Runner populations

Evidence that a single average runner does not exist. This section covers physiological sex differences in the response to exercise, VO2max and their consequences for endurance performance, the effect of the menstrual cycle and oral contraception on training response, return to running postpartum for elite and sub-elite athletes, and a consensus statement on youth running.

The menstrual cycle papers here deserve a caveat that the section itself makes: the meta-analytic effect on performance is small and the individual variation is large, so population-level findings translate poorly into individual prescriptions. Leo's use of this section is deliberately restrained. It informs how he reads your data and what he does not assume, rather than producing a different plan template based on who you are.