How to Become Robust as a Practitioner
Welcome to the latest issue of The Football Scientist.
In this week's issue, I will be discussing strategies to ensure sports performance practitioners remain 'robust' for a career longevity.
I hope you enjoy!
Working in Performance Sport
Performance sport is a demanding environment, not only for athletes but for those who work tirelessly to support the key stakeholders.
Whether you are a sport scientist, S&C coach or performance analyst, there is no hiding from the fact the roles are highly draining over a longitudinal period.
Long weekly unsociable hours often go hand in hand with sports performance.
The approach to work also varies based on the culture or country one finds themselves working within.
In Japan, the term 'salaryman' is commonly used to describe workers who value work over anything else and are often seen lying asleep in the street exhausted (and after a few Sake's too many).
Contrast this to Spain, where afternoon 'Siestas' are common in which shops close for several hours to allow people to eat, rest and escape the heat.
Several years ago, companies like Nike and Google introduced 'sleep pods' within their offices to allow their staff to nap during the day. They reported significant increases in staff productivity and overall work happiness.
Contrast this to the UK, in which employees are typically expected to do 9-5 shifts whilst also working unpaid overtime. Naps during the daytime? Forget about it.
Performance sport will always have the high demands placed upon practitioners. But with more and more practitioners leaving their roles due to burnout, can more be done to make practitioners 'robust' the same way we prepare athletes for competition?
Becoming Robust: The Fundamentals
When trying to build robust athletes, we often focus on the following areas:
- Training
- Nutrition
- Sleep
- Recovery
- Injury Prevention
Alongside this, management of training load is crucial in order to build a solid foundation from which we can either improve or maintain performance.
When looking at these principles within sports performance practitioners, these are key areas which we neglect and can potentially lead down the road to burnout.
Common problems include:
- Lack of sleep/consistent sleep schedule (e.g. late working hours)
- Poor nutrition (e.g. poor food choices being constantly on the go)
- Poor physical and mental recovery (e.g. not having enough breaks in the day)
- Overuse injuries from support duties
Whilst the long hours and demands will always remain high in performance sport, are there ways in which improve our physical and mental wellbeing to ensure a long and healthy career in sport?
Becoming Robust: Solutions
When trying to become more 'robust', practitioners should firstly reflect on their own daily practices to ensure sufficient protocols are in place.
I've recently finished reading the excellent book Atomic Habits from James Clear (yes I'm aware I'm years behind reading this one!).
One of the key points relating to the creation of habits for 'tiny gains' to gradually improve over time (up to 37 times better overall if you improve 1% everyday across a yearly period).
I think this notion works well with sports performance practitioners and the creation of habits is a powerful tool.
Another person certainly worth checking out is Andrew Huberman of the Huberman Lab Podcast.
As part of his podcast series, he interviews a number of experts in various areas (he is an Associate Professor at Stanford himself in the area of neuroscience).
He often refers to 'protocols' to help optimize your lifestyle in order to achieve positive physical and mental wellness. Others might refer to these protocols as 'life hacks'.
So, what can we take from the work of James Clear and Andrew Huberman to create a robust practitioner? Let's break this down further:
Sleep:
Huberman Lab Sleep Protocol - Link
Some great suggestions contained within the link. Notably, the inclusion of morning light exposure is crucial to set our circadian rhythm for the day.
Use of daytime naps is a great protocol to combat fatigue. The 'coffee nap' approach of consuming caffeine before a nap, having the nap (limit to max 30 mins) then waking to allow the caffeine to kick in upon waking is a great method. Check out the link for further detail.
Nutrition:
In recent years, the use of intermittent fasting has received significant attention both in the media and scientific research.
Intermittent fasting refers to the restriction of eating hours within a 24 hour day. Typically these windows are 6-8 hours, which often includes fasting until noon.
There is emerging research to suggest intermittent fasting can result in a switch from glucose-based to ketone-based energy.
Research from my lab also recently showed the benefits of supplementing with medium chain triglycerides (MCT) gels. Our data showed significant improvements in cognitive function after only a 3 week period of supplementation, likely due to enhance ketone energy use in the brain.
Check out this article from Andrew Huberman discussing the benefits of intermittent fasting - Link
One other key point is around excessive use and timing of caffeine intake (a common issue in sports performance practitioners).
Limiting number of coffees per day and minimal caffeine after 1pm will make a significant impact upon nighttime sleep and general energy levels.
Physical and Mental Recovery:
There are many fads currently making the rounds when it comes to recovery.
The same principles and methods we use with athletes should also be used on ourselves.
I often refer back to the recovery pyramid (link) when it comes to choice of recovery methods.
There is strong evidence to show that ice baths (cold water immersion) can enhance both physical and mental recovery. Try incorporating this as part of your daily routine (upon waking has the greatest benefits).
Training/Injury Prevention:
As sports performance practitioners are often heavily involved in active movements throughout the day, simple guidelines like ensuring 10,000 steps per day doesn't apply.
If anything, practitioners are over exposed to exercise activity and should manage their load appropriately.
The ability to say no and manage your own workload is crucial to this process. Check out my newsletter article on how to say no (in the right way) - Link
Given the high physical demands already in place, it's important practitioners stick to a regular routine of conditioning themselves (think James Clear's Atomic Habits approach).
Daily protocols of stretching, yoga, S&C work and aerobic conditioning will help lay the foundations.
However, this shouldn't be excessive to overload the practitioner. Simply, effective time-efficient daily protocols should be observed.
Thank you for reading, see you next week.
Whenever you're ready, check out how I can help you further:
Football Fitness Mentorship Community:Â Are you a football physical performance practitioner looking to accelerate your career? Join an exclusive online mentorship community of football fitness practitioners and access resources, educational content, 1:1 support and a worldwide network. The community is aimed at football fitness practitioners - whether you are a student with future aspirations to work in football, an early career practitioner still finding their way or experienced practitioners looking to progress their career further. Check it out here.