Supporting Champions

This week’s guest is polar explorer Antony Jinman, a former naval officer and mountain leader. Antony was the 12th Briton to ski to both the geographic north and south pole. In this interview Antony shares the ups and downs of his career, in particular coping and managing with depression. He shares with us some of the demands of designing, funding and managing an expedition off set against actually doing the training for it too. But if there is one message that comes through loud and clear in this podcast – it is purpose. Antony is completely aligned to why he does these adventures, what he is connected to, who he is connected to and the reason he does what he does. Show Notes Steve and Antony begin by exploring Antony’s background and his early interest in nature and exploration. After school, Antony embarked on a career as a Naval officer and shares the moment he realised naval life wasn’t for him, opening up about his experiences of coping and managing depression. Antony shares some of the lessons he learn

Joe Eisenmann joins me on the Supporting Champions podcast this week as we explore the area of long-term athletic development. We discuss his background in physiology, academia and applied practice and start off by discussing some of the fundamental principles of pedagogy and how important that is in academic and practical pursuits.  We then delve into some of the research Joe has conducted on lifestyle and health related behaviours and how they relate to markers of physical activity and long-term athlete development, exploring ideas on training regimes, parental inputs and the pressures they are under. It is clear that Joe adopts a holistic, critical thinking approach to help people develop and sustain health and performance across youth and adult life. I very much enjoyed the conversation with Joe as he understands many of the dynamics involved with working in sport, such as being a specialist vs generalist, but it is the centre piece of what he does and being mindful of the development of other humans that

BBC Breakfast's Louise Minchin on performing in broadcasting and as an age group triathlete for team GB. Louise is a journalist and former radio presenter and is best known as the anchor on BBC1's Breakfast programme - a unique job that welcomes the day in for many people. However, you may not know that Louise has had a sharp rise into competing for Great Britain in the age group Olympic distance triathlon. In this interview Louise shares with us the spark that started this recent foray into competitive sport, how she prepares in training, how she fits this around a demanding day job, how she copes with the contrast of pressure of competing in a swim, bike, run versus the pressure of performing to millions of people every day on camera. Finally, we also discuss her new book "Dare to Tri" which has been written to encourage people to do exactly that and give something a go. Show Notes Steve asks Louise that obvious question…What time does she go to sleep and get up?! She then gives us an insight into the disci

030: Katelyn Ohashi on finding joy in gymnastics   In this episode I talk to Katelyn Ohashi about that viral routine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ic7RNS4Dfo Katelyn shares here journey through gymnastics Body shaming Writing and poetry Advice for my daughter Finding joy once again with Miss Val The details of her routine and what it meant to her.   Supporting Champions on Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve Supporting Champions on Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions Instagram https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions/ A reminder if you’re keen to pre-register for the next wave of Graduate Membership enrolments then you can do so at https://supportingchampions.co.uk/membership/ If you’re looking for some coaching support or some virtual team development help to support you to get to the next level in work, life or sport then take a look at https://supportingchampions.co.uk/coaching-mentoring/ or drop us a note at enquiries@supp

In Part 1 of this Podcast Special we have Head Coach of UCLA Gymnastics and orchestrator of THAT viral gymnastics' routine by Katelyn Ohashi, Miss Val Kondos Field. Miss Val and I discussed; how she was a ballerina originally but transitioned into coaching in gymnastics, the culture of gymnastics in the United States and how it has gone rotten, we unpacked her philosophies that have been galvanised by real life experiences such as her battle with cancer, her book "Life is Short Don't Wait To Dance" and of course we spoke about Katelyn Ohashi's unbelievable routine. Next week, Katelyn herself will join us on the podcast. Miss Val had a long and successful career in ballet. She studied classical ballet and piano for 17 years. Her first transition into gymnastics came by first becoming hired to play piano for floor routines before moving into coaching. Miss Val sees her job much more as a life skills coach, a mentor than a coach. Coaching is all about motivating change, not dictating change. Coaching from the eg

