Prepare To Perform

A 42-year-old comes into the clinic. They've been training for a half marathon — the same race they ran in their twenties — and the wheels are starting to come off. The long Sunday run used to leave them stiff on Monday, fine by Tuesday. Now they're tight on Monday, sore on Tuesday, heavy through Wednesday, and only really feeling normal again on Thursday. By which point the next Sunday is two days away. They've added more protein. They're foam rolling. They've slotted in an

A young court-sport athlete comes into the clinic with medial shin pain that started six weeks ago. They've reduced training. They've changed shoes. They've iced after sessions. The pain settles for a week — then creeps back the moment training picks up again. Somewhere in the consult, almost as an aside, a parent mentions that the athlete is a light sleeper. Has been for years. Goes to bed late, gets woken easily, wakes tired. None of that, the family tells me, has anything

When you coach someone through a movement, you give feedback. But there are two fundamentally different kinds of feedback, and most trainers default to the weaker one without realising it. (For those interested in watching/listening to a lecture about it, go here) If you were at the PFC Summit in Malaysia in July 2026 (or you've previously attended an MSP workshop) you would already have the Coach Function worksheet and you would have already met both. Every movement on it a

If you coach general population clients — office workers, recreational gym-goers, older adults, people returning from injury — you have almost certainly watched someone make an easy task look hard. They hold a simple position and their shoulders climb toward their ears. They roll, and they hold their breath. They balance on one leg and grip the floor with their toes as if it might tip them off. The movement happens. But it costs far more than it should. That gap — between the

If you've landed here, there's a reasonable chance you've recently had an MRI, read the report, seen the phrase "full-thickness cartilage loss," and gone looking for what it means for your running. Maybe a clinician told you to stop. Maybe nobody told you anything useful at all. This article is for you. I work as a load-management practitioner — my job is helping athletes train around what their bodies can and can't tolerate. I'm not here to tell you running is harmless, and

TL;DR Pace (min/km or min/mile) and speed (m/s or km/h) describe the same effort from different angles. Treadmills and coaches use speed; most runners think in pace. Use the Running Speed to Pace Converter to instantly translate any distance and time into all four formats — no maths required. If you've ever stared at a speed in km/h and had no idea what that actually feels like to run, you're not alone. Runners think in pace — minutes per kilometre or minutes per mile — but c

TL;DR Caffeine withdrawal symptoms are genuine, with real physiological processes, not a willpower problem. The headaches, brain fog, and fatigue have specific mechanisms — and knowing what's happening helps you manage it more intelligently. If you're planning to remove caffeine before a training block, a gradual taper is almost always smarter than stopping abruptly. I didn't plan to withdraw from caffeine. I'd been having two or three espressos every morning for years. After

TL;DR: The right Achilles tendon exercises depend entirely on where you are in your rehab. Isometrics first, slow isotonic loading second, heavy single-leg work third, elastic and plyometric last. Most people skip the first two stages — and that's why they relapse. Exercise selection matters less than exercise order. If you've searched "Achilles tendon exercises" hoping for a list of things to do, this article will give you that. But it will also tell you something more usefu

TL;DR Zone 2 exercise — easy cycling, swimming, or aqua jogging at 60–70% of your heart rate reserve — does more than maintain fitness during Achilles rehab. It reduces cortisol, supports parasympathetic tone, and creates a better cellular environment for tendon healing. It doesn't replace structured loading. It makes the loading work better. Most pre-workout advice points in one direction: caffeine improves performance, so take it before you train. For high-intensity session

TL;DR Tendons heal slowly and need progressive loading — but the state of your nervous system shapes how well that healing happens. Zone 2 exercise (easy cycling, swimming, aqua jogging) keeps you moving without loading the Achilles, reduces cortisol, supports parasympathetic tone, and creates a better environment for your loading program to work. It doesn't replace structured tendon rehab. It makes it more effective. Find YOUR zone 2 using the heart rate zone calculator. W

