the life they're fitting it around.
A protocol that works in a published study was run on a particular population, in particular conditions, with particular controls. Knowing that is the difference between applying the evidence and copying it. That judgement is most of what I do.
I care about this equally for athletes aiming at world-level success, for weekend athletes, and for anyone trying to push their own boundaries. The physiology is the same. The context is what changes.
Olympic sport
Two Games, and the years in between
Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024, as part of the UK Olympic sports system, and, more importantly, the four-year blocks either side of them. That is where the methods on this site were tested: on athletes whose whole programme depends on the physiology being right, under the kind of scrutiny that finds out quickly whether it is.
Very little of it is exotic. Most of the advantage in elite sport comes from doing ordinary things precisely, measuring what you assumed, and being willing to change the plan when the evidence says so. That transfers to an age-group athlete almost unchanged.
How I work
The method behind the plan
I model performance systematically, while understanding your context and the complexity of physiology. The same approach I take with Olympic, professional and age-group athletes, set out in full, with the training design process, how a week is built and where each session sits.
Physiology is only useful where the training actually happens. Most of what I know came from being there while it did.
Teaching and memberships
Where the work is shared and tested
- CASES Environmental Extremes Special Interest GroupMember of the steering group, and co-lead of its practitioner group, working to set standards in how environmental science is applied across the UK high performance system: heat, cold, altitude, air pollution and adaptation.
- Altis MScRegular contributor, teaching endurance physiology and training science, and performance planning and periodisation.
- CASES Conference 2026Co-presented “Lessons from Olympic Sport” with Dr Andrew Shaw.
Qualifications
Accredited and registered, in all three
Coaching
- ESCI Certified CoachEndurance Sports Coaching Institute
- TrainingPeaks Accredited CoachPlatform accreditation
Physiology
- Chartered ScientistScience Council
- CASES Accredited PractitionerChartered Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences
- MSc and BSc, University of ExeterSport and Exercise Science
Performance nutrition
- SENR Registered PractitionerSport and Exercise Nutrition Register
- PG Dip, Institute of Performance NutritionPostgraduate diploma
Across all three: UK Anti-Doping Educator and Advisor
Work with me
Take the next performance step.
Tell me what you're training for and where it's not working. I read every enquiry myself.