Dr Sarah Hervert is a Strength and Conditioning Coach working in the private sector at her own gym Foundations Performance in Manly West, Brisbane.

Sarah grew up participating in nearly every sport imaginable. She danced and played soccer for over 16years and continued to play soccer until she was 24 when she ruptured her ACL and Meniscus. Her love of coaching grew from being surrounded by it all from a young age and from that it lead to Sarah stepping foot in the gym as a teenager and kickstarting her coaching career.

From there, Sarah progressed into completing a Bachelor of Sport and Exercise Science, then PhD with a major in Strength and Conditioning. During this PhD Sarah coached a National Premier League Soccer team in Queensland, various BMX, AFL, Ballet and Athletics athletes.

Currently Sarah works with a range of individuals at the Foundations Performance gym from 5 year olds to 60 year olds from a range of backgrounds including general population, Go Karting athlete, Rugby League players, dancers, rowers, soccer players.

In this episode we discuss:

- Sarah’s background

- What happens at the Foundations Performance Gym

- Bumps in the road due to being a female S&C in a male environment

- Social media and the female S&C coach

- Advice to pass on to any aspiring female S&C coach.

Recommended resources:

- Becoming a Supple Leopard

- Women in Sport Instagram

- Follow people on social media who you feel you can learn from

- Interact with coaches online and in person

Get in Touch:

- Instagram : @phdsez , @foundationsperformance

- Twitter: @SarahHervert10

Got any feedback? Leave a review on the podcast or drop me a message via Twitter @LuciJayne, Instagram @luc13_jayne or email [email protected]

Debby Sargent works at the University of Gloucestershire as a Lecturer in Strength and Conditioning. Before this role Debby was the Technical Demonstrator in Strength and Conditioning at the same University and has a vast cv working at St Andrews University as the Performance Sports Manager, Scottish Institute of Sport, Scottish Rugby Union, Scottish Golf Union alongside technical coaching roles such as Trampoline and Gymnastics Coaching.

Debby is now looking at commencing her PhD looking into ‘furthering knowledge and understanding of female biology and how that impacts on training prescription and adaptation.

Topics Discussed in this Episode:

- Debby’s background

- Her role at University of Gloucestershire

- Her own coaching philosophy

- How her thoughts on promoting women as S&C coaches has changed over the last 10yrs

- Women as ‘self promoters’ or not..

- How any male coach can enhance the service they are providing to their female athletes

Resources mentioned in this podcast:

Peters, S. (2013). The chimp paradox: The mind management program to help you achieve success, confidence, and happiness. TarcherPerigee.

Syed, M. (2015). Black box thinking: The surprising truth about success. Hachette UK.

Syed, M. (2019). Rebel Ideas: The power of diverse thinking. Hachette UK.

Syed, M. (2010). Bounce. Collins.

Authors to learn about the ‘what’: authors who have had a big impact on what I programme and my coaching philosophy….

·  Mike Stone

·  Sophia Nimphius

·  Pru Cormie

·  Aaron Coutts

·  Duncan French

·  Jeremy Shepherd

·  Nick Winkleman

Get In Touch:

Debby’s Email Address: [email protected]

Got any feedback? Leave a review on the podcast or drop me a message via Twitter @LuciJayne, Instagram @luc13_jayne or email [email protected]!

Helen Collins is a Sport and Exercise Scientist, currently coming towards the end of her PhD at the University of Dundee looking at strength training as a method of getting children more active.

Helen completed a Sport & Exercise Science degree at Northumbria University and then a Masters at Sheffield Hallam and was very much physiology based for years and started to develop an interest in working with athletes. On moving to Scotland Helen worked as a Sports Science Officer at Dundee Uni alongside being a Physiologist at Sportscotland.

On hearing a talk from Avery Faigenbaum about kids and the impact of strength training on health, Helen was inspired to do a PhD in strength training in kids but in a new direction of health and physical activity.

Helen’s current role is very much health/activity related now and her research is quite novel. She is looking at the impact of strength training on parameters of health (in particular weight status, confidence and movement skills) in the hope that it can help kids develop an active lifestyle.

