1Life Human Performance

Oh I have missed these challenges.
But I really need to learn to settle my ego and not assume things are easy just because others made it look easy! 😵‍💫🫣

The worst part, I was actually sore for 2 days after attempting this 😬🤦🏼‍♀️

Not playing soccer this year has actually proven to be quite the mental battle.

I voluntarily chose to take a break, but for all those that are forced into retirement from injury, illness, or life changes, it’s a seriously hard road.

After having thoughts like ‘are you an athlete if you stop playing’ and ‘can I even call myself an athlete anymore’, I took to AI to see what they thought. And the answer was better than I could ever have imagined and it really resonated with me! 🥹
Does this hit you in the feels too?

“An athlete is someone who trains with intention toward a goal. No qualifier needed around age, level, or whether they’re getting paid.

An athlete is someone who shows up consistently, not perfectly, but repeatedly. They train with a purpose. There’s a target, a standard, something they’re working toward.

An athlete is someone who has a relationship with their body. They think about recovery, fuel, load, readiness. They’re not just exercising, they’re managing performance, even if they’d never use that word.

An athlete is someone who competes, with others or themselves. Competition doesn’t have to mean a stadium. It can be a Saturday game, a time trial, a personal best, or just not letting injury be the end of the story.

An athlete is someone who carries an athletic identity, even when life interrupts the training. The 38-year-old mum who hasn’t played in three years but still thinks like an athlete, she’s still one. That identity doesn’t expire”.

💥

We’ve all been there… it starts with skipping just one session. Then it’s the whole week. Then somehow it’s been a month and you’re telling yourself “I’ll just get back into it in the off-season”

Here’s the thing… skipping the gym during season feels like the smart move. You’re tired, you’ve got games, your body needs rest. But strength training is literally what holds your human together as the season goes on.

When you stop it, here’s what actually happens:

Your strength decreases faster than you think. Meaningful strength loss can start in as little as 3-4 weeks of no training, and that directly increases your injury risk on the field.

You lose more than strength… The movement patterns in the gym are also keeping your joints mobile and your muscles moving through their full range. Get rid of that and everything tightens up and training will feel hard & exhausting.

Recovery takes a hit too. A well programmed in-season session isn’t about getting stronger or feeling sore… it’s about keeping you feeling like a human and not a constant bag of niggles surviving off deep heat & athletic tape.

In-season gym work doesn’t need to be complicated. It just needs to be consistent and smart.

Not sure how to combine strength training with your sport load without running yourself into the ground? Send me a DM and I’ll help you figure it out 📲

A recent topic of conversation in the gym has been about push ups and women feeling embarrassed or ‘weak’ if they can’t smash out push ups on their toes…
when in reality, we’re starting from a totally different baseline.

On average, females have around 40% less upper body muscle than males 🤯 Our muscle mass is distributed differently throughout our body, with a large portion of it in the lower half.

So yeah, push ups (and upper body training in general) does feel harder at first. That’s normal. But NOT a reason to avoid it.

If anything, it’s more of a reason to train it 💪 (you don’t have to ask me twice 😉)

The next gen of athletes are going to be 🔥

Strength & conditioning isn’t an ‘extra’ anymore; it’s becoming the norm, and if you aren’t on the train then you WILL be left behind.

You can already see the changes… sport is far quicker, players are stronger and more athletic, the body awareness and focus on recovery is only pushing performance up.

The best part is that it’s the girls, the boys, the teenagers, the 8-10 year olds 😍

It’s exciting to see the shift and watch these kids learn things I didn’t do until I was in my mid 20s!