Alta Performance

18/09/2026

Having coached hundreds of young athletes, and having been around sport across different ages, levels and environments, something has become extremely clear to me:

Youth sport is about development.

That should sit at the core of everything we do.

Of course results matter. Winning matters. Medals, PBs, selections and championships matter. Young athletes should be allowed to care deeply about those things - and we should enjoy the highs and support them through the lows.

But we also need perspective.

Very few young athletes will go on to become professional athletes. The athlete winning everything at 13 might not be the athlete winning at 18, 21 or 25.

So enjoy the ride with them. Celebrate the wins. Let them dream big. Support them when it doesn’t go their way.

But understand that this was never only about the medal.

As a coach, I’ll do everything I can to help your child succeed. I want them to perform. I want them to win - a lot.

I love working with young people who take their sport seriously. I love ambition. I love competitive environments. I don’t want to take any of that away.

But I also don’t want to rob young athletes of the joy of sport, or of the lessons that come with it.

I want them to leave sport more confident. More resilient. More independent. Better at communicating. Better at taking feedback. Better at dealing with pressure, success, failure and disappointment.

Because eventually the medals will sit in a drawer.

What that young person becomes through the process can stay with them for life.

When it’s all said and done, it’s about development.

13/09/2026

Your 2026 Norwich Swan SC S&C Athletes of the year 🏆

Really proud to recognise these four for their commitment, consistency, attitude and development over the past year.

All four have stood out in different ways and thoroughly deserve the recognition 👏

But something I think is really important to say when giving out awards like these: there can only be a few winners, but there are far more athletes doing brilliant work.

Not receiving an award doesn’t mean your effort hasn’t been noticed.

I see the athletes who turn up week after week. The ones who quietly get on with their work. The ones who have made huge improvements, overcome setbacks, supported their teammates or consistently trained to a high standard.

That work is seen, and it matters.

These four deserve their moment, but I’m incredibly proud of the standards being set across all of our S&C groups.

Congratulations Abby, George, Elizabeth and Oscar 🏆👏

10/09/2026

did not hesitate!! 🤣🤣

This made me laugh looking back through the camera roll 😅😅

He loves winning more than he hates the bike though

10/09/2026

A slightly different couple of days of coaching 👊

I’ve coached Bethany and Oscar for over five years, and this week they swapped being the athletes for getting a look at what happens on the other side of the coaching process as part of their work placement.

I wanted them to get a proper insight into the job and see as much of it as possible.

Across the two days they got to observe and get involved with sessions involving professional and international-level athletes, as well as people training for completely different goals, with different ages, backgrounds and needs.

They also got stuck into a group session at HUSTLE | Boxing, HYROX & Strength gym , helping out with the session and taking parts of the class themselves. A completely different experience and a good opportunity for them to have a go at leading a group and coaching different people.

Knowing your S&C is important, but being able to coach, communicate and adapt to whoever is in front of you is just as important.

There’s also a lot more to the job than what happens on the gym floor. We filmed exercises for our YouTube library to use with the swimming club and online clients, created warm-up resources, went through athlete case studies and programming decisions, and looked at how online coaching works behind the scenes.

We also spoke about education and career pathways, running your own coaching business and, of course, some of the less exciting admin that comes with it 😅

It was great having them involved in a completely different way and showing them a side of coaching they don’t normally get to see. Both got stuck in, were professional throughout and were a massive help over the two days.

Fair play to them both as well. 5:30am swim training before the placement on both days, then back in the pool for another session later in the day 😅👏 (though it’s nothing new to them).

Hopefully they’ve taken plenty from the experience and enjoyed it along the way.

Great couple of days! Thank you for the help 💪👊

07/09/2026

Back to school often means a lot more than just going back to the classroom.

For a young athlete, their whole week can suddenly change.

More school.
More walking.
PE.
Club training.
Matches.
Earlier mornings.
Homework.
Less downtime.