In this episode we discuss:

- Helen’s path to her current role

- A day in the life

- Transition from Physiologist to Strength and Conditioning Coach

- Is a career in performance sport as appealing for female S&Cs with family responsibilities?

- Strength training as a method of getting children active

- Advice for female S&Cs

Resources mentioned in this episode:

- Work by Avery Faigenbaum

- UKSCA Position Statement on Youth Strength and Conditioning

- Sheffield Hallam Strength for Life

- Researchgate (for any of Helen’s work)

You can also get in contact with Helen on twitter at @helen_collins1

Got any feedback? Drop me a message via Twitter @Lucijayne, Instagram @luc13_jayne or leave a comment on the podcast!

Charlotte Dalton is the lead Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Scottish National Women's Cricket Team. She had previously completed a BSc in biochemistry before realising she wanted a career in sport, and then completed an MSc in Sport and Exercise Science and Medicine at the University of Glasgow. It was there that Charlotte landed her first s&c role before eventually landing positions in basketball and cricket. Charlotte has always been involved in sport and had begun coaching at the age of 14. She has since coached in summer camps, and primary school PE and involved in multi sports coaching too. This lead to Charlotte helping coach the Sussex uni cricket team which developed into club coaching, leading the women's and girls section at her current club and Scotland women's under 15 and u17 assistant coach. Charlotte had a similar path in basketball too, from assistant coach at Sussex uni women's team, assistant then Head coach of the Glasgow uni team before then becoming Scotland women's under 15 assistant coach role, Scottish student sport coach for 2 year and Scotland women's under 16s assistant coach. Charlotte completed a S&C internship with Athlete Focused for a year during her MSc working with mainly the boat club and Glasgow uni before becoming lead S&C on graduation. During this time Charlotte also worked with badminton , Athletics, and swimming and lead on the Glasgow uni men's and women's basketball teams. Charlotte applied for a regional s&c position for women's cricket but was then given the national role instead.

 In this episode we discuss: 

- Charlotte's background

 - her coaching philosophies 

- coaching the individual 

- balancing being a team mate and s&c coach

- advantages / disadvantages of being female In this industry 

- thoughts on flooding the market with female S&C coaches 

- advice for other female coaches 

Resources mentioned in this episode: 

- Pacey performance podcast 

-anything by Sophia Nimphius 

- Altis Foundation Courses 

How to get in touch with Charlotte: 

- Twitter @charlotteD05 

- Email: [email protected] 

Got any feedback? Leave a comment or drop me a message on Twitter @LuciJayne, Instagram @luc13_jayne or email [email protected]

Emily Wilson currently works as Head Strength and Conditioning Coach with the Women's NRL team the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

Emily has played sport all her life including gymnastics, dancing, athletics, oztag and more recently weightlifting. Although Emily is pretty young for being in the position she is (23yrs old), she has accomplished a lot and has been involved in coaching from the age of 14. She started off as a dance teacher then moved to athletics coaching before starting an internship with South Sydney Rabbitohs in 2016 and progressed to becoming the Head of S&C in the women's programme there.

In this episode we discuss:

- Emily's background and career change

- Challenges Emily has faced due to being a young female in the industry

- Planning for the future as a female coach

- Differences in coaching male and female athletes.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

- Sports Injury Prevention and Rehab (Joyce and Lewindon)

- PlayLab Conferences

How to get in touch with Emily:

- Instagram: @em.wi1son @ejathletics

Got any feedback? Leave a comment or drop me a message on Twitter @LuciJayne, Instagram @luc13_jayne or email [email protected]

Angela Sorensen is currently the Strength and Conditioning Instructor at the English National Ballet School in London.

Her previous roles include: personal trainer, sports performance coach in the private sector with youth to professional athletes, physical therapy with a focus on conditioning and rehabilitation. Angela was also previous the Director of Sports Performance at Loyola University in Chicago and Strength and Conditioning Coach for back to back National Men’s Volleyball Champions there. Alongside this, Angela was also a coach education consultant for Eleiko and was a co author and instructor on Eleiko’s Strength Coach International Level 1 Course.

Angela currently owns a Sports Performance and Weightlifting Coaching and Consultant business called Beastess Athletics.

