As a young kid, being a footballer was always my dream. From the days in the schoolyard to the endless summer evenings with my friends playing until we couldn't see the ball, football has been all I have ever wanted to do. As I became older and more serious around football (16 years old) I started wanting to improve my athletic performance. If I become stronger and faster i'll be a better footballer, simple. Train as much as you can and don't be weak was my mindset, 6-7 weekly pitch sessions and 2-3 games and then add in the extra gym work that I went online to find and surely I'll be better than all my competitors. What happened ? I didn't get any faster, I began picking up overuse injuries and ultimately my performance stagnated.
So I wanted to learn, how could I manage my load better, how could I maximise my training process to allow me to develop into a better athlete and ultimately a better footballer. Through my early 20's I still had that 'work work work' mentality and it wasn't until a coach said to me 'Ciaran, why don't you just sleep an extra hour instead of getting up at 0730 for a recovery session?' that I began to view my training process differently.
Ever since that moment, I began to think a lot deeper around performance and what goes into making the body perform at its best. Fast forward to now, I've worked with hundreds of elite athletes, from players who've played in the premier league to international superstars to the semi-professional who is trying to maximise their time training whilst balancing jobs and life commitments. To my surprise, I learned that talent isn't as big a factor as you think. The majority of players whom I worked with were simply good athletes and done the basics of the sport well.
With proper physical training and structure, the majority of youth players have a chance to progress their careers to a higher level. However from my experience, most amateur/semi-pro and youth athletes have very little knowledge and support around their physical training. The majority of team sport coaches don't understand the demands of their sport physically and how to maximise their training weeks to improve the players physically, technically and tactically.
With all the information available via social media and the internet, it can be very hard to know what to do as an athlete. Thats why, as a current practitioner working in a professional environment, I want to offer the next generation of athletes the chance to maximise their athletic development and truly succeed in their athletic and life dreams by providing structure and direction in one's training process. So if you are an aspiring athlete looking to improve all aspects off your sport, invest in yourself by working with me and together we will accelerate your development.
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