Helen Jenkins is a two time World Triathlon Champion. In this interview Helen begins by discussing motherhood, her early career and the importance of early career influences such as the legendary coach Chris Jones and world champion Leanda Cave. We delve into her peak performance in San Diego, where Helen produced one of the most dominant triathlon performances in the last few decades, crushing a truly world class field. It is here where she shares the exhilaration of winning the ITU World Triathlon Series in 2008 and 2011. But then things started to unravel as she experienced knee and most significantly, a back injury in the lead up to London 2012. Managing this, Helen explores how she was thinking before, during and after the 2012 attempt that ultimately didn’t go her way. It was truly uplifting to hear how Helen reconciled this, to make sense of her amazing achievements and to think about her bigger purpose in life. ​​ Show Notes Helen starts by reflecting over the last 12 months. She has experienced some

Brad is a trained Exercise Physiologist, Molecular Biologist, and Biostatistician, but wasn’t in these specialist topics that the insights started to flow in the interview, it was much more about how we live, work, day-to-day performance habits, parallels and allegories from the world of human function and human performance that we ended up exploring. One key area though really emerged and that was the concept of consulting, and how Brad set up his consultancy, and working with others, Brad shares his insights of focusing on quality work, empowering others in what I thought was a flawless, thoughtful, diligent almost calm way work with people for whom he can provide a solution! It was a fascinating discussion, so thank you Dylan. We started off by chatting about why he and his dog were up so early in the morning. In this show we discuss:  - Brad's background in biomechanics, molecular physiology and epidemiology. - The parallels between human functioning and performance. - Starting and growing a consultancy/p

Katherine is Great Britain’s most decorated female Olympic athlete. She won medals at 5 consecutive Olympic games in Sydney (2000), Athens (2004), Beijing (2008), London (2012) and Rio de Janeiro (2016), culminating in gold at our very own home games and a recording breaking fifth medal in Rio. To top off an incredible year, Dame Katherine Grainger was honoured in the 2017 New Year’s Honours List for her services to rowing and charity. Soon after Katherine was appointed Chair of UK Sport. In this interview we reflect upon Katherine’s rowing career and as ever, she is extremely humble, perceptive, honest, thoughtful, driven and resilient. We hope you enjoy the show!     Show noes Reflecting on the moments before the Sydney Olympic final and the physical and mental preparation Katherine adopted on final’s day.  Exploring Katherine’s transition into senior professional sport and senior training as a rower, an incredibly draining period both physically and emotionally. Also having to transition with professional

I take a look back at some of the highlights from the last year of interviews and discussions about high performance. The show is grouped into 5 common themes across all of the episodes: early career experiences and getting started, working with others, embracing change, thriving and looking at the bigger picture in life and leadership. Show Notes  Get Started Emilie Thienot from Ep #5 on getting experience, creating opportunities and breakthrough. David Fletcher from Ep #6 on internships, studying and applied practice Jamie Pringle from Ep #19 on understanding the context of what, where, and who you're working with. Lucy Balfour from Ep #13 about her passion for pursuing her dreams in the performing arts and developing resilience. Working with Others   Adam Conlon from Ep #15 on working as the first response team in disaster zones, getting face to face with people and developing trust, empathy and rapport. Harvey Galvin from Ep #20 about getting out of your own narrative, listening to what other people need

This week Tim Harper from Harper Performance joins us to discuss moving out of elite performance support in the UK to create unique, locally driven solutions to performance problems in disadvantaged communities across the world. Tim and his social enterprise are on a mission to give sport back some of its purer spirit, to diversify thinking about preparation and performance and to fiercely champion the underdog. A short introduction to Tim Harper's career pathway in professional sport and Harper Performance - a social enterprise aiming to provide performance support services to disadvantaged populations. Exploring the catalyst's that led Tim to change his career focus, mindset and the desire to find a path that had real purpose and meaning. Sport as a microcosm of society. Not being happy with the values of sport and what it represents and wanting to challenge and change its platform for societal change. Tim's experiences in professional rugby union in the UK and Africa as a practitioner led to a questioning