In this Episode we discuss:

- Angela’s background and how she became a strength and conditioning coach

- Her role with the English National Ballet School

- How strength and conditioning differs between Ballet and conventional sports

- Being a female in the Strength and Conditioning Industry – her own experiences

- Challenges and opportunities

- Networking and its limitations

- Advice for other female coaches

Resources Mentioned in this podcast:

- Power Athlete Radio

- Catalyst Athletics

- NSCA / UKSCA Journals

- ResearchGate

Angela’s Contact Details:

Twitter - @angesorensen

Instagram – Beastess Athletics

Website – Beastess Athletics

Got any feedback? Drop me a message via Twitter @LuciJayne, Instagram @Luc13_jayne or leave a review on itunes!

Emma Archer currently works as a strength and conditioning coach at Culford School in England and also provides Strength and conditioning services to gymnastics clubs.

Emma moved into the fitness industry and eventually strength and conditioning profession after 14yrs working as a veterinary nurse and veterinary technical specialist in anaesthesia. On starting a family Emma decided to change career and initially began working as a Personal trainer with pre and post natal endurance runners and triathletes. Emma’s sporting background as an endurance runner and her own personal experience of having children allowed her to relate to her clients and she enjoyed the focus on performance over appearance. This lead to Emma taking on the distance learning Strength and Conditioning Masters course at St Marys where she began to expand her cv with coaching experience in various gymnastics clubs and eventually gaining employment at Culford School.

In this episode we discuss:

- Emma’s background and career change

- Family life and working in Strength and Conditioning as a mother

- The importance of having a supportive team around you

- The balance between following scientific research to the letter and making your athlete the focus

Resources mentioned in this episode:

- Pacey Performance Podcast

- Science in Sport Podcast

- How to fail Podcast

- Grit: the power of passion and perseverance by Angela Duckworth on audible

- Happy Place – Fern Cotton Podcast

- Michelle Obama autobiography – ‘becoming’

How to get in touch with Emma:

- Twitter: @PTEmmaArcher

- Instagram: @Strength_In_Gymnastics

- Email: [email protected]

Got any feedback? Leave a comment or drop me a message on Twitter @LuciJayne, Instagram @luc13_jayne or email [email protected]

Kate McMullan is currently the Physical Preparation Specialist for Wheelchair Basketball Canada. She is also the Interdisciplinary Support Team Lead for the Field Hockey Canada Next Gen Programme and Sport Science Consultant for both Field Hockey BC ad Field Hockey Ontario. Kate and her husband also run an Online Training Business Athletes Xcel (https://athletesxcel.com/).

Previously Kate has been the lead Sport Scientist for the Scottish National Women's Football Academy, Co-Lead for the Scottish Squash programme, Strength and Conditioning Coach for Tennis Scotland and Heriot Watt University.

On a 2 year break from S&C, on moving back to Canada, Kate worked as Team Manager for both the Women's National Sevens Rugby Programme and Swimming Canada. Kate has also worked privately with 3 Paralympic Athletes in Triathlon and Sailing on the road to Rio, and one Olympic Triathlete also on their way to Rio.

In this Episode we discuss:

- Kate's background and how she became a Strength and Conditioning Coach

- What a typical day looked like before Covid Lockdown

- Her proudest moments as a coach

- Differences in athlete motivation

- Differences for female Strength and Conditioning Coaches at university in Canada, America and Scotland

- Her own thoughts on why there are so many female Personal Trainers but very few female Strength and Conditioning Coaches

- Challenge and Opportunities Kate has faced along her way

- The crossover in skills and knowledge in Team Manager positions and Strength and Conditioning Positions

- Advice for young and upcoming female Strength and Conditioning Coaches

Recommended Resources

- High Performance Training for Sport by David Joyce and Daniel Lewindon

- Conscious Coaching by Brett Bartholomew

- Pacey Performance Podcast, specifically: Nick Grantham, Dawn Scott and Sophia Nimphius

Kate's Contact Details

- Email: [email protected]

- Twitter and Instagram : coachkp10

- Athletes Xcel: https://athletesxcel.com/

Got any feedback? Drop me a message via Twitter @LuciJayne, Instagram @luc13_jayne or leave a message on the podcast!