Perform - Altrincham

Massive thank you to Rob and the performance team at for inviting me in for the day. I could and probably should have taken more pictures and vids, but I was just too immersed in the day.

I’ve worked in a lot of different sports and teams over the last 8 years or so - but rugby just get it right in terms of nurturing a TEAM environment. The team aspect slaps you in the face from the moment you step in - it’s an environment you want to be a part of.

You walk in as a visitor and rather than feeling like a spare part, you’re greeted by everyone - 50+ cap internationals coming up to introduce themselves and talk to you about their training / rehab and generally have a bit of a craic. It’s what I love about rugby and it’s values, which clearly remain even at the very highest level. Humility, ho egos, no bullsh*t.

I got around two gym sessions (Uppers - forwards and back split), where the level of intent was first class (intent drives adaptation, and there is no issue with buy-in with rugby players!), before heading across to the 4G at in preparation for Sunday’s visit to Newcastle Falcons (they play on artificial).

The team meeting was absolute class and my immediate feeling is it made me miss being part of a professional team - I’ve only been independent for two weeks. They started by introducing me and a few other visitors to the group (nice touch), before fines (always funny) and celebrating big and small wins that week (caps etc) - it’s all really positive and you can imagine how important that is in more challenging periods.

The analysis section was short, succinct and gave the players ownership in providing their own take - brought together with an overview of the afternoons session (structure / objectives etc) and rolling out to the Kenny Loggins’ timeless ‘Danger Zone’. How could you not be pumped for training after that. A meeting that is succinct, positive and provides absolute clarity. It was class.
More in comments….

Last night I played competitive sport for the first time in 8 years (albeit non-contact ) - and because I’m a dweeb, I wore a GPS unit (which is class, btw 👏🏼).

The ‘top speed’ I achieved whilst playing serves as an important reminder as to why it’s SO important to train speed in an isolated fashion.

7.41ms felt fast last night because I was knackered and the game is constrained, but that’s only 83% of my current top speed - that’s nowhere near enough to provide any benefit in terms of a) injury mitigation or b) performance.

IT’S VERY DIFFICULT TO GET FASTER JUST BY PLAYING THE SPORT. Sport is naturally constrained by pitch dimensions, other players, fatigue etc etc - meaning you rarely hit anywhere near your max velocity.

In my experience working in professional football - match outputs are typically mid 80s to low 90s (dependent on position, tactical etc).

If you want to get FASTER and more ROBUST - you need two separate exposures per week of running >90-95% of your max velocity.

YOU NEED TO TRAIN SPEED SEPARATELY ⚡️⚡️⚡️

If you have any questions about how to design your own speed work, give me a shout 👍

In rehab / return to sport - I believe if I don’t return players faster and generally more effective players than they were before - then I haven’t done my job! It’s that simple.

Ethan suffered an ACL injury and underwent reconstruction (patellar tendon graft) in late 2023. I started working with him in summer 2024 as he entered the ‘end stage’ of his rehab journey and his return to sport.

On paper, Ethan was near enough ‘ready to go’:

✅ RoM & joint function fully restored
✅ ITK @ 60 degrees: 390% BW
✅ SL Drop Jump (20cm): >0.7 / 1.8x BW
✅ Standing Calf Iso: >3x BW
✅ SL Iso Squat: >3.4x BW /

This photo was taken last year in Portugal. 🇵🇹
I left cold Altrincham for a week of training in Portugal for the British Surfing Home Nations camp. 🏄‍♂️ 🇬🇧

It was an amazing week and just an example of the variety of professional athletes I work with.

It was a real pleasure to coach and get to know these athletes better. The level of focus and quality they brought was insane. The lads left the bar high, then the girls came in and smashed it in tough conditions. And let's not forget the Juniors on camp as well - they more than held their own!

If you're interested in working with a pro S&C coach, get in touch. You can email me here [email protected] and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

I'm super excited to be moving into private practise in Altrincham! 🚀

It's been a real pleasure to get to know all my new clients and start training them since I launched just 6 weeks ago!

➡️ I still have 9 spots available! If you're interested in working with me, send me an email at [email protected] and I will get back to you to book in 2 FREE sessions at the The Strength Collective Altrincham.

In case you don't know who I am, here's a little info about my background.

Hi I'm Alan - I'm a professional Physical Performance & Rehabilitation coach with nearly 10 years of experience. I work with elite and professional athletes across multiple sports.

- I am Masters educated, PhD candidate & fully accredited strength and conditioning coach with the UKSCA and NSCA and have worked with:

- Multiple Olympic gold medallists and European & World champions 🏆
- GB Cycling Team, British Surfing, Skateboard GB 🇬🇧
- The FA and Premier League Footballers ⚽️

I currently work at Sheffield United as Lead Performance and Rehab Specialist.⚽️

If you're interested in performing at your very best for your sport, I can help you. 🚀

Whether you're training for an IRONMAN or want to perform at your best for cycling, running, football, golf or skiing, you name it, I can support you & make you excel physically. 🚴 🏃‍♀️ ⛳️ 🎾

(I also specialise in rehab so if you need help returning from an injury better and more physically robust than your were before, get in touch.)

Hi - I’m Alan. I’m a professional S&C coach who has worked at the highest level of sport and over the years I’ve been lucky enough to work with some of the best athletes in the world.

I’m looking to move into private practice because I believe there is a genuine lack of qualified support for amateur athletes who are dedicated to improving their performance, but perhaps just don’t know where to focus their efforts.

Planning for and delivering high performance is literally my day job and has been for a long time, and I believe it shouldn’t only be professional athletes who have access to this level of support.

I want to cut through all the noise you see on social media and give people clarity and confidence in their - delivering guidance and programming that is science-led, tested with real athletes and most importantly, works.

Follow me if you would like useful, actionable training advice and the occasional bit of craic ☘️

‼️ TWO FREE SESSIONS OFFER ‼️
I’m currently offering two FREE sessions (ends 31st Dec) until I get set up properly. If you’re keen, get in touch or click on the link in my bio.

Cheers! 

Alan