Today's podcast features Liz Gleadle. Liz is a three-time Olympian, high-performance consultant, and TEDx speaker. After retiring in 2022, Liz had a transformative epiphany, recognizing the profound impact of emotions on posture, movement quality, and power production. At that moment, she decided to "un-retire" and train with a whole new approach to rewire her mind and movement patterns for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

There is a wealth of material in training and coaching on exercises, sets, reps, parameters, and "positions" athletes should be in. In general, much of movement training is based on static ideas, positions, or black-and-white constructions. The reality of movement, training, and performance runs much deeper, is more connected, and has a far greater richness to it.

On today's podcast, Liz speaks on her process of infusing dance, flow, and connection into the throwing javelin while also leveling up athletically. Liz digs into key aspects of training: "training side-quests," connectivity, overcoming fear in movement, and facilitating a dynamic ecosystem of training, learning, and growth. Liz has an expansive perspective on the deeper process of athletic movement, and this episode pushes into a new and powerful space of human performance.

Today’s episode is brought to you by TeamBuildr and Plyomat.

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Liz Gleadle Main Points

6:12- Enhancing Athletic Performance through Dynamic Choreography

14:03- Choreographic Approach Enhances Javelin Precision

22:39- Dynamic Preparatory Routine for Javelin Practice

28:43- Enhancing Athletic Performance Through Foot Proprioception

32:49- Building Confidence to Overcome Hurdle Fear

40:14- Precision Development Through Varied Javelin Weights

42:10- Discover Technique through Varied Javelin Weights

50:34- Enhancing Athletic Performance Through Dance and Connection

53:03- The Intricate Connection of Successful Jumping

58:07- Sensory Communication Through Hands and Feet

1:06:49- Embodiment of Rhythmic Self-Expression through Dance

1:10:41- Enhancing Athletic Performance Through Rhythmic Movement

1:12:48- Gratitude-Driven Precision in Javelin Throwing

Quotes

2:55 "I started diving into all the different ways that I had been holding myself back due to my thoughts about my lack of athleticism, my lack of being able to jump, my lack of explosiveness, my klutziness, and I realized that it had completely dictated the way I moved as a thrower and as an athlete, and it had completely held me back from reaching my peak." Liz Gleadle

7:25 “I think it's almost like sometimes coaches crave static for certainty. Oh, we're certain about this static thing, and that's how we can measure progress. But in reality, the actual being in the movement and embodying it, there's certainly. Yeah, it's definitely. You're getting into dancing territory now” Liz Gleadle

17:20 “When I say dance, I don't mean choreographed dance or having to follow a specific way of moving. I mean exploring in time relative to music and really simple movements, but feeling a connection to your body” Liz Gleadle

17:40 “When we hit that beat, we get dopamine. When we feel a connection from one side of our body to the other, we get another huge hit of dopamine. If we do it in conjunction with other people, even something as simply as bouncing in time, we get a massive hit of oxytocin. And all these things make us learn faster” Liz Gleadle

24:50 “I'm constantly asking myself, where do I feel like? Do I have the connection line all the way from fingertip to toe across my body, on the same sides of my body, between my legs,