In this episode, Ben and Tim speak to Rachel Vickery. Rachel spent her formative years as a national level gymnast and Commonwealth Games representative for her native New Zealand before training as a respiratory physiotherapist. Drawing from this unique background, Rachel now works to help people increase their performance in domains ranging from NBA basketball to the boardroom. Rachel shares her thoughts on how to deal with stress, both in your daily life and at ‘go time’ and provides a unique insight into some of the pressures faced by athletes and coaches at the elite levels of sport. And to wrap it up, she gives us not just one, but four power songs!
05:11 As customary in season five, the boys bang on about how hot their podcast studio is – and ask Rachel is “Bikram Podcasting” is good for recovery?!
06:30 Rachel’s background – personal, sporting and professional, including her exploits as a national level gymnast
10:40 Good for a Girl – excellent book by US middle distance runner Lauren Fleshman
11:15 The pressure of ‘Growing Up In Lycra’ – training and competing in aesthetic sports, particularly as a female and particularly during puberty
16:00 The devastating impacts of RED-S (Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport)
24:24 A discussion of the importance and impacts of menstruation on female athletic development
28:30 Rachel’s work on a report into the cultural problems inside NZ gymnastics
33:30 We’ve heard of athletes being bullied, but coaches are not immune from bullying either
39:50 The importance of maximising the buffer between steady state and ‘go time’ by lowering your steady state stress – and the potential for ‘fear of success’
44:00 How do we lower both steady state pressure and ‘go time’ arousal state?
48:30 Rachel talks to the negative impacts of alcohol on athletic performance – and Tim offers a powerful counter-factual!
49:30 Shifting the narrative from fear to gratitude – and the importance of doing the common uncommonly well
51:40 Getting rid of toxins – dietary and otherwise – from your life
54:00 Rachel’s three point ‘get out of jail card’
56:20 The ‘three dickhead rule’ (…or how to check if you’re the dickhead!)
57:30 Rachel on the shortfalls on the current ‘breathwork’ fad
1:12:30 What does Rachel do for herself? Including long-distance travel thoughts
1:18:00 The importance of conducting experiments on yourself to work out what is going to help your recovery
1:20:30 Rachel’s power song(s)!!
External Links
Rachel’s website – https://rachelvickery.com/
Gymnastics New Zealand Independent Report – co-authored by Rachel
Rachel’s LinkedIn
Rachel’s Breathing Baseline Reset & Habit Breaker
Contact Us
www.unforgiving60.com
Email us at debrief@unforgiving60.com
Instagram, Twitter: @Unforgiving60
Music …. With thanks to:
The Externals – available on Spotify
S4E16 – David Knoff Redux: 537 Days of