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Rachel has worked with elite athletes across many domains through her work as a sports physiotherapist, breathing specialist and her expertise in the field of performing in high pressure environments. Rach has worked with elite performers from the NBA, NRL, AFL, military and corporate to only name a few, but it’s her ability to have recreated her identity time and time again in a profession that rewards staying in once’s lane that is most fascinating. Listen as we dive into the physiology of how athletes and practitioners can better deal with high pressure situations as well as dive into her unique journey from elite gymnast to specialist in improving performance in high pressure environments.

Highlights from the episode…

• After representing New Zealand in the commonwealth games and world championships as a Gymnast, she was exposed to some exceptional physiotherapist that inspired her to choose a similar pathway post her athletic career.
• It was a chance encounter with an athlete with Hyper Ventilation Syndrome that inspired her to pursue a better understanding around breathing it’s affect on performance.
• How Rach began working with the Golden State Warriors (NBA) and how the same approach led to her being invited to contribute at an event hosted by the Vatican City.
• With an ever growing cohort of practitioners exploring avenues outside of their siloed profession we discuss how she has been able to transition beyond her title as a physiotherapist into other roles in Business, IT, Breathing, Coaching etc.
• We have a vulnerable conversation around the challenges Rach had in the early stages of recreating herself beyond her identity as a physio/”breathing lady” and what she did to navigate through this period.
• Dealing with pressure. “You can’t compartmentalise your physiology! You can compartmentalise your thoughts, but not your physiology!”
• How to balance having confidence in being an expert of your field but being humble enough in your approach to understand that you are not an expert of their sport.
• Why breathing is important and how to maximise it to enhance athletic performance both biomechanically and physiologically.
• What are the elements that define a high pressure situation and what can athletes and practitioners do to train/mask/blunt the negative effects that come with pressure.
• Rach shares a real-life case study of the breathing and performance under pressure techniques she used with an elite golfer to improve his performance.
• Specific training modalities to induce a stress response and in turn exercise the techniques around the physiological aspects of arousal state control.
• In a moment of pressure there are 3 things Rach suggests focusing on 1. Where are you looking? 2. Where are you breathing? and 3. What are you thinking about?

People mentioned:

• Paul Hodge: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulwhodges/?originalSubdomain=au
• Mark Young: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-young-b2aaa520/
• Wim Hof: https://www.wimhofmethod.com

Rachel Vickery contact details:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelvickery/
• Website: https://rachelvickery.com/about/
• Email: rachel@rachelvickery.com

Host: Luis Resa

Contact me on:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luis-resa-a975196b/
• Email: luis.resa@outlook.com

Thanks for listening and please leave a review. If you would like more information on anything mentioned in this episode simply send me an email.

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Is it quality or quantity? What physiological and cognitive adaptations happen during sleep? What is sleep inertia? Are wearables improving sleep or can they be detrimental to the affects of sleep? We answer all the questions. Not only is Liv an expert in the field of sleep and athletic performance she has also worked directly in the trenches of elite sport having been the high performance manager for the Western Bulldogs and Hawthorne Hawks AFLW teams. In this conversation we explore how sleep effects performance and dive into Liv’s personal journey working at the top tier of women’s AFL to now applying her expertise in athletic performance to the corporate world.

Highlights from the episode…

• While completing her Sport Science undergrad, Liv shares how it was actually the things she did outside of her degree that eventualy led to her initial opportunities in sport.
• Having only being graduated for a few years and with minimal experience in AFL, how Liv was able to secure a high-performance manager role with the Western Bulldogs AFLW.
• How Liz navigated her first year with a new team, new role, dealing with new technology all while managing the overall performance of the playing group at the Bulldogs.
• What inspired Liv to do a PhD and how she used it as a unique point of difference in a highly competitive world of elite sport.
• Liv dives into what it takes to complete a PhD, considerations, how to be accepted, the costs, financial support, time commitment etc.
• What practitioners wanting to work in AFLW should expect in regards to role structure, remuneration, time commitment, expectations etc.
• How does sleep restriction affect strength training and what S&C coaches should consider when working with athletes who may be having challenges with sleep.
• What are the adaptations that occurring during sleep?
• Is it the quality or the quantity that is most important with sleep and if unable to get a good sleep what is the value of a nap? Is it more the cognitive or physical benefits to napping?
• We discuss my experiment around sleeping and waking within specific sleep cycles at the aim to avoid “Sleep Inertia”.
• Is perception stronger than reality? How you think you’ve slept may impact your performance throughout the day than how you actually slept!
• There is an abundant of research, education, monitoring devices but how did you get your athletes to actually adhere to a sleep protocols? Liv provides advices that I've never heard before.
• The practitioners challenge of balancing career ambition with the other prioritise as a parent, daughter, wife, team mate etc.
• How Liv was able to leverage her skills in sport to establish a corporate career with a real estate firm.
• What do high performance mangers get evaluated for in both sport and in corporate.

