‘The Norwegian Method’ Explores The Science Of How The Country Came To Dominate Endurance Sports

Long known to excel in sports like Nordic skiing and sailing, Norwegian athletes are now upending the endurance scene, breaking records and collecting medals in running, cycling and triathlon, and a new book explores how they’ve done it.

“The Norwegian Method: The Culture, Science, and Humans behind the Groundbreaking Approach to Elite Endurance Performance” by athlete and sports journalist Brad Culp details how such a sparsely populated country came to dominate endurance sports with a blueprint for high performance.

“‘The Norwegian Method’ is a biopsychosocial examination on what has made Norway the greatest sporting nation on earth — per capita — during the 21st century,” Culp says. “The book focuses on four extraordinary athletes — Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Kristian Blummenfelt, Gustav Iden, and Ingrid Kristiansen — as well as the coaches and sports scientists who guided their careers and shaped the methods of these and other Norwegian champions.”

Culp, the 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, is also an accomplished athlete who continues to compete in endurance sports. After winning three state titles in high school water polo and earning All-American honors in relay swimming, Culp finished his first IRONMAN triathlon in college, becoming the youngest athlete competing at IRONMAN Wisconsin at age 19.

In his new book, Culp unpacks the meticulous scientific protocols behind the Norwegian method, including lactate testing, heat, and altitude training, many of which upended traditional beliefs about endurance performance.

“The Norwegian Method” is a true story of the power of discipline and determination, and a guide for endurance athletes to model their own training on that of Ingebrigtsen and Blummenfelt in their own pursuit of high performance.