PULSE

Built for Impact · Sport Science

Petra Van Gucht

The future of sport calls for a deeper understanding of the athlete.

Two players. The same training. The same support. Yet their bodies respond differently. One grows stronger; the other becomes increasingly fatigued. What makes the difference?

Sport is collecting more data than ever. PULSE · Built for Impact adds a biological layer: insight into how muscles, the brain, hormones, the immune system, and the microbiome work together to process load, support recovery, and enable development.

Scientist Petra Van Gucht connects these insights with the practical expertise of Carl Vandenbussche, Leigh Egger, and Ruben Peeters. Their stories and practical techniques help athletes, coaches, and support teams recognize connections, ask more focused questions, and make better-informed decisions.

A book for those who want to turn innovation into what matters: talent that develops, athletes who remain available, careers that can thrive for longer, and teams that win titles.

This edition keeps the full print layout, with all icons and figures. Best read on a tablet, phone or computer.

Table of contents

• PULSE in five minutes
• How to read this book
• Foreword · Petra Van Gucht
• Foreword · Carl Vandenbussche
• Foreword · Leigh Egger
• Foreword · Ruben Peeters
• §0 Co-metabolism under team load
• §1 The high-intensity paradox
• §2 A new moment for science
• §3 The person behind the performance
• §4 From Bompa to adaptive performance
• §5 The engine behind the athlete
• §6 The genome, the microbiome, and the metabolome
• §7 Why the same challenge is never the same challenge
• §7A The biological age of an athlete
• §7B The female athlete
• §7C The secret of metabolic flexibility
• §7D When an ecosystem is trying to tell us something
• §8 From biology to biological intelligence
• §9 Profile: the first signal
• §10 The art of readability
• §11 Ω (Omega): the second signal
• §12 CRAS: the third signal
• §13 FLEX: the fourth signal
• §14 RISE: the fifth signal
• §15 BRI: the sixth signal
• §16 From six signals to one word
• §17 The art of decision-making under uncertainty
• §18 Why football is the anchor
• §19 The biological profile of modern football
• §20 The football calendar as an architecture of load
• §21 Cognitive performance under fatigue
• §22 The six signals applied to football
• §23 Team biology in football
• §24 Case studies from football
• §25 Return to performance
• §26 Practical protocols for the football coaching staff
• §27 One language, many sports
• §28 Rugby: the biology of collision
• §29 Field hockey: changes of direction and a brain that scans
• §30 Basketball: when the schedule becomes the opponent
• §31 American football: one team, different bodies
• §32 Synthesis: four sports, one biological language
• §33 One player, many perspectives
• §34 The implementation path
• §35 From signal to intervention: the two levers
• §36 Travel, climate, and the biological clock
• §37 Data, meaning, and decision-making discipline
• §38 Responsibility, trust, and the role of AI
• §39 Talent in the stands
• §40 The career as an achievement
• §41 What it delivers for an organization
• The Pomodoro collection
• The Torque collection
• ON NUTRITION · FOOD FIRST
• PULSE ON NUTRITION
• Sources and acknowledgments
• Definitions
• FROM READING TO EXPERIENCING · PULSE LAB
• THE PEOPLE BEHIND PULSE