All Things Performance #16
3 concepts = thoughts I've had, things that I've seen, and ideas / hopes - all in the health & performance space. Once a week.
thinking out loud
some of my thoughts this week
I’ve seen a lot of people on return to sport rehab-journeys. Sometimes there are programs or sessions or exercises (either in a program or missing from a program) that I see that make me question why. Certain exercises or sets / reps in the gym, certain loading patterns of running. And without the full context, it’s hard to comment. BUT — if you are someone who has been given a program for rehab, performance, or even see any information or advice online — the only bit of advice I will give is: question everything.
If you are told by a physio to do 4 sets of 10 reps, as them why? Why not 15-20 reps?
If you have a run plan for your marathon, and you see 3 easy runs a week — ask why you can’t take an extra day off and run one of those runs a little harder?
If a nutritionist asks you to eat at certain times, ask why?
This isn’t rude — if anything, any (good) practitioner that I know would LOVE to discuss the why behind programming, decisions, research. And any practitioner who doesn’t want to, probably doesn’t know the real reasons why.
It’s becoming easier for people to automate process, and many coaches will try to automate programming. I’m all for making things efficient, but just make sure that practitioners still know what they are talking about.
Next time you get a program from any coach / practitioner you have, make sure you ask a few questions! The good ones will love to conversation, and will always be able to adapt and changes things to best suit you.
through the lens
things that I’ve seen this week
I asked a question on some other platforms about if I was to get a new smartwatch, what should it be. I’ve seen plenty of different devices being suggested, different brands, but also some models that keep coming up!
I’d love to get your opinions here too — and I’ll share what the most common recommendations are. If you have a specific device from a brand, please comment or send me a message!
the drawing board
ideas, brainstorming, etc
Last week on Instagram, I shared a visual of a decision tree — and how to interpret and use your wearable data linked to your perception.
It’s a visual I have shared before, but also a continuation of an article that David Lipman & I shared titled “Illness, Training & Data vs Feelings”, which is a slightly deeper dive into the data that shows up when ill, and how to navigate balancing perception & data together. I’d recommend grabbing a coffee & taking a read of that here:
