Podcast Discussion on Mental Health with Two Amazing Female Coaches

19 Feb Podcast Discussion on Mental Health with Two Amazing Female Coaches

“Go hard or go home!”

“It’s all about the grind!”

“If you aren’t hustling you aren’t winning!”

I’ll be honest: I’m sick of the grind culture that promotes working endless hours, being busy all the time, filling your schedule with meetings, and forgetting you have a soul.

As strength and conditioning coaches, yes, we got into this profession to serve athletes, to make people stronger, more resilient, and more confident in who they are.

Some degree of hard work and doing more than what is expected is needed.

In fact, some of my fondest memories are from my craziest times of year, during the winter and summer off-seasons doing speed and conditioning training here in Baltimore, Maryland.

This is the time of year when athletes are all-in, focused, and determined to become faster, stronger, and more conditioned, as well as reach incredible heights.

This is the time of year we are nourishing our bodies and taking ginger and turmeric shots together:

This is the time of year when committed athletes start seeing weeks of hard work paying off for complex skills like speed and acceleration:

This is the time of year when we do lung burning conditioning:

This is the time of year when we make new friends and push each other to be better:

And as the off-season grind wraps up and we transition to a more laid-back, in-season template, it’s time to pump the brakes and tap into the parasympathetic nervous system, aka “chill out.”

Put simply, it’s good old-fashioned periodization – a beautiful oscillation of intensity based on the time of year. Work hard. Progress. Peak. Simmer Down. Rinse and repeat.

To that end, periodization means we cannot go hard all the time, otherwise we suffer from chronic fatigue, soreness or burn out, risk injury, or I don’t know, get mad at our loved one for saying “hi.”

And you know what?

The same goes for coaches: our lives, just like our athletes, must be periodized. We must hustle and pour energy into off-season training, but then, we must recharge, find our creativity again, and get some sleep.

Look, I’ll be the first one to wake up with a buzz to get to work, coach, teach, and perform 5×5 deadlifts, with a side of chain pull-ups.

But, I’m also the first to meditate and slow down, invest in friendships, take time for other hobbies, and meet amazing people in-person to talk about the world, philosophy, economics, and so much more beyond sport science.

Meeting Julia Eyre this year was phenomenal, and nothing beats in-person discussion, human connection, and laughter.

I was so grateful to appear on the Football Fitness Federation Podcast with two of my best female friends in the industry, strength coach of the Orlando Pride, Ivi Casagrande, and freelance professional strength coach and sport psychologist, Julia Eyre, to discuss mental health for coaches.

There’s a stigma around this topic, so we were excited to open up, share our stories, and normalize our feelings.

We also talk about the usual:

– Training female players
– Using video as feedback for speed and agility
– Why soccer players need to strength train to improve speed and reduce injury

You can listen to the full episode HERE.

For more sample programs on training soccer players for speed, agility and strength, get Total Youth Soccer Fitness.