People mentioned:

• Fiona Jacobs: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fiona-jacobs-ba853124/
• Brad Aisbett: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brad-aisbett-a6333b20/?originalSubdomain=au
• Ben Walker: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-walker-67874194/?originalSubdomain=au
• Shona Halson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shona-halson-627b74268/

Liv Knolwes contact details:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-olivia-knowles/
• Website Sleep-Ed: https://fingertip.com/sleep-ed
• X: https://x.com/livknowles1

Host: Luis Resa

Contact me on:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luis-resa-a975196b/
• Email: luis.resa@outlook.com

Thanks for listening and please leave a review. If you would like more information on anything mentioned in this episode simply send me an email.

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Jason has over 30 years experience in the industry and during his time at the pinnacle of both Rugby and AFL he has taken his experience and expertise and developed a novel analytics tool to assist both medical and performance staff navigate the challenges around injury prevention, rehabilitation and return to play decision making with SpeedSig. Not only has Jason contributed to the industry through his recent technology he has also been a regular voice in the industry and assisted some of the most well known practitioners navigate their own journeys in sport. This is a unique and candid conversations filled with an abundance of technical insights and unfiltered truths around what it takes to excel in the world high performance sport.

Highlights from the episode…

• Having been exposed to the likes of strength coach Ian King, this is what led to an interest in doing one of the first sports science courses offered in NSW.
• ‘Its not for everyone and may not even be necessary!” Jason shares what to consider when deciding to do a PhD.
• Having been told he was wrong on a number of occasions this motivated Jason to seek answers for himself which was the catalyst of his PhD and in turn SpeedSig.
• The evolution of sport scientists in elite sport and the move from not just looking at WHAT athletes are doing but HOW they are doing it.
• How Jason got his foot in the door of elite sport with his first role at the QLD Reds.
• Jason and I discuss the tension between not working for free and finding a way of getting your foot in the door of a highly competitive industry.
• Jason has taken some huge risks and massive investments starting SpeedSig and the biggest investment of all is not what you think.
• Having seen abnormalities in movement through a “coaches eye”, Jason wanted to find a way to quantify this and do it at scale, which he feels SpeedSig can assist teams with.
• Why conventional off field objective measures may be missing the mark when it comes to return to play decision making.
• How do you know what you’re observing through SpeedSig is causative and not just correlative?
• “Collecting the dots vs. connecting the dots”. How SpeedSig works, what it does and how to use the information gathered to inform decision making.
• Being a high performance manager how have you managed how medical and performance staff may view things differently when it comes to return to sport decision making.
• When there is non-consensus in a performance team, how do you effectively make a collaborative decision about an athlete?

People mentioned:

• Ian King: https://kingsports.net/about-2/
• Prof Rob Newton: https://www.linkedin.com/in/profrobnewton/?originalSubdomain=au
• Chris McLellan: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5WvV4e6B5twcYl2Bw1Edwx
• Zach Higginbotham: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zach-higginbotham-8a5862222/
• Tim McGrath: https://open.spotify.com/episode/73xkOCQlyT1RJ0u9s3ybdE
• Aaron Coutts: https://profiles.uts.edu.au/Aaron.Coutts
• Linda Bennetts: https://www.linkedin.com/in/linda-bennetts-a801542b/?originalSubdomain=au

Jason Weber contact details:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-weber-928a0032/
• Website SPEEDSIG: https://www.speedsig.com
• Two coaches & a coffee podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/5cCwmakTSa25EUXVznTjCW
• X: https://x.com/JasonAWeber

Host: Luis Resa

Contact me on:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luis-resa-a975196b/
• Email: luis.resa@outlook.com

Thanks for listening and please leave a review. If you would like more information on anything mentioned in this episode simply send me an email.