This week we welcomed on Dr Donnla O'Hagan who is a lecturer at Dublin City University. She lectures in Sports Psychology and Research Methods while her own main area of research is on sleep. She completed her PhD on how sleep deprivation affects the performance of pilots. We discussed this, her work at US Naval Air Force and all other matters related to sleep in this super interesting episode.

It's a full year since we started and surprisingly enough (mainly to ourselves) we've remained consistent with an episode pretty much every week for the year. We took a look back at the last year in terms of what we've learned from the various guests we've had on and about podcasting in general. We included a few excerpts from previous episodes and discussed some upcoming guests. We also stated who our dream guests would be.

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Paul Talty is Associate Head Of Performance Services (Athletic) with Swim Ireland He is responsible for the "dryland" or strength work for our country's elite swimmers. We discussed the benefits of strength training for swimmers, how it transfers from the weight room to the water and what key exercises he feels are of the greatest benefit. We spoke about nutrition considerations for swimmers and how consuming adequate calories at the right stage of the week can have huge benefits for both performance and recovery.

This week we welcomed on Rob Pacey who hosts the Pacey Performance Podcast which has published over 300 episodes. He recently conducted a survey among Performance Staff in professional soccer which provided insights around wages, years of experience, job titles, how people were hired, internships and much more.

Rob gave his own views on how we can generate extra revenue to supplement our income and how coaches may look to move away from elite sport to ensure greater job security.

A full report of Rob's report and numerous other resources can be found at his website: https://www.strengthofscience.com/pacey-performance-podcast/

This week we welcomed on David Grey of DG Rehab. We discussed a number of items such as an explanation of quality movement. We spoke about David's online programmes, "Lower Body Basics 1", "Lower Body Basics 2" and "Core Basics" which has been implemented across the world including with a number of elite athletes. David also spoke about breath work and the impact that can have on movement, stiffness/tightness, energy levels and quality sleep.

This week we welcomed on Dr Alan Dunton who is a lecturer in Skill Acquisition at Technological University Dublin. Alan completed his PhD on Occlusion or "Head Up" Goggles. We discussed what constraints are, different types of constraints and how we can sue them to enhance our coaching practices. We also spoke about the importance of "Why" we are using certain constraints or activities and the difference between Agility and Change Of Direction.

This week we welcomed on Eoin Maguire who is a very experienced S&C coach. He has worked at intercounty GAA, AIL Rugby, NFL Combine prep and with a number of individual athletes. He currently works for EXOS who are an international health and fitness company who specialise in both elite performance and general health. In this episode we discussed how to create buy-in with athletes, the social and cultural differences between GAA and Rugby players, what "soft" skills S&C coaches should seek to develop and much more.

This week we had a solo episode as we've had a number of guests over the past few months. We discussed a number of considerations we should be mindful of as coaches and players as training resumes. Namely how to structure sessions, how to incorporate speed and strength work, and how we can increase overall training volume over time.

This week we welcomed Robbie Cassidy (@themobilitytutor). We discussed some considerations around returning to training. How to manage load across the week, with a particular emphasis on CNS fatigue. Robbie explained what mobility is and how it differs from flexibility. We also looked at how mobility can be impacted by a number of other "moving parts" around the body such as breathing, stress, sleep and much more.

You can find Robbie and all of his specific mobility/injury reduction plans at www.themobilitytutor.com

This week we welcomed on Dr James Morehen who currently works as a performance nutritionist with the English FA. We discussed his background in Snowboarding; Completing an applied PhD while embedded in a Rugby League club and his work with boxers making weight.