Sustaining high performance: Steve Ingham is joined once again by Jamie Pringle from the Performance Science Distillery and Rosie Mayes from the EB Centre. So sustaining performance – this is an interesting one. The discussion this week covers a series of tensions we come across in order to sustain performance, both as athletes and as support staff. Yes, we all want to achieve something and do well, but if it’s a bit of flash in the pan then there’s a chance that there will be a void behind it. That’s accepting that anything we ever do in aspiring for something that’s just outside our reach, will have its ups and downs, it will need us to stay open minded yet aware of what is essential, as you age, as competition changes and priorities change. This discussion is just as rich as all the other panel discussions, this one’s got some tangibles, but its also got some deep and challenging philosophy about how we perform, engage with others and the very concept of maintaining excellence over the longer-term arc of l

Steve discusses the essential concept of stress - adaptation with Jamie Pringle, Rosie Mayes. We explore what a stimulus is and does and the factors that determine the effectiveness of a stimulus. We discuss the experiences and environments that mitigate any adaptive responses, exploring the concepts of individualisation and group responses from a physical and cognitive performance perspective and then broaden that application to work and business and the very concept of progression, the achievement of mastery. Show Notes An introduction to Hans Selye's seminal work on the systemic hormonal responses to stress and how the human body and mind responds under duress. Positive and negative stressors and responses. No pain no gain…pushing into an area of discomfort or pain to allow development and adaptation. Dr Mary Neville sprint adaptation and 12 leg biopsies! Stress adaptations are complex to interpret. Adaptations occur as a result of a variety of interacting dynamics across our individual experiences.  Do we

This week’s interview is with Tess Morris-Paterson. Tess was a sports scientist with Lucozade Sport, then at the Glaxo Smith Kline Human performance laboratory. Then about 18 months ago, she began to think about a new goal, one of becoming an astronaut.  In the interview Tess talks about the deep reflection and questions about self and identity that led to the decision to understand more about what it entailed, how she traverses risk through understanding the demands with meticulous detail and planning, but critically moving to action and applying herself and finding there is more in her and the critical roles that mentors have played along the journey. It was fascinating to hear how she faces down the incredible severity of the risks of being in outer space balanced against lofty goal of getting to the international space station, living on a lunar base or even a mission to Mars. Show notes Applying sports physiology, strength & conditioning and nutrition in a variety of elite high-performance sports. Ea

Harvey Galvin epitomises all that Supporting Champions represents, but he has no gold medal to show for his efforts, no affiliation with a top performer, in fact his story is one about not making it in his chosen field of sport. He tried and he tried again, he grafted, he applied entrepreneurial spirit, he made opportunities but it didn’t work out. During that time Harvey explored his purpose, what makes him happy, his drivers, the need to be adaptable and tenacious, the potential sacrifices and choices he’s willing and not willing to make along the way. Ultimately, Harvey switched career away from his initial intended choice of sport. But there was a particular reason that I got in touch with Harvey to ask him to come on the podcast, and that was because he was starting to share his story in support of others who might be in a similar situation and I thought that was a story worth sharing   Show notes Failing in sport, you always hear about working hard and the successes Not asking for help and support and t

Steve discusses lessons from the frontline of working with elite performers with Jamie Pringle, Rosie Mayes. We discuss the essentials of that initial engagement with elite athletes, what to do and what not to do. Getting clarity around your role and what you're working to so that you can prioritise. What clues you might be drawing from the environment, the culture that can help you connect with others and be more effective. Importantly we discuss how some of our behaviours, actions and the bonds between us change under the pressure of competition. What is it like to work with an elite athlete? Understanding the culture and environment of sport Applying your skill and experience to the high performance training environment Step into the shoes of your athlete, see and experience what they do. Working with high level performers, winning Olympic medals, but the hard work is completed day in day out on the track or pool What if they are not interested in the science? The world doesn't revolve around you Team spor

