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Simon Ward, multiple award-winning triathlon coach, shares insights on how to improve your triathlon performance with a High Performance Human approach to life.
Episodes
Wednesday Jun 01, 2022
Wednesday Jun 01, 2022
Dan Bigham started out as an aerodynamicist in Formula 1 working with the Mercedes team. He mentions that he was responsible for designing wing mirrors. In recent years he's made a name for himself in cycling and triathlon, firstly creating the disruptive track cycling team you might know as HUUB Wattbike, helping cyclists and triathletes in their relentless pursuit of speed with his retail business Wattshop, and more recently having a big involvement with the sub-7 project as a bike pacer for Alistair Brownlee. On top of that he’s currently working with Ineos Grenadiers and preparing for his own tilt at the world hour record. If that's not enough, he has a book out called "Start at the End” which we will be referring to frequently. Basically he’s been a very busy lad!
Whether you geek out on how to save watts, or you just have an interest in the tech side of cycling, you'll find this a very engaging conversation as we chat about:
- Team HUUB Wattbike, 1hr record, being a disrupter
- Principles of reverse engineering
- How to use reverse engineering to improve your triathlon performance
- Best watts per pound investments for you
- Why slower riders benefit more from investment in aero
- Shaving legs or wearing aero calf guards - which is best?
- Dan’s #1 way to save watts for all riders
To find out more about Dan you can find him on these social media channels:
Website - Wattshop - Relentless Pursuit of Speed
Facebook - dan.bigham
Twitter - @Watt_shop
Instagram - wattshop
Book - ’Start at the end’ by Dan Bigham
Some cool stuff you might want to check out
Behind the scenes of Dan Bigham hour record attempt
Join our SWAT/High Performance Human tribe now, with a happiness guarantee! Join SWAT/High Performance Human tribe here
Purchase a copy of my High Performance Human e-book featuring more than 30 top tips on how to upgrade your life.
If you would like to help offset the cost of our podcast production, we would be so grateful. Please click here to support the HPH podcast. Thank you!
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes. Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here. For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com.
Wednesday May 25, 2022
Wednesday May 25, 2022
If you've ever had an injury that's kept you from training and competing, you’ll know it is painful and frustrating, not to mention expensive if you have good physio support. Once you've recovered it's not just a straightforward journey back into training. There is often a gap between pain-free and returning to competition. This is the space where today's guest, Rocky Snyder, does his magic. In his book Return to Center, Rocky takes a refreshing approach to improving human performance without the drawbacks of pain and reduced mobility. This new methodology bases each programme on the individual, their posture, and their unique gait pattern. No two people have identical lives, so why should they have identical programs?
As usual, we get into a lot including:
- The perils of sitting too much
- How you spend your day and why the body adapts to the position it finds itself in most of the time
- Why pain and tightness is a lifestyle, not an ageing issue
- 'Issues in the tissues’ and why most pains in the joints comes from muscle tightness
- The multitude of benefits from breathwork and movement, especially walking
- Strength training to realign the body
- Why conventional strength training is unconventional for sport and health
To find out more about Rocky, please visit the following channels:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rocky_snyder/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rocky.snyder.77/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rocky-snyder-cscs-cafs-podcast-host-a77a091/
Website: https://www.rockysnyder.com/
Rocky also has a very well stocked YouTube channel
YouTube Channel (over 600 videos): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdOKlD9-wKvavzfw_WSH_aw
Rock Fit Files Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-rock-fit-files/id1521946026
Zelos Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/zelos-podcast/id1537401143
Rocky recommends this book "What the Foot?" by Gary Ward
Join our SWAT/High Performance Human tribe now, with a happiness guarantee! Join SWAT/High Performance Human tribe here
Purchase a copy of my High Performance Human e-book featuring more than 30 top tips on how to upgrade your life.
If you would like to help offset the cost of our podcast production, we would be so grateful. Please click here to support the HPH podcast. Thank you!
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes. Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here. For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com.