And on top of all of that, they’re still growing (this takes energy).

A simple way to think about this is demand vs capacity.

Demand = everything being asked of them.
Training, matches, school, PE, daily activity, growth and general life stress.

Capacity = what they’re currently able to cope with.
This is influenced by things like their physical preparation, previous training, sleep, nutrition, recovery and stage of development.

When demand suddenly increases beyond what a young athlete is currently prepared to tolerate, injury risk can increase.

So what can we actually do about it?

There are essentially two levers we can pull:

1. Manage the demand ↓
We don’t necessarily need to stop them training. But we can avoid throwing everything at them at once.

Build training back gradually. Look at their whole week, not just one session. And if they’re clearly struggling to cope, adjust things.

2. Build their capacity ↑
This is the bit that sometimes gets forgotten.

Appropriate strength & conditioning, regular exposure to training, enough food, good sleep and adequate recovery all help prepare young athletes for the demands of their sport.

The aim isn’t to keep children wrapped in cotton wool or permanently reduce their training.

We want to progressively build their capacity so they’re better prepared to handle more.

And sometimes the answer will be to increase capacity.

Sometimes it will be to reduce or modify demand.

Often, it’ll be a bit of both.

The key is recognising when the balance isn’t right.

Don’t protect young athletes from load. Prepare them for it.

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05/09/2026

05/09/2026

The days nobody sees.
The reps nobody remembers.
The basics, done well.

Even on the days you don’t feel like it.

Nothing spectacular.
Nothing wasted.

Just small pieces of work,
stacked on top of each other.

Day after day.
Year after year.

That’s the process.

5 years with 📈🏋🏻‍♂️

03/09/2026

Today marks my final day at Easton College 🏋🏻‍♂️🎓

I remember when I first got the role and thinking how mad it was that a kid who started here at 16 on a Level 2 course would eventually come back to teach on the degree programme. It was a really proud moment for me, and an opportunity I’ve never taken for granted.

Over the last four years, I’ve had the opportunity to teach, alongside coaching S&C as part of the Performance & Excellence programme.

I’ve worked alongside some BRILLIANT people, taught some great students and coached athletes from all sorts of sports. I’ve learned a huge amount along the way and hopefully passed some of that on too.

To all the students and athletes I’ve worked with - thank you. It’s been great watching you develop and I’m looking forward to seeing where you all end up.

Very grateful for my time at Easton, the opportunities I’ve had and everyone who’s been part of it. I’m sure it won’t be the last time I’m involved, and I look forward to collaborating again in the future.

Onto the next chapter 🙌
Alta Performance

28/08/2026

Since we started working together, “The Fortune Soldier” INJAI has won two amateur titles, finished 3rd at the IMMAF World Championships and reached #1 in the UK amateur middleweight rankings 🥇

“The Fortune Soldier” INJAI came to me wanting to take his S&C to the next level as he progressed through his amateur MMA career.

The aim was simple 🎯 make sure his physical preparation supported what he needed to do in the cage.

We built his S&C around his MMA training and competition schedule, giving him a clear structure to follow while adapting things along the way when training, competition and the inevitable niggles got in the way.

Most of our work is done through 1:1 online coaching, with Ed completing 2–3 S&C sessions each week alongside occasional in-person sessions.

The biggest thing for me? The improvements are transferring.

He’s able to push the pace, physically impose himself on opponents and continue performing as the fight progresses.

And we’re still building 📈

If you’re an athlete looking for S&C that works around your sport rather than competing with it, DM me “COACHING” for more information on 1:1 online coaching..

28/08/2026

A bit of a rebrand, some new faces around here, so it feels like a good time for another introduction 👋

I’ll be sharing more of the coaching, the thinking behind it and hopefully some useful stuff too (plus the occasional glimpse of life outside of coaching).

If you’re new here - welcome 👋
If you’ve been here a while - I appreciate you 💙