Athletic Performance Training

Throughout my football career, I learned that performance isn’t just about how hard you train—it’s also about how well you recover. Whether you're on the pitch, in the boardroom, or building something of your own, the same rule applies: "You can’t pour from an empty cup." Rest and recovery aren't signs of weakness—they're signs of wisdom. It’s in those moments of pause that your body and mind regenerate, that clarity returns, and that you're able to show up stronger and more focused for what really matters. We live in a world that often glorifies being “always on.” But I’ve seen firsthand that sustainable success comes from balance. High performers—athletes, leaders, creatives—understand the power of rest as part of their routine, not apart from it. Some periods can be very intense, but managing your work and rest can help you extract the top performance possible. Even if some things may be feel urgent, sometimes you have to create your pause moments, and then attack the task with full focus and energy. Motivation and intention are such important factors of success, and the right rest can keep your motivation at a high level resulting in better focus, better effort and better success!

Deceleration & Eccentric Landing Control Progression 🏋️♂️✨ Deceleration is a foundational skill in sports, essential for performance and injury prevention. Yet, it’s often overlooked in favor of acceleration during training. The reality? In football, athletes perform nearly 3x more high-intensity decelerations than accelerations (de Hoyo, 2016), and deceleration places 38% greater load on the body compared to acceleration (Dalen, 2016). Why it matters: Deceleration isn’t just about slowing down—it’s about controlling forces, optimizing biomechanics, and maintaining stability under intense conditions. These skills build movement robustness and resilience, key qualities that distinguish elite athletes from the rest. 💪 Key insight: Deceleration mechanics improve significantly with external focus cues. Unlike internal cues (e.g., "bend your knees"), external cues (e.g., "touch the cones") promote automatic control processes, enhancing movement efficiency and coordination (Lohse, 2012; Marchant, 2009).   Deceleration Progression: Steps to Build Robust Athletes: 1️⃣ Touch the cones upon landing • External cues like "touch the cones" encourage active hip and knee flexion upon landing (Gokeler, 2019), which reduces impact forces and ACL loading (Sell, 2007; Yu, 2007). • Explosive hip flexion shifts the center of gravity forward, minimizing posterior ground reaction forces and anterior shear forces at the knee (Yu, 2006). • Hamstring activation becomes most effective at knee flexion angles of 30° or more, counteracting quadriceps-generated shear forces and reducing ligament stress (Lin, 2012). 2️⃣ Elastic band below the knee • The band introduces an anterior shear force on the tibia, simulating deceleration forces and requiring hamstring activation to reduce ACL loading. • Encourages anticipatory muscle control, promoting better knee flexion mechanics and improved force absorption during landing. 3️⃣ Band around the torso • The torso band introduces rotational and adduction forces, engaging the posterior oblique chain (hamstrings, glutes, and core) to maintain stability. • Enhances co-contraction of the hip and pelvis, building dynamic joint stability. • Stimulates preparatory muscle activation, enabling muscles to absorb more force and reducing stress on joints and ligaments (Sinsurin, 2016; Palmieri-Smith, 2008). 4️⃣ Combine knee & torso bands • Combining the bands amplifies benefits: the knee band enhances force absorption and hamstring activation, while the torso band improves dynamic stability through cross-body engagement. Together, they develop an efficient and protective deceleration pattern.   Deceleration isn’t just slowing down—it’s mastering control under high-intensity forces. This skill creates robust, resilient athletes. #DecelerationTraining #SportsPerformance #InjuryPrevention #AthleticTraining #Biomechanics #MovementEfficiency #EliteAthletes