Wednesday May 18, 2022
Wednesday May 18, 2022
In keeping with the theme of helping you to refuel and recover better, today we're joined by Sports Medicine specialist Dr. Eva Carneiro. Dr. Carneiro has extensive experience working with elite athletes. She worked for Chelsea FC from 2009 to 2015 where she was the first female doctor to sit pitch-side in Champions League, Premier League, and Europa League competitions and the only woman to become Assistant Medical Director in a football club internationally. She now works as a Specialist Consultant in The Sports Medical Group. Today we disappear down a lot of rabbit holes but the key topics covered include:
- The best way to measure recovery, and the best recovery promoting approaches
- The benefits of listening to your body
- Sensible approaches to nutrition
- Why we should all consider Zinc, Vitamin D, and Vitamin C supplements
- The benefits of collagen supplementation
You can find out more about Dr. Eva Carneiro and her sports medicine consultancy by visiting her website: http://www.thesportsmedicalgroup.com
To find out more about TRR nutrition and especially their range of collagen supplements please use these links:
Instagram - trr_nutrition
Facebook - @trrnutrition
Dr. Carneiro recommended this book: 'Becoming a True Athlete' by Lawrence Halsted
Join our SWAT/High Performance Human tribe now, with a happiness guarantee! Join SWAT/High Performance Human tribe here
Purchase a copy of my High Performance Human e-book featuring more than 30 top tips on how to upgrade your life.
If you would like to help offset the cost of our podcast production, we would be so grateful. Please click here to support the HPH podcast. Thank you!
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes. Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here. For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com.
Wednesday May 11, 2022
Wednesday May 11, 2022
Today's High Performance Human podcast guest is David DiFrancesco. David teaches average human beings to become Living Warriors by helping them to 'live fearfully’. By recognising that life is an inherent unknown, and knowing that we will feel uncomfortable at times, rather than avoiding feeling vulnerable we can develop the strength of resilience and a knowing confidence that we can handle what comes our way. David has learned this from Russian, Israeli, and US special forces soldiers who have the fitness and mindset of elite athletes. Thus, the lessons that he shares in this conversation can equally be applied in your life or in your pursuit of athletic goals. Topics covered include:
- Why the most physically prepared soldiers often fail the special forces selection process
- Fear - recognising that it exists and how to deal with the fear of failure and fear of success
- Appreciating that sharing vulnerability builds resilience
- Healing stories about yourself
- Developing the ability to experience and live in the unknown
- Learning to do what we are NOT good at
- Dealing with change when it is forced upon us
To follow David, please use the following social media links:
Website www.terrainfunctionalfitness.com
Email David if you have specific questions thelivingwarrior@gmail.com
Warrior Workout Youtube channel
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daviddifrancesco/
Some other cool links to check out:
Thomas DeLauer Nutrition - How to time coffee/caffeine for best results
Better Ideas by Joey Schweitzer
David particularly liked this book: Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway by Dr. Susan Jeffers
'How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World' by Harry Browne
Join our SWAT/High Performance Human tribe now, with a happiness guarantee! Join SWAT/High Performance Human tribe here
Purchase a copy of my High Performance Human e-book featuring more than 30 top tips on how to upgrade your life.
If you would like to help offset the cost of our podcast production, we would be so grateful. Please click here to support the HPH podcast. Thank you!
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes. Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here. For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com.
Wednesday May 04, 2022
Wednesday May 04, 2022
The Marathon des Sables is billed as the toughest footrace on earth. If you are crazy enough to take on the Ironman challenge or a 100k ultra run then you may also have thought about entering this race. Trust me when I say that if you do, you will have a life-changing experience. I use the word ‘experience’ for a reason. It's not just about 250km on foot in some of the harshest conditions you can experience. You will also meet amazing people, see places that are way off the tourist map, sleep and eat in conditions you never dreamt of, punish your feet like never before and enter a world where phone signals, noise pollution, and light pollution are non-existent.
Today's guest, Andy Slater, is a member of my SWAT Inner Circle and has just returned from experiencing the Sahara desert for himself. He completed the race and in this podcast, we will chat about his adventure including:
- Why he chose this challenge in the first place
- Resilience gained from having the race postponed 3 times and having to renew his enthusiasm each time
- How he adapted his triathlon training for the event
- Choosing kit and nutrition for the event
- The daily challenges of the race
- The real reason why people pull out
- How fit do you have to be to finish
Andy doesn’t really do social media, but here are some other cool links about the event:
Official MdS website
Andy’s video montage with some race photos
Join our SWAT/High Performance Human tribe now, with a happiness guarantee! Join SWAT/High Performance Human tribe here
Purchase a copy of my High Performance Human e-book featuring more than 30 top tips on how to upgrade your life.
