Do you think there’s a difference between a female and a male athlete in terms of speed and strength? 

To answer that, we are thrilled to have these professional insights from Conditioning Coach Erica Suter, a female athlete performance coach. She’s experienced in training young soccer players, both female and male athletes. And she went to graduate school and studied exercise science. Erica got her Master's in performance and injury prevention. And she loves to give back and educate parents on what their female athletes need to stay healthy, get faster and get stronger.

Erica Suter’s insights:

There's not too much of a difference between the male and female training because everyone overall has the same needs to meet. The training is overall similar but the biggest difference I've seen with girls is the emotional and hormonal changes. Especially during the growth spurt. Female athletes go through their menstrual cycle, and that can change how we talk about recovery, and how much extra they need to focus on during certain phases of life. 

That is why it is important to focus on the right way for female athletes to stay in shape.

The key to performance training is:

• Consistent training year-round.
• Building up focus on strength and speed. 
• Rest recovery.
• Avoiding red flags.

So if your daughter looks out of shape or is becoming slower in their game avoid rushing them into extensive physical training.

 Consider these factors.

• Are they eating right?
• Are they having enough sleep?
• Are they breathing right?

Look at these things first, before running her to the ground and potentially giving her overuse injury or just making things way worse when there are other solutions that you can focus on.

Erica has some awesome resources for moms with female athletes to read on. You can find her on Instagram and Twitter @fitsoccerqueen. You can find a ton of free content, tips, and videos on her social media accounts. 

I recommend starting with her Strong Female Athlete book if you want to start your journey toward improving your daughter’s strength and speed. It outlines things that you could do at home. And some of the basic everyday workouts for your daughter. There's also a fitness test in the book for you to see how fit your daughter is. 

And if you want to reach out on Instagram or Twitter, send Erica a DM. She does remote coaching as well! 

I hope this blog encourages more moms to support and help out their daughters. Inspire them to work on their health and strength both physically and mentally. 

Your daughter needs your full support to reach her full potential.

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Helpful Links:

• Hang out with Erica on social @fitsoccerqueen and learn more about working with her!
• Visit our podcast website for more on this episode
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