Engine Reference Library · 30 Guides · 32 Verified Sources
The reference library that also runs in the app.
Evergreen training manuals organised into the same four categories as the Engine tab inside Pelaris: Fuel, Recover, Learn, and Prepare. Every guide embeds an interactive calculator so you can test the numbers on your own training week.
Nutrition, hydration, and fueling strategies that match the way you train.
Sleep, active recovery, mobility, and deload strategy to keep adaptation landing.
Progressive overload, body composition science, periodisation, and training zones.
Pre-season conditioning, Garmin workout structure, warm-ups, and race-week plans.
Start Here · Guided Reading Tracks
Follow a 4-part track for your current goal
New to the library? Pick the track that matches your current block and read in order.
Body Scans, DEXA, InBody & Fat Loss Without Losing Power
Lifting Heavy While Running or Swimming Fast
Pre-Season Conditioning to In-Season Match Readiness
Zone 2, Garmin Intervals, Hydration & Race Tapers
Fuel
6 guidesNutrition, hydration, and fueling strategies that match the way you train.
- guide
Post-Workout Nutrition: What Actually Matters After Training
The anabolic window is wider than you were told. What to eat after training, when timing genuinely matters, and when it does not.
8 min readProtein & Sleep Target Calculator - guide
Fuelling During Long Sessions: Carbs Per Hour and Training Your Gut
How many carbs per hour long runs and rides actually need, why the gut is trainable, and how to build to 60-90 g without GI disasters.
9 min readSweat Rate & Fuel Calculator - guide
Creatine: What It Does, How to Take It, and Who It Is For
The most researched supplement in sport. What creatine actually does, the dosing that works, and who benefits. Evidence, not marketing.
9 min readProtein & Sleep Target Calculator - guide
Hydration for Endurance Athletes: Fluids, Sodium, and Sweat Rate
Daily fluid baselines, intra-session intake, sodium that matters, and the sweat-rate test. What serious endurance athletes need, without the hype.
8 min readSweat Rate & Fuel Calculator - guide
Protein Intake for Strength Athletes: What the Research Actually Says
Daily protein targets, timing, and quality for athletes training for strength and hypertrophy. Grounded in systematic reviews, not influencers.
8 min readProtein & Sleep Target Calculator - guide
What to Eat Before a Long Run or Ride: A Fuelling Guide for Endurance Athletes
Timing, carb quantity, and food choices for fuelling long endurance sessions. Evidence-based guidance for runners, cyclists, and triathletes.
9 min readSweat Rate & Fuel Calculator
Recover
6 guidesSleep, active recovery, mobility, and deload strategy to keep adaptation landing.
- guide
Cold Plunges, Saunas, and Massage Guns: What the Evidence Supports
Recovery tools ranked by what research actually shows. Cold water, heat, massage guns, compression, and the free habits that beat them all.
9 min readDeload & Readiness Calculator - guide
Rest Days and Active Recovery: What to Actually Do
How many rest days you need, what active recovery really means, and how to make the days between sessions build you rather than drift.
8 min readDeload & Readiness Calculator - guide
Muscle Soreness: What DOMS Is, and Whether to Train Through It
Why muscles hurt 24-48 hours after training, what actually helps, what does not, and how to tell normal soreness from something serious.
8 min readDeload & Readiness Calculator - guide
Deload Weeks: When to Take One, How to Structure It
A deload is not a break. It is a programmed drop in training stress that lets adaptation land. How to spot when you need one, and what to do.
10 min readDeload & Readiness Calculator - guide
Overtraining: Signs, Science, and How to Actually Recover
Overtraining is not a bad session. It is a spectrum from functional overreaching to full syndrome. How to spot it, what it costs, and how to recover.
9 min readDeload & Readiness Calculator - guide
How Much Sleep Do Athletes Need, and How to Protect It
Athletes need 7-9 hours minimum, often more in heavy blocks. Why sleep drives adaptation, and how to protect it when life gets in the way.
8 min readProtein & Sleep Target Calculator
Learn
11 guidesProgressive overload, body composition science, periodisation, and training zones.
- guide
Import FIT Files into Pelaris (Garmin, COROS, Suunto, Wahoo, Polar)
Bring your watch history into Pelaris. Export FIT files from Garmin, COROS, Suunto, Wahoo or Polar, drop them in, and every session lands on its real date.
