Norwegian Method: The Culture, Science & Humans Behind the Groundbreaking Approach to Elite Endurance Performance

Find out how a sparsely-populated country came to dominate the world of endurance sports and get a blueprint for high performance.

Norway has long stacked the field with champions in sports like Nordic skiing and sailing, but a new generation of athletes has arrived on the endurance scene, smashing records and grabbing medals in running, cycling, and triathlon.

Sports journalist Brad Culp unpacks the rise of the Norwegian method and its meticulous scientific protocols, which upend long-held beliefs about training and performance.

With its rugged terrain and harsh weather, Norway has a way of hardening competitors for any test. Culp explores the how the Scandinavian culture imbues a unique biopsychosocial approach to performance. He also introduces the athletes, coaches, and scientists who are shaking up the world of endurance sports. Their secret? Plenty of volume at low intensity, punctuated with hard-fought double-threshold workouts, which seems to turn workhorses into winners—they know when to hold back and when to go all-out.

The Norwegian Method is a real-life story of how discipline and determination can be employed to overcome seemingly impossible odds and achieve breakthrough performances. Culp gives endurance athletes a blueprint of how to adapt their training to look more like that of Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Kristian Blummenfelt.

Brad Culp is a sports journalist, former Editor-in-Chief of Triathlete Magazine, Media Manager of the International Triathlon Union, and LAVA magazine, the official publication of the IRONMAN triathlon series. 

Culp is also an accomplished athlete. He won three state titles in high school water polo and earned All-American honors in swimming as part of a relay team. Culp finished his first Ironman triathlon during his junior year of college, where he was the youngest athlete competing at Ironman Wisconsin at age 19. He also founded the high-performing Miami University Triathlon Club and continues to compete at a high level in endurance sports.  

Culp is a contributor to the Red Bull Red Bulletin, Men's Journal, 220 Triathlon, Triathlon Lumina, Triathlon Plus, and Slowtwitch. He lives in Geneva, Illinois with his wife and two children.