Chrissie Wellington OBE four time World Ironman Triathlon Champion and holder of the three world ironman records shares her experiences of performing at the top end of world triathlon. In this interview Chrissie shares her journey into becoming professional, what it was like on the start line, during the races and crossing the finish line. Importantly Chrissie talks about what becoming World Champion meant to her and how she utilised it for greater good. Chrissie is a powerful, soulful and inspirational person with an infectious enthusiasm. But equally she is deeply thoughtful, considerate and hopeful about how she approaches life and her legacy.  Show notes Early beginnings in sport, driven, determined a perfectionist but channelled. Trying out triathlon A dislike for mediocrity! Be brave enough to explore your talents Physical environment, financial support, medical support combined with drive and agency create what is needed to succeed No expectation or pressure for the first World Ironman attempt Late qua

In 2016 Tom Boother ran (yes ran) from Land's End to John O'Groats (for the non-Brits, that's bottom left to top right of Great Britain). What is remarkable about Tom is that he classes himself as a non-athlete, and in fairness to his running speeds he isn't going to threaten Mo Farah anytime soon. BUT for me that is the remarkable thing about Tom, that he has found a way, through his own tenacity, courage, resilience and search for understanding. Inspired to question, "There must be more to life than this", when taking his law exams (probably enough to push anyone to question their existence), he set about entering the Tour du Mont Blanc and caught the bug and eventually set his sights on running the length of the country. In this episode we hear about how he hatched the idea, the many trials and tribulation along the way, the serendipity of birthdays and blisters in Bristol, the joys of receiving random acts of kindness along the way and how he is making sense of what he has learned about life and business

Dr Barry Fudge is Head of Endurance at British athletics and lead scientist for many outstanding endurance athletes like Sir Mo Farah. Barry has a PhD in exercise physiology which uniquely he undertook the majority of which in East Africa working with the richly talented Kenyan and Ethiopian teams, which at the time included Haile Gebrselassie and Kenenisa Bekele. Barry was actually my postdoctoral researcher back in 2007 and despite this is has gone on to achieve incredible amount. First as a physiologist as the key architect Mo Farah’s transformation from an also-ran to a world beater. Then being promoted to Head of Endurance with the much wider remit creating the conditions to nurture success in British Athletics. Barry spoke at our 2017 conference which you can also catch up on the podcast, and in this discussion expands on some are many challenges works through, how he works with athletes and coaches on a day-to-day basis and in the arena of the track and field stadium and he explores his purpose and sha

Adam Conlon was a captain in the British Army, undertaking his officer training at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst. He the entered the Royal Artillery, and is a veteran of two tours of Afghanistan. Adam talks about the development path from basic training to the heat of battle, where his job was in leading teams, calling the shots and co-ordinating the use of weapons on the battlefield. Adam shares the intense feeling of receiving volleys of fire from the Taliban, how he responded under that pressure and how his training and camaraderie developed and enabled him to perform. Poignantly, Adam shares the process and the emotions of decompressing after a tour and adjusting back to normal life.  Adam spent a brief time serving Her Majesty the Queen in Human Resources, but now is leadership consultant and speaker, but still finds time to out his skills to use in the first response teams that aid disaster zones and we get into that skill of developing rapid teamworking and the importance of listening and rap

In this special podcast episode I talk to Kelly Sotherton just after receiving a retrospectively awarded Olympic medal for the 4x400m, ten years after the Beijing games.   Show notes Introduction to Kelly Sotherton and the award of 4x400m medal from the Beijing Olympics alongside Marilyn Okoro, Christine Ohuruogu and Nicola Sanders Background of how we developed 400m running performance from heptathlon training Sadness and hope. Sadness that athletes and countries resorted to cheating. Hope that the authorities are punishing athletes retrospectively Athletes taking the courage to speak out against cheating The moment the women’s 4x400m team received their medals Finally got the medal 8:00 Heptathlon medal still to come Mixed emotions, when Kelly retired there was a sense of bitterness and being heartbroken but being reflective that she did everything to get her in the best shape possible After Athens 2004 Olympics, her coach Charles van Comenee left the UK, Kelly pulls together a group of coaches The running