I have always been interested in sport and while I believe there is something to learn from all experiences, I feel there is a lot that sports teaches that is applicable to management. I always look at CVs to see whether there is any sports in the candidate’s history. Plato figured this out long ago when he said, “ You can learn more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” Sport has a way of distilling truths that no management course can teach. It compresses ambition, teamwork, ego, pressure and resilience into the duration of play. It reveals character in real time, showing how people respond when they win, when they lose and when they have to keep going despite both. Over the years, I’ve come to believe that sport is leadership in motion and that its lessons for management are significant. In individual sports — tennis, golf, running — there’s nowhere to hide. You are simultaneously the strategist, executor and critic. Every decision has an immediate consequence. The scoreboard doesn’t care about intent; it measures only outcome. For leaders, that mirrors the journey of self-management. You learn accountability. You learn that excuses don’t help and that success comes from consistent preparation, not occasional brilliance or intent. You discover the art of emotional regulation: how to stay calm after an error, how to start again after losing. It’s a life skill. Team sports, in contrast, are a masterclass in interdependence. You realize quickly that talent without chemistry is noise. The best teams aren’t the ones with the brightest stars, but the ones where everyone knows their role and trusts each other and the system. In management, this translates into two ideas: clarity and culture. Clarity, because people perform best when they understand what’s expected of them. Culture, because shared purpose is what turns cooperation into cohesion. Whether individual or team-based, every athlete understands the value of practice. The repetitions nobody sees. The corrections nobody applauds. It’s a powerful metaphor for organizational excellence. The best managers— like the best athletes — separate themselves in the invisible hours. They iterate, reflect and improve, often when the world isn’t watching. Sport also normalizes failure. You win some, you lose some but you always review to learn. In management, that habit of learning from losses without personalizing them is pure gold. At its best, sport is not just about performance but about flow. The moment when effort becomes effortless and the team moves as one. That’s what great organizations strive for too — a state where purpose, people and performance align. In the end, sport reminds us that leadership isn’t a title — it’s a practice. You train for it every day. You fail, recover and play again. And, just like in sport, the real victory is not in winning every game, but in building a team, and a self, that keeps getting better.

Bone density decreases during menopause as oestrogen levels drop. Regular physical activity (weight-bearing) is recommended as it has positive effects on bone mass. Although underlying mechanisms are still not entirely clear, osteogenic cells and interleukins are likely to be involved in exercise induced bone growth. Weight-bearing exercises are where feet and legs support body weight. These include running, skipping, dancing, aerobics, and even jumping up and down on the spot, and are all useful ways to strengthen muscles, ligaments and bones. Other forms include brisk walking, keep-fit classes or sports like tennis. Resistance exercises uses muscle strength, where the action of the tendons pulling on the bones boosts bone strength. Examples include press-ups, weightlifting or using weight equipment at a gym. It is important to be careful not to overexercise and also be careful of limitations (mobility/medical conditions/fall risk) when choosing the right form of exercise. Several studies have assessed effects of different types of physical exercise on bone mineral density in postmenopausal women. One systematic review of the literature according to PRISMA statement included (a) controlled trials, (b) with at least one exercise and one control group, (c) intervention ≥ 6 months, (d) BMD assessments at lumbar spine (LS), femoral neck (FN) or total hip (TH), (e) in postmenopausal women. Eight electronic databases were scanned and the 84 eligible exercise groups were classified into (a) weight bearing (WB, n = 30) exercise, (b) (dynamic) resistance exercise (DRT, n = 18), (c) mixed WB&DRT interventions (n = 36). Outcome measures were standardised mean differences (SMD) for BMD-changes. The study found that all types of exercise significantly and positively affected BMD at LS, FN and TH. https://lnkd.in/eh48C7fK Yet another study explored whether a weight-bearing and resistance exercise program could positively affect circulating osteogenic cells (OCs), markers of bone formation and quality of life (QoL) in osteopenic postmenopausal women and found that after 3 months of training, QoL was significantly improved with regard to pain, physical function, mental function, and general QoL. https://lnkd.in/eXR8p3zZ Adequate calcium rich diet, vitamin D supplements are also important for bone health! Some individuals may need extra supplements based on their medical history or if they have absorption issues. Those with risk factors such as premature or early menopause or certain medical conditions/medications and family history of osteoporosis need regular assessments and monitoring for prevention of osteoporosis. HRT and non-hormonal medications can both be used for prevention and treatment based on individual benefits versus side effects/risks. Some useful information (or simply visit the website of Royal Osteoporosis Society) - https://lnkd.in/eyp6X7kw

