Inside the cutting-edge science of injury prevention
Henry Abbott is a veteran basketball journalist and founder of TrueHoop—a platform revered for its investigative reporting and big-picture thinking about the NBA. He's also an enthusiastic Hyrox competitor. In his new book, Ballistic, Abbott tackles a quiet epidemic in sports: injuries.
The book centers on Dr. Marcus Elliott and the Peak Performance Project (P3), a cutting-edge sports science lab that uses technology to study how athletes move—and why they break down. But Ballistic is more than just a behind-the-scenes tour of a biomechanics lab. It’s a challenge to the notion that injuries are random or inevitable. It's also a call to rethink how we train, how we move, and how we understand our own bodies.
We spoke with Abbott about the surprising patterns behind elite injuries, what most training programs still get wrong, and how lessons from the NBA might apply to emerging competitive arenas like Hyrox.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
The Hybrid Letter: Tell me a little bit about your background and how you got interested in sports injuries.
Henry Abbott: I’ve been a basketball journalist my whole life. I grew up in Portland, Oregon, where the Trail Blazers were the only pro team, so I developed this irrational love of basketball early on. I went to NYU to study “real” journalism—worked at CBS News—and honestly didn’t think sports journalism was a viable career path.
But a high school classmate of mine became managing editor of SLAM magazine. She asked me, almost as a favor, to write a story. It paid $100. I did it—and immediately realized I’d rather do that than “real work.” That one little opening became the start of my sports journalism career.
From the beginning, I never wanted to just do what everyone else was doing. I have this deeply curious mind, and around 2014 I started asking: what’s going on with all these injuries in the NBA? Every year, some superstar would go down. At one point, half the league’s stars were out. It felt like we weren’t taking it seriously enough.
THL: Was that the seed of the idea that eventually led to your book, Ballistic?
HA: Absolutely. I started thinking more seriously about injury prevention. Over the years, I kept hearing that sports science could make a difference, that there were interventions that worked. But the most dangerous idea out there is the belief that injuries are just “acts of God”—random, unavoidable. That used to be true. We didn’t understand it. But now we do. Not perfectly, but well enough to say: there are things we could have done differently.
Eventually, I focused on this place in Santa Barbara—P3—where NBA players were training and getting amazing results. The staff had a different lens on everything, and the players were thriving. I flew out and just started hanging out, asking questions. That was the start.
THL: Why the title Ballistic?
HA: Some people think it’s a strange choice, or that it sounds too military. But at P3, they used the word all the time. In their world, “ballistic” refers to being airborne. It’s about movement—the kind that causes most non-contact injuries, but also the kind of training that can protect you.
It shows up in the book in two ways: first, ballistic movements are where injuries happen. But second, ballistic training—what most athletes are missing—can be the key to preventing those injuries. I liked the idea of reclaiming the word, making it about something deeply human.
THL: What are some of the specific movement patterns you saw contributing to injuries?
HA: Landing is the big one. Everyone knows that jumping off a box can mess you up—hips, back, knees. So the key is: prepare for landing. Especially in elite sports, those moments happen too fast for you to consciously control. You have to drill them so the right movement is subconscious.
P3 has a massive data set, and the biggest injury risks show up in the lower leg—the foot and ankle. Most people are weak and uncoordinated there. The other big area is the hip. There’s a great inside joke at P3: people who lift weights should do yoga, and people who do yoga should lift weights. You need both mobility and stability, and most of us only train one.
THL: As someone covering Hyrox, I see a lot of those same injuries—especially calf strains, low back issues, and problems in that glute-hamstring connection.
HA: That tracks. Let me ask you—when you push a sled, where do you feel it?
THL: Quads. A lot of women feel it there too.
HA: I’ve read that women tend to be more quad dominant, and I’ve seen it in real time. I remember pushing a sled with two women at my gym and asking where they felt it. They said, “Quad,” without hesitation. I don’t feel it there at all—just hamstrings. And I think that quad dominance contributes to hamstring injuries. If you don’t have enough hip flexion, you’re not using the glutes effectively, and the hamstring becomes the weakest point.
THL: And hamstring injuries are notorious—fast to come on, slow to heal.
HA: Exactly. Marcus [at P3] has done a lot of hamstring research, including with the New England Patriots. The most common time for a strain is when an athlete is running full speed—after the first 10 meters—when mechanics can break down. If the hips aren’t supported, the hamstring ends up absorbing way too much force. That’s when it tears.
And here’s the kicker: the first strain, your body can handle. But it puts scar tissue in the muscle, reduces flexibility, and increases the risk of future injuries. If you get two or more, it often becomes chronic. Marcus uses this phrase: “drop a thumb”—as in, get in there and break up the scar tissue, so the first injury doesn’t turn into a second.
THL: What are the broader takeaways from the book on injury prevention?
HA: First, understand how complex the body is. We have 600 muscles, controlled by a highly intricate nervous system. When something goes wrong, it’s usually not obvious. It’s like a conductor hearing a symphony that’s slightly off. You have to tune the right violin, not replace the whole orchestra.
One major theme is that everyone’s hips are a little messed up. At P3, 100% of athletes they’ve tested are given some kind of hip training recommendation—either for more mobility or more stability. But it’s not one-size-fits-all. Hyrox athletes, for example, probably have solid hip stability. But mobility might be the missing piece.
And hip mobility is powerful. It doesn’t just prevent injury—it improves performance. Better range of motion lets you access more muscles. It makes you a better runner.
THL: Are there training methodologies you think people are still missing?
HA: Plyometrics, 100%. This goes way beyond muscles—it’s about your brain learning how to manage those lightning-fast ground contacts. Every foot strike in Hyrox is a decision, even if it’s subconscious. If you land on the ball of your foot, with strong ankle and lower leg muscles, the force gets absorbed by the Achilles, then the calf, then the quad, then the glute. That’s the sequence nature designed.
But if you land on your heel, the force goes into your shoes—or worse, into your joints. It’s wasted energy and a higher risk of injury. Plyometrics train your body to do that fast, efficient, spring-loaded movement we want.
THL: You’ve now seen Hyrox up close. Where do you think it fits in the broader sports ecosystem?
HA: I think it’s still ascending. I say the word, and most people still don’t know what it is—so clearly there’s room to grow.
But I’ll tell you this: I judged wall balls at a New York event last year, and watching the elite women come through, I had this moment of: where else in the world do these superhumans exist? It's not just a few elite athletes—there are hundreds of them. I watched a woman in her 60s crank out 100 unbroken wall balls with perfect form. When she finished, she turned around and hugged me.
That moment stuck with me. It felt like something bigger than just a race.
THL: There’s also something unique about the structure—you’re literally racing on the same floor as elites. That doesn’t happen anywhere else.
HA: Totally. And you see it with these surprise athletes—like in Barcelona, where three relatively unknowns earned Elite 15 spots. It feels like a movement because it’s tapping into something that’s already out there: this global community of people training hard, ready for their moment.
It also changes how people see themselves. I remember seeing this one girl, maybe seven years old, watching the elite women go by—twice as fast as the men—and she just lit up. You could see it happen. Like, oh: this is possible for me.
And that’s why I love it. Sports reshuffle the deck. In school, one kid’s best in math, another in English. But in sports—and especially in Hyrox—you get to shine for how you move. Not how much money you make, not how many Instagram followers you have. Just movement. Movement is cool. Movement is power.
THL: So I have one last question: why should athletes read this book?
HA: I think you just want to have a better owner’s manual for your body, right? The idea that we have no clue what causes injuries is wrong. And this book doesn’t have every solution, but I do think it’s our first real glimpse at a better framework. We should assess movement—not just use MRIs or lie still in a tube.
People have studied thousands of elite athletes in motion and built real insight around that. You want to know what problems look like in that context.
Our bodies are incredibly well-designed. There was this moment when Marcus took my son and me to the airport and pointed at my son and said, “That is better designed than any iPhone, F-14, or Tesla. That is the greatest human creation.”
So yeah, you tweak some things, but mostly—you should feel great. Feel empowered. Know that you can handle it. Because you can. And if you feel that way, you’re far more likely to succeed.
Training methodologies: Calculating and using your lactate threshold
In a new YouTube video, three-time Hyrox World Champion Lauren Weeks demonstrates exactly how she calculates her lactate threshold and then how she uses it during training.
During exercise, the body produces lactate as fuel, but as you reach higher intensities, the production of lactate exceeds the body's ability to clear it. This creates a burning sensation and increased fatigue. The point at which that occurs during a given exercise is your lactic threshold (technically, your L2 threshold). You can work at a rate above your lactate threshold, but only for a relatively short period of time.
Understanding the running pace at which you reach your lactate threshold is a very useful data point in Hyrox. Advanced Hyrox athletes finish the race in around an hour, which is about how long you can sustain a threshold pace. Further, training at (or just above or below) your lactate threshold can, over time, allow you to run at faster paces before you reach your lactate threshold.
In her video, Lauren demonstrates how she uses an at-home device that measures the concentration of lactate in her blood, establishing her lactate threshold through a "ramp test." She also shows viewers how her lactate curve has changed over time.
If you don't want to buy the equipment Weeks uses in the video, which requires lancing your finger to a blood sample, you can get a reasonable estimate of your lactate threshold through a simple running test:
1. Run easy for 10-20 minutes
2. Then run for 30 minutes at the fastest pace your can sustain evenly
3. Your average HR for minutes 10–30 is a good estimate of your LTHR (lactate threshold heart rate), and your pace for the full 30 minutes is your threshold pace.
Athlete of the Week: Laura Belgrave
Name: Laura Belgrave
Age: 25
Hometown: Woking, England
When did you start hybrid training? I started hybrid-style training in November 2023 after going to my first Hyrox class in Vauxhall with friends. I was curious about the sport and inspired by so many friends already taking part. I have a background in bodybuilding—from 2018 to 2023—so I had a solid baseline of strength. I just needed to build up my endurance to become more functional.
Favorite race to date? Definitely my most recent solo race in London. It wasn’t the time I originally wanted, but I’m so proud of myself for pushing through. The conditions were tough with the heat, and it was my first time racing solo. I’d also picked up a couple of injuries while training, so just getting to the finish line felt like a huge achievement.
Do you have a race goal? I’ve got a women’s doubles race coming up in Berlin, and I’d love to go sub-1:20. That would be a 30-minute improvement on my last women’s doubles race!
Favorite station? I love the SkiErg. It’s one of my favorite ergs and the first station I really had to learn when I started getting into Hyrox.
Least favorite station? The burpees! They wipe me out every time. But once they’re done, the race always feels more manageable.
Things you wish you knew when you started racing? I wish I’d known how incredible it would make me feel. The training has opened up so many doors in the fitness world, and I now feel like the fittest version of myself. I say yes to so many more things now.