Back to Performance

I think these training GAPS are one of the biggest reasons athletes keep getting injured.

Most injury-prone athletes don’t have a work ethic problem.

They have a preparation problem.

The first gap is sprint exposure.

Regular sprinting has been shown to reduce the risk of soft tissue injuries, particularly around the hamstrings and calves.

The good news?

You don’t need much.

Even 5 x 10m sprints, 2-3 times per week, is more than most athletes are doing.

The second gap is change of direction.

Your body adapts to the demands you place on it.

If your sport requires cutting, decelerating and changing direction, then your training should too.

Simple zig-zag runs with 4-5 cuts can be a great place to start building resilience and preparing your body for the demands of competition.

The final gap is conditioning.

This is one of the most overlooked qualities in sport.

Fatigue changes movement quality, reduces performance and increases injury risk.

Building a simple aerobic base can make a huge difference to your ability to recover and stay available throughout the season.

The athletes who play the most games aren’t always the most talented.

They’re often the best prepared.

This pre-season, don’t just train harder.

Fix the gaps in your training.

If conditioning is your weak link, check out Resilient Engine in my bio. It’s my step-by-step system for building the fitness needed to stay on the pitch all season.

Join the journey.

This week has been a lot better.

The first couple of weeks were tough, but for the first time since surgery, I genuinely feel like I’m moving forwards.

There’s still a long road ahead, but the goal hasn’t changed:

Get back to sport.

Follow .to.performance if you want to follow the journey.

And if you’d like more behind-the-scenes updates, drop me a DM and I’ll send you the link to my newsletter.

It’s going to be a long journey, and it has to start somewhere.

Ideally, I’d be using more machines right now. They’re stable, easy to control and allow you to push hard safely.

But logistics matter, and I’m lucky enough to have a great gym just up the road.

Today’s session was simply about doing what I could.

Nothing fancy.

Just laying the foundations for the work that comes next.

The goal right now is building capacity. Higher-volume work, accumulating time under tension and gradually rebuilding what I’ve lost.

I only did two sets of everything today.

The aim wasn’t to smash myself.

The aim was to get some quality work in and leave feeling better than when I arrived.

One thing I strongly believe is that training is systemic.

Yes, I’m focusing heavily on my upper body right now, but strength training has benefits that extend far beyond the muscles you’re directly working.

It helps maintain muscle mass, manage body weight and keeps me in the habit of training while my hip continues to recover.

More than anything though, it just felt good to train again.

For the first time since surgery, it felt like I was moving forwards rather than just waiting.

The goal hasn’t changed.

Get back to rugby.

If you’d like to follow the journey, send me a DM and I’ll send you a link to my newsletter.

These are 3 mistakes I see injury-prone athletes make every pre-season.

The first is they never actually get fit.

Pre-season is the perfect time to build your aerobic fitness, yet so many athletes skip it.

The problem?

Aerobic fitness is strongly linked to availability. The fitter you are, the better you can recover, repeat efforts and handle the demands of training and games.

The second is they never address their actual problem areas.

For example, if your calves keep breaking down every season but you never do the work to improve their strength and capacity, don’t be surprised when the same injury comes back.

Previous injury is one of the biggest predictors of future injury.

Fix the problem instead of hoping it goes away.

The third is carrying excess body fat.

This one is often overlooked.

Every extra kilogram has to be accelerated, decelerated and carried around the field.

That extra weight adds up over the course of a game and can make every movement more demanding.

If you’re serious about staying injury-free this season, focus on getting fitter, addressing your weak links and getting your body composition under control.

If conditioning is something you struggle with, check out Resilient Engine in my bio. It’s my step-by-step guide to building the fitness needed to stay on the pitch all season.

It’s crazy how quickly muscle disappears.

I’ve lost 4.5cm from my operated leg in just 14 days.

Right now, the goals are to nail the basics. Gain range of motion. Hold onto as much muscle as possible. Keep the leg moving and progressing.

It’s not glamorous, but these are the foundations that everything else is built on.

The goal is still the same, get back to rugby.

For now, it’s about getting a little bit better every day.

Follow .to.performance if you want to follow the journey from hip resurfacing back to sport.

These are the 3 biggest predictors of injury.

1. Injury history

The biggest predictor of a future injury is a previous injury.

Pick up a hamstring strain, calf tear or ankle injury and your risk of another injury goes up significantly.

Sometimes it’s the same injury.

Sometimes it’s somewhere completely different.

The risk keeps compounding if you don’t address the underlying problem.

2. Training load errors

Most athletes either do too much or too little.

Some try to grind hard every day and never recover.

Others suddenly double their training volume because they’re feeling motivated.

Both are a recipe for injury.

Your body needs progressive overload, not random overload.

Build gradually, recover properly and let your body adapt.

3. Being underprepared

This is the one I see most often.

Athletes jump into games, pre-season or a new level of competition without being physically prepared for the demands.

The game doesn’t care what you think you’re ready for.

It only cares what you’ve prepared for.

If you want to stay available, focus on fixing old injuries, managing your training load and preparing for the demands of your sport.

The athletes who stay injury-free aren’t always the most talented.

They’re usually the best prepared.

Follow .to.performance for more injury prevention and return-to-performance advice.

Most injury-prone athletes have a conditioning problem.

They’re strong.

They spend hours in the gym.

But they gas out halfway through games and training sessions.

That’s where the problems start.

As fatigue builds, movement quality drops, decision-making gets worse, and your body struggles to cope with the demands of the game.

That’s why conditioning is one of the biggest predictors of injury risk.

The good news?

It’s one of the easiest things to improve.

A few simple sessions each week can make a huge difference.

Some of my favourites are:

• 60s hard (5-6/10 effort), 30s easy x5 rounds

• 2-minute warm-up, 5-minute hard effort, 2-minute cool-down

• 10s hard, 50s easy x10 rounds

None of these need to be complicated.

You can tag them onto the end of a gym session and start building your aerobic fitness immediately.

The athletes who stay available aren’t always the strongest.

They’re often the ones who can recover, repeat efforts and handle the demands of the game.

If conditioning is something you struggle with, check out Resilient Engine in my bio.

It’s my step-by-step guide to building the fitness needed to stay on the pitch and spend less time injured.