As I prepare to step back into the Olympic energy sphere in Milan, I've been revisiting the books that shaped how I trained. This one was a game changer. Terry Orlick's "In Pursuit of Excellence." Orlick wasn't just an academic. He spent 40+ years working with Olympic athletes, astronauts, surgeons, fighter pilots, & classical musicians. J. David Creswell & Douglas Jowdy (Both my mindfulness & performance mentors) instructed me to immerse myself into the pages of knowledge within this book. It was transformative & just as powerful then as it is today. The core idea is simple but challenging to execute: Mental skills are trainable. Focus, commitment, resilience - these aren't just traits you're born with. They're skills you develop through deliberate practice, the same way you develop physical skills. A few concepts that still guide me: 𝗗𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲. Orlick's term for "act on your decisions now." Not tomorrow. Not when conditions are perfect or when you think you are ready but Now. The gap between deciding & doing is where most dreams die. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹. Elite performers don't have fewer distractions. They recover from distraction faster. The ability to notice you've drifted & return to the task - that's the real skill. The tennis player constantly looking to his/her racquet after a great shot or a terrible one? Not to actually change the string positioning, rather it's a reset tool. A clearing of the slate & fresh mind. Not always perfect focus. 𝘍𝘢𝘴𝘵 refocus. 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. Every performance - good or less than- contains useful information. The discipline is extracting what worked & what needs adjustment without emotional spiraling. In 2026 the world's greatest competitors are highly data dependent. Harness Data, not drama. 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆. Most people are partially committed to too many things. Orlick found that the highest performers had unusual clarity about what they were willing to sacrifice and what they weren't. No ambiguity. We must be crystallizing something until it's burned into your soul. The mental game hasn't changed much since he wrote this book. It's an instant classic & extremely valuable today. Our distractions have multiplied, & our attention has fragmented. Our commitment has become diluted across infinite options & the digi-ceuticals deploying tasty chemicals into our brains instantly without effort. But the fundamentals remain: Decide. Focus. Extract the lesson. Recommit. If you work with your mind for a living - & I'd argue everyone of us do- these tactics are worth your time. Pick ONE specific mental skill to work on through these Olympics. Write daily notes about progress or stagnation - revisit end of month. Are you in pursuit of excellence? --AAO

One of the most practical papers for real-world coaching—whether in military settings or athletics—is Spiering et al. (2021), which looked at the minimal dose needed to maintain physical performance during reduced training windows. What sets this review apart is that it excluded tapering work and focused only on reduced training lasting four weeks or more—the exact reality for teams navigating dense practice schedules and units on deployment. Their central finding is simple but powerful: frequency and volume can drop, but intensity cannot. As they note, performance adaptations are “relatively well-maintained despite large reductions in frequency and volume, as long as exercise intensity is maintained.” The endurance data is especially blunt. Even with six sessions per week at 40 minutes, lowering intensity below 82–87% HRmax failed to maintain VO₂max or long-duration endurance; dropping to 61–67% HRmax nearly erased the gains altogether. Strength follows the same principle—athletes can maintain strength with one session and one set per week, but only if the load stays high. And the authors make a key clarification: the dose required to maintain is not the dose required to improve. That distinction matters when the training week gets squeezed. This is why, when a head coach walks in and says, “You’ve got 25 minutes to lift,” you’d better have a plan—because practice alone isn’t enough to maintain the physical qualities athletes rely on. Sport demands don’t automatically preserve strength, power, or aerobic capacity. But with a clear understanding of the intensity–volume relationship, you can still deliver a meaningful stimulus, protect against decay, and keep athletes physically ready even in the most constrained environments.