If you would like to help offset the cost of our podcast production, we would be so grateful. Please click here to support the HPH podcast. Thank you!
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes. Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here. For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com.
Wednesday Apr 27, 2022
Wednesday Apr 27, 2022
Imagine that you are an apparently healthy human being with a newfound love for triathlon. You've even completed the full Outlaw distance of 140.6 miles. Then you start feeling a bit off, but nothing that you can put your finger on. After a continued decline in your health and a bout of pneumonia, you get diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease, an incurable and terminal disease.
Rather than feeling sorry for yourself, you decide to make every day count, starting your own charity to raise much-needed money for research into the condition.
Then you decide to have ‘One More Tri’ at finishing the Outlaw half.
But then more hiccups. COVID stops racing for 2 years and it looks like you won't get the chance. Fortunately, after an initial rapid deterioration, your condition stabilises, racing is back on and so is the challenge.
That's how life has been for today's High Performance Human podcast guest Sam Perkins who will take on the Outlaw half on May 15 with help from his extensive support crew.
If you have never listened to one of my podcasts previously, please, please listen to this one. It is both inspiring and emotional. While Sam may argue that he is anything but a High Performance Human, I would disagree. He has a solid goal, focus, and above all a winning mindset.
I hope you enjoy the podcast. (TIP: have some tissues ready)
If you would like to read more about Sam, and make a donation to his fundraising, please visit justgiving.com/onemoretri.
You can find Sam at:
Instagram handle @standagainstMND
Twitter handle @standagainstMND
Other links that Sam recommended: Random but if anyone has never seen Jim’ll paint it, it’s worth 5 minutes for a giggle https://jimllpaintit.tumblr.com/
He also recommended these books:
Sapiens: A brief history of humankind - Yuval Noah Harari
Not normal behaviour - Stuart Staples
Join our SWAT/High Performance Human tribe now, with a happiness guarantee! Join SWAT/High Performance Human tribe here
Purchase a copy of my High Performance Human e-book featuring more than 30 top tips on how to upgrade your life.
If you would like to help offset the cost of our podcast production, we would be so grateful. Please click here to support the HPH podcast. Thank you!
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes. Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here. For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com.
Wednesday Apr 20, 2022
Wednesday Apr 20, 2022
Sports nutrition is a minefield. There are so many products out there you could use during your next triathlon and even more noise on social media about which one is the best. This is highly individual, so even guidance from well-meaning individuals might not work for you. And even when you think you've found the right solution, it may only be appropriate in specific circumstances. Fortunately, there are some nutrition companies out there who don't just want to sell you their products, they also want to educate you about understanding your own unique requirements. That's where Andy Blow and his team at Precision Fuel and Hydration come in.
In today's podcast Andy doesn’t just explain recent product developments, he also takes us behind the scenes as we chat about:
- Sometimes it is just mixing ingredients in the kitchen
- When your mates do the ’taste testing'
- Making sure the product you use meets anti-doping requirements
- Why educating the athlete is so important
- How to place an order (you can 15% off your first order using the discount code below)
- Sponsorship - how does that all work - pro athletes or ambassadors. What works best?
- PTO - what exactly happens when you're a partner of a race series?
To follow Precision Fuel & Hydration please use these social media links:
Instagram: @precisionhydration
Facebook: @precisionhydration
Twitter: @thesweatexperts
YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/precisionhydration
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/precisionhydration
Here is some other cool stuff you might be interested in:
Free online sweat test: https://sweattest.precisionhydration.com/pages/why-personalise-your-hydration-strategy
Quick carb calculator: https://www.precisionhydration.com/products/precision-fuel-sample-pack/#thecarbcalculator
Athlete Case Studies: https://www.precisionhydration.com/athletes/case-studies/
Book a free one-to-one video consultation: https://www.precisionhydration.com/book-a-video-consultation/
Some specific sports nutrition guidance for you:
Blog: How much carbohydrate do athletes need per hour?