7 min read - guide
Strength and Power for Netball: How to Build It
Why power matters in netball and how to build it: a strength base, jump and landing work, contrast training in-season, and how to train around game day.
9 min readVertical Jump & RSI Calculator - guide
Strength Training for Swimmers: What Actually Makes You Faster
Why dryland work adds speed, what to do in the gym, the honest answer on overhead pressing, and how to lift through a season and a taper.
9 min readSwim Dryland Volume Calculator - guide
Switching from Hevy or Strong (Without Losing Your Log)
Export your Hevy or Strong history as CSV, bring it into Pelaris, and keep every set, PR, and progression baseline. Step by step, with no lock-in.
7 min readWorkout Split & Volume Analyser - guide
Full Body vs Upper/Lower vs PPL: How to Choose Your Training Split
The best split is the one that fits your week. How full body, upper/lower, and push/pull/legs compare, and how to choose by days available.
9 min readWorkout Split Selector - guide
Strength vs Hypertrophy: Rep Ranges, Volume, and Your Goal
Training for strength and training for size overlap but are not the same thing. Rep ranges, weekly volume, and how to choose your emphasis.
9 min read1RM & RIR Load Calculator - guide
Zone 2 Training: What It Is and How to Find Yours Without a Lab
What Zone 2 actually is, why easy training builds your engine, and three ways to find your zone with nothing more than a watch and honesty.
9 min readZone 2 Heart Rate Calculator - guide
RPE Explained: How to Rate a Set Honestly
What RPE means, how it maps to reps in reserve, why lifters misrate it, and how honest effort scores make a program smarter than percentages.
8 min read1RM & RIR Load Calculator - guide
How to Program Concurrent Training: Strength and Endurance in One Plan
A practical guide to programming strength and endurance together without losing adaptation in either. Interference effect, scheduling, volume management.
9 min readConcurrent Training Scheduler - guide
How to Start Running as a Lifter: A 12-Week Plan That Does Not Kill Your Squat
A practical 12-week guide for strength athletes adding running. Progressive base building, interference management, and when to escalate intensity.
10 min readVO2max & Fitness Age Calculator - guide
Progressive Overload Explained: How to Actually Get Stronger Week by Week
Progressive overload is more than adding weight. The six levers, when to pull each, and how to keep getting stronger without burning out.
9 min read1RM & RIR Load Calculator
Prepare
7 guidesPre-season conditioning, Garmin workout structure, warm-ups, and race-week plans.
- guide
How to Structure Your Training Week Around Real Life
Session order, spacing, and the rules that make a training week work when you have a job, a family, and five to seven hours to spend.
9 min readWorkout Split Selector - guide
Your First Hyrox: How to Prepare for Race Day
What the Hyrox format actually demands, the 10-16 week preparation that gets you there, and the race-day plan that keeps the wheels on.
10 min readHYROX Pace & Split Calculator - guide
Your First 5k or 10k: Training and Race-Day Guide
From first training week to the finish line. A beginner-friendly guide to preparing for and racing your first 5k or 10k without blowing up.
9 min readRace Time Predictor - guide
Warm-Ups That Work: Dynamic Preparation for Lifting and Running
Static stretching before training does not do what you think. The 8-10 minute dynamic warm-up that actually prepares you to lift and run.
8 min readPlyometric Contacts Calculator - guide
How to Taper for a Marathon or Half Marathon
A research-backed taper plan for marathons and half marathons. Volume drops, intensity holds, and your race-day self shows up fresh.
9 min readRace Time Predictor - guide
In-Season Training for Team Sport Athletes
Programming strength and conditioning during the competitive season without breaking match performance. Match-day taper, recovery, volume.
8 min readIn-Season Match-Day Planner - guide
Return to Training After a Break: The Smart Way Back
How to return to training after a break without wrecking yourself. Detraining timelines, the 50/30/80 rule, post-illness and post-injury logic.
9 min readReturn-to-Training Calculator
Evidence & Citations
The peer-reviewed science that backs our numbers
Every guide here, and every number Pelaris puts in front of you, stands on published sports science. We keep the whole shelf in the open: 32 sources checked by hand, from the World Health Organization, the American College of Sports Medicine, and peer-reviewed journals, each one named beside the claim it supports.