Do you prescribe glute med exercises? 🙋♂️ This study analyzed how different hip exercises target individual gluteal muscles for performance, injury prevention, and rehabilitation. Here’s what stood out: 💡 Key Findings: 🏋️♂️ Loaded split squat, single-leg RDL, and single-leg hip thrust = 🥇 top exercises for gluteus maximus. 🤸♂️ Bodyweight side plank and single-leg RDL = 🔑 for gluteus medius and minimus. ⚙️ Adding external resistance (12RM) boosts muscle forces across all exercises by 28���150N! 🎯 What makes these exercises effective? 📈 Peak muscle forces align with maximum fiber length, making muscle lengthening a major factor in generating tension. 🧘 Low fiber velocity during these exercises = optimal control and tension generation. 💪 Practical Takeaways: 🥇 For maximum strength: Use tier 1 exercises (split squat, RDL, hip thrust) to target gluteus maximus. 🏠 For no-equipment training: Try side planks for glute medius and minimus. ⚖️ For all-around glute activation: Single-leg RDLs hit all three gluteal muscles effectively! 🔍 Why this matters: 🔧 Whether you’re optimizing for athletic performance, addressing hip/knee pain, or building muscle strength, these findings can guide smarter exercise choices. #physio #sportsmedicine #sportsphysio #rehabilitation #performance #basketball #football #soccer #vestibular

Menopause does not accelerate muscle loss I know that's not what you've been told. But the data tells a different story. The decline in lean mass that women experience around midlife coincides with menopause, but correlation isn't causation. A recent review (Menzies et al., 2026) looked at this directly. The mean differences are modest: roughly 2.5% in perimenopause and 5.7% in postmenopause, accumulated over a decade. And most of those studies used DXA, which measures lean mass, not skeletal muscle. Lean mass includes water, connective tissue, organ mass. It's a noisy proxy at best. When you control for physical activity, the supposed "menopausal acceleration" of muscle loss largely disappears. The driver is disuse, not hormones. And if estrogen were the key variable, you'd expect menopausal hormone therapy to rescue lean mass. It doesn't. A meta-analysis of 12 RCTs involving 4,474 women (Javed et al.) found a mean difference of 0.06 kg. That's 60 grams. Not clinically meaningful by any standard. This matters because the current narrative is doing real harm. Women are being told that menopause inevitably takes their muscle, as if it's a biological certainty they can't fight. That framing breeds helplessness. It drives women toward supplements, needless therapies, and expensive protocols when the single most effective countermeasure is accessible to everyone: resistance training. What about bone? Exercise helps, but the effects are modest and site-specific. A meta-analysis of 80 studies and 5,581 participants (Mohebbi et al., 2023) found small but significant improvements in bone mineral density with exercise. All modes of resistance training appear effective (Kemmler et al., 2020), with moderate-intensity RT around 2-3x per week showing the best outcomes (Wang et al., 2023). Combined modalities and longer durations produce better results (Zhou et al., 2026). Walking alone is not enough (Ma et al., 2013). But the message isn't "lift as heavy as possible." It's "load your skeleton consistently." The ACSM Position Stand (Currier et al., 2026), drawing on 137 systematic reviews and over 30,000 participants, confirms that resistance training significantly improves strength, hypertrophy, power, and physical function. Moderate loads, 30-70% of 1RM, enhance hypertrophy. Variable prescription works. You don't need to max out. You need to show up and progressively challenge your muscles. Three things every woman in midlife should hear: 1) Your muscle loss is not inevitable. It's a consequence of not loading your muscles, not of losing estrogen. 2) Resistance train at least 2x per week. Challenging loads that build strength and bone. You don't need to go maximally heavy. You need to be consistent and progressive. 3) 1.2 to 1.6 g/kg/day of quality protein across 3 to 4 meals is sufficient. Focus on daily intake, quality and per-meal distribution, not chasing ever-higher totals.