Most people with Achilles tendon pain are told one of two things: “You need to load it more” “You need to rest it” Both can be true.Both can also fail. Because tendon pain is not simply a load problem — it’s a capacity problem. And if you don’t understand what your system can currently tolerate, you’ll either: underload and stall or overload and flare What Achilles Tendinopathy Really Is (And What It’s Telling You) Tendon pain is not random. It’s a signal that: the load being

The best medical practitioners don’t just treat well. They do three things exceptionally well: they communicate clearly they get the diagnosis right and they apply effective treatment and exercise But everything starts with the diagnosis. Because if the diagnosis is wrong — or incomplete — everything that follows is built on unstable ground. THE PROBLEM WITH MOST APPROACHES In many clinical settings, the focus is placed on: relieving symptoms improving local tissue capacity p

The Problem Isn’t the Injury — It’s the Approach Most lumbar stress fracture rehab programs follow a predictable pattern: rest reduce pain gradual return On the surface, this seems logical. But it misses the real issue. A lumbar stress fracture is not just a structural injury. It is a failure of the system to tolerate load. If that system is not rebuilt, the outcome doesn’t change. A more complete approach to lumbar stress fracture rehab focuses on rebuilding the system, not

Returning to sport after a lumbar stress fracture is one of the most mismanaged stages of rehabilitation. Athletes are often cleared based on: time since injury reduction in pain or basic function But none of these determine readiness for sport. The real question is: 👉 Can your body tolerate the demands of your sport again? A lumbar stress fracture is not just a bone injury. It is a failure of the system to manage load. Returning safely requires more than rest or symptom res

The Hidden Problem in Golf Training Most golfers today are doing something in the gym. They’re lifting weights.They’re doing mobility.They’re trying to “get stronger.” And yet… nothing changes on the course. Ball speed doesn’t increase.Consistency doesn’t improve.Injuries still show up. The issue isn’t effort. It’s transfer . The Real Issue: Why Your Golf Strength Training Not Working Comes Down to Poor Transfer If your golf strength training is not working , the issue is ra

If you’ve been playing golf for a while, you’ve probably been here before: You tweak your swing. You watch videos. You get a lesson. Things improve—for a bit. Then you fall back into the same patterns. It’s frustrating. And it’s not your fault. Because the problem usually isn’t your swing. It’s your body. The Real Limitation: Your Physical Competency AND Capacity Golf is a physical skill. To swing efficiently, your body needs: Enough mobility to get into the right positions

One of the most common and frustrating experiences after a patella dislocation is this: Your knee feels weak, unstable, or unreliable — and your quadriceps simply won’t switch on. Even after the kneecap has gone back into place and scans show no major structural damage, the leg can still feel difficult to control. This isn’t unusual. In fact, it is one of the most predictable responses after a patella instability event. Understanding why this happens can make the recovery pro

In This Guide What is a lumbar stress fracture? Early signs of a lumbar stress fracture How long lumbar stress fractures take to heal Exercises used in rehabilitation Returning to squatting and lifting Training during recovery Lumbar stress fractures are one of the most common spinal injuries seen in athletes, particularly in sports involving repeated spinal extension, rotation, and high training loads. These injuries can be frustrating because they often require temporary ch

One of the most common questions athletes ask during lumbar stress fracture rehabilitation is: “Will I ever be able to squat again?” For many athletes—especially footballers, weightlifters, and field sport players—the squat is a key exercise for developing lower body strength and performance. The good news is that most athletes can return to squatting after a lumbar stress fracture , but the process must be gradual and guided by appropriate rehabilitation. Understanding when

Lumbar stress fractures are one of the most common spinal injuries seen in young athletes, particularly in sports involving repeated spinal extension, rotation, and high training volumes. The challenge is that these injuries often begin with subtle symptoms that athletes may ignore or mistake for normal muscle soreness. Recognising the early signs of a lumbar stress fracture can make a significant difference in recovery time and long-term outcomes. In this article, we’ll cov