
Alistair Brownlee
Head of Research
Alistair Brownlee is Head of Research, where he leads large-scale analysis of wearable health data to better understand sleep, recovery and human performance, translating these insights into products that help people live healthier lives.

About
Alistair Brownlee is a Founder of Terra Research, a research initiative built on the Terra API platform that leverages large-scale wearable data to deepen understanding of human performance, recovery and health.
Following an 18-year career as an Olympic champion and elite endurance athlete, Alistair developed a strong interest in the objective measurement of physiology. At Terra Research, he focuses on analysing high-resolution, longitudinal data from a wide range of wearable devices to explore how sleep, heart rate variability, training load and behavioural patterns interact over time.
His work centres on robust, objective metrics, with particular emphasis on relative trends, individual baselining and population-level modelling. Recent areas of focus include sleep regularity, strain–recovery dynamics, seasonal variation in physiological markers, and the development of transparent, interpretable health scoring frameworks. Alongside producing research that is accessible and engaging, he is focused on building products that use data to help people live healthier lives.
By combining elite sport insight with large-scale data science, Terra Research aims to move beyond anecdote and optimisation hacks, building instead an evidence-based understanding of how individuals respond to training, stress and lifestyle interventions. The long-term ambition is to transform wearable data from passive tracking into meaningful, scientifically grounded insight that informs both individual decision-making and broader health research.
Research

Your Body's Response to Altitude Is Highly Individual
September 4, 2026

Food is Dirtier Than the Motor
August 28, 2026

Your HRV Recovers at Altitude Before Your Oxygen Does
August 20, 2026

How I came second in The World's Hardest Triathlon
August 4, 2026

Cycling Is Good for You, But is it Faster Than Public Transport?
July 31, 2026

Running in 30°C Heat Barely Raises Your Heart Rate
July 21, 2026

Heatwaves and Sleep
July 14, 2026

The England vs Mexico Monday Morning Hangover
July 7, 2026

Terra Research Published in Nature Portfolio
June 26, 2026

Does Heat Make You Slow Down, or Tell You to Slow Down?
June 18, 2026