Athletes don’t adapt from training. They adapt from how they recover from training. We often celebrate the outcomes - faster sprint times, stronger lifts, better metrics. But performance doesn’t grow in the training session. It grows in the space between - where stress, recovery and adaptation keep looping. You don’t get better from training. You get better from how your body responds to it. STRESS - The Disruption Phase Every session is a signal to the system. Mechanical tension, metabolic fatigue, neural demand, emotional strain - all create micro chaos. The art isn’t to overload. It’s to apply enough disruption that the body has a reason to rebuild stronger. “Apply enough to disrupt - not destroy.” RECOVERY - The Reorganization Phase Here, biology takes the lead. Parasympathetic rebound, protein synthesis, glycogen restoration, hormonal normalization. Recovery isn’t a nap, it’s reconstruction. It’s where damaged tissue, drained systems, and tired neurons recalibrate to baseline - or above it. But recovery isn’t just about time - it’s about readiness. If the athlete hasn’t truly recovered systemically, all you’re doing is stacking fatigue on fatigue. ADAPTATION - The Expression Phase When recovery completes, the body doesn’t just return to normal - it redefines normal. Neural efficiency improves. Force output increases. Movement economy refines. And that’s the real feedback loop: Every adaptation → informs → the next stress strategy. High-performance isn’t about chasing new stress. It’s about understanding when the system is ready for it. Save this. Because this pyramid isn’t just physiology- it’s the architecture behind every long-term athlete development plan.

The first 12 weeks of strength training may matter more at 70 than at 30. Not despite age. Because of it. At 30, lifting weights builds strength. At 70, it can determine whether you can: ↳ climb stairs ↳ carry groceries  ↳ live independently And the science behind this is surprisingly optimistic. A meta-analysis of 𝟰𝟳 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀���𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀 in adults over 60 found something remarkable. After a few months of progressive training: ↳ strength increased by ~𝟮𝟱–𝟯𝟬%  ↳ gains were 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗱𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀  ↳ the muscle's adaptive machinery was still intact The baseline may be lower. But the system still works. After 𝟯𝟬 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗲, I've learned something simple: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘀. We just stop sending them. 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗨𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗬 𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗘𝗡𝗦 𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗜𝗗𝗘 𝗔𝗚𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗖𝗟𝗘 When muscle experiences 𝗺𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴, adaptation begins immediately. First come the 𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. ↳ Motor units fire more efficiently  ↳ Coordination improves  ↳ Strength increases Then structural changes follow. ↳ muscle protein synthesis increases  ↳ myofibrillar proteins accumulate  ↳ fibres adapt to the workload Think of it like a factory. The factory never closed. It's simply been running on 𝗿𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀. Send the signal again… …and production ramps back up. One study even found months of resistance training shifted 𝗵𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗴𝗲-𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗮 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻. 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗟 𝗗𝗜𝗙𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗔𝗚𝗜𝗡𝗚 Older muscle still adapts. But it needs a slightly stronger signal. Usually that means: ↳ slightly higher protein intake  ↳ slightly longer recovery  ↳ consistent loading Not failure. Just compensation. 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟.𝗢.𝗔.𝗗 𝗙𝗥𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗞 𝗜 𝗚𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗣𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗦 𝗟 — 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝟮–𝟯 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸  ↳ Focus on compound movements  ↳ (squat, hinge, push, pull, calf raise) 𝗢 — 𝗢𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗶𝗻  ↳ Older adults often benefit from  ↳ ~30–40g high-quality protein per meal 𝗔 — 𝗔𝗶𝗺 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝟴–𝟭𝟮 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝘀  ↳ The final reps should feel challenging  ↳ but not chaotic 𝗗 — 𝗗𝘂𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆  ↳ Most people see strength improvements  ↳ within 𝟴–𝟭𝟮 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀 Stop sending the signal… and the system down-regulates. Keep sending it… and the system adapts. Same biological machinery. Same mechanical signal. Just different recovery needs. 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗰𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻'𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴. We stopped speaking its language. 💾 Save it for the day you wonder if starting later still matters. ➕ Follow Dr Tim Patel for stories that turn hard science into action.