Blog: Why sodium is crucial to hydration and athletes performing at their best
Video: Why do athletes suffer from cramp?
As you know, we ask our guests to recommend a book that has inspired them. This is what Andy offered up:
"Authentic" - the Vans story by Paul Van Doren
Join our SWAT/High Performance Human tribe now, with a happiness guarantee! Join SWAT/High Performance Human tribe here
Purchase a copy of my High Performance Human e-book featuring more than 30 top tips on how to upgrade your life.
If you would like to help offset the cost of our podcast production, we would be so grateful. Please click here to support the HPH podcast. Thank you!
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes. Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here. For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com.
Wednesday Apr 13, 2022
Wednesday Apr 13, 2022
Are you a yoga convert like me? Maybe you’ve fleetingly considered some yoga classes to improve your flexibility, and maybe you’ve decided that you just don’t have time with all the swim, bike and run you’re already doing. That was me, but I am now a yoga disciple! What I didn’t realise until I started to invest some time in this aspect of my wellness is that yoga is so much more than just a “bit of stretching”. That’s what we’re exploring with today’s High Performance Human podcast guest, Kirsten Steffensen. Kirsten is the life partner of my former business partner, Jack Maitland. You may have heard her Scandinavian tones before in a previous podcast about the vegan approach to nutrition (along with Jack, and Louisa my physio, aka The White Witch), which you can listen to here. Kirsten has a very committed tribe of followers at her yoga and breathing classes (details below). In today’s conversation we’ll be talking about:
- What is yoga?
- Benefits of yoga
- Different styles, and when you might choose one over the other
- Getting started, do you need to go to a class or is online yoga just as beneficial?
- What to expect in your first class
- Is it better to do a few classes each week, or 15 minutes each day?
- How will yoga benefit your triathlon performance?
- Integrating yoga into a busy schedule
- What are the best yoga poses?
Social media links for Kirsten:
- www.sportsashram
- Twitter: @TheSportsAshram
- Instagram: @thesportssshram
- Facebook: The Sports Ashram
Athlete Yoga classes that Kirsten runs each week with Jack
- Wednesday 7-8pm on Zoom £6.50 book via (https://thesportsashram.com/product/zoom-athlete-yoga-wednesdays)
- Thursday 7-8pm in Adel, Leeds £6.50 book via (https://thesportsashram.com/product/live-triathlon-yoga-thursdays)
Breathing Classes
- The Breathing School, a 25-minute class where students are either seated or lying on the floor, and Kirsten guides them through a sequence with a breathing exercise and deep relaxation.
- Learn breathing to manage: stress, insomnia, anxiety, depression and pain in the physical body
- The class is on Monday and Thursday 10.35-11am in Horsforth, Leeds £3.00 book via (https://horsforth.clubm.mobi/Portal/Booking/Forthcoming)
Books Kirsten recommends
- The Book of JOY by Douglas Abrams a conversation between Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu
- The Monk who sold his Ferrari by Robin Sharma
- The Bhagavad Gita (Indian philosophy probably the most important texts of Hinduism and easily the best known) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita
Join our SWAT/High Performance Human tribe now, with a happiness guarantee! Join SWAT/High Performance Human tribe here
Purchase a copy of my High Performance Human e-book featuring more than 30 top tips on how to upgrade your life.
If you would like to help offset the cost of our podcast production, we would be so grateful. Please click here to support the HPH podcast. Thank you!
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes. Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here. For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com.
Wednesday Apr 06, 2022
Wednesday Apr 06, 2022
Recovery is something that is uppermost in my mind on most days. As a coach, I’m focussed on how to balance the training for each athlete with enough recovery for them to adapt but not so much that they start to lose fitness. If you plan your own training this should be an important consideration for you as well. It's different for each of us and our recovery requirements will change weekly (maybe daily) as our life stresses alter. How we recover can take many forms and the athletic press (whichever form that takes) is full of adverts and articles about how to maximise and even ‘hack’ recovery. In today's guest, Joel Jamieson, I think I have finally found someone who is an expert on this topic.
Joel is a strength & conditioning specialist who has a real focus on athlete recovery. He first came to my attention when I read one of his articles about specific recovery style workouts called Rebound Training. He has been working with HRV for the last 20 years and so part of our conversation will also tie in nicely with some of the other podcasts from recent months.
If like me you are in your 50s and you are concerned about whether you get enough good recovery, pay particular attention to some of our conversations later in the podcast.
Some of the topics we chat about include:
- What is recovery and how can we measure it?
- What part does HRV play in monitoring recovery?
- Are gadgets better than our subjective feel for estimating recovery?
- How to create your own specific recovery workouts
- How to recover better
For masters athletes -
- How to change your training to improve recovery
- What changes with age to slow down the recovery process and what can you do about it?
If you’d like to follow Joel Jamieson, please use the following links
Instagram coachjoeljamieson
Facebook 8weeksout
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/coach-joel-jamieson/
Website 8weeksout
Joel has also written some great articles:
How to use HRV to import your conditioning while avoiding burnout and injuries
The beginners guided to HRV & recovery
How mental stress can sabotage your fitness and what to do about it
Why doing more isn’t better and 3 ways to boost your recovery
All pain, no gain: Why the HIT training obsession has failed us all
How to train to recover faster than ever
You might also be interested in these links:
Joel explained a lot about the recovery App - Morpheus - that he has created. If you are interested in using this. Please click HERE
Joel is delivering a new conditioning programme starting in Mid April. You can find out more about that HERE
If you are a coach and have an interest in improving the strength and conditioning courses you deliver then this course could be for you: Certification course
Joel also recommended this book: “Why Zebras Don’t get Ulcers” by Robert Sapolsky.
Join our SWAT/High Performance Human tribe now, with a happiness guarantee! Join SWAT/High Performance Human tribe here
Purchase a copy of my High Performance Human e-book featuring more than 30 top tips on how to upgrade your life.
If you would like to help offset the cost of our podcast production, we would be so grateful. Please click here to support the HPH podcast. Thank you!
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes. Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here. For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com.
Wednesday Mar 30, 2022
Wednesday Mar 30, 2022
When I first went out to Kona to work it was like a dream come true. I got paid for working there and I watched the entire race live. It's like a car nut being paid to watch the British Grand Prix. As I watched the swimmers exit the water one man was way ahead of the rest and even more surprising it wasn’t one of the top pros. This was an age grouper by the name of Jan Sibbersen and from 2001 to 2004 he was the fastest man in the water at Kona. In 2018 after a layoff during which he started his wetsuit business, Sailfish, Jan made a return with the sole aim of claiming the swim record. He achieved his goal, setting a time of 46m 29s which still stands to this day. Jan is my guest today and we talk all things swimming including:
- Growing up and swimming all week and skiing all weekend (sounds good now, never mind at 15)
- Mixing it with the ‘big guns' in St Croix
- First man out of the water in Kona . . as an age grouper
- Getting called out by Jurgen Zack (then one of the world's best Ironman triathletes)
- Managing Patrick Lange through two Ironman World Championship victories
- The biggest mistakes age groupers make with their swimming
- Coming back for the Kona record in 2018
- Starting Sailfish wetsuits
- Coming to America
To follow Jan and Sailfish Wetsuits please use the following links
Website: https://www.sailfish.com/en/products/wetsuits/
Facebook: @sailfish.us
Instagram: @sailfish_us
Youtube: sailfishtriathlon This has some great OW swim tips from Jan. They are worth watching to learn from the best.
Links to some of the other topics we chatted about:
Jan Sibbersen - Road to Kona - a short video on that 2018 swim record
Jan also recommended 4 great books which I don't think have been suggested before:
Dan Millman: The Way of the peaceful warrior
Phil Knight: Shoe Dog
Mihály Csíkszentmihályi: Flow
Tim Weiner: Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA
Take a 30 day trial in my SWAT Inner Circle for just £1 (valid through 31 March 2022). Watch this video for more information.
Purchase a copy of my High Performance Human e-book featuring more than 30 top tips on how to upgrade your life.
If you would like to help offset the cost of our podcast production, we would be so grateful. Please click here to support the HPH podcast. Thank you!
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes. Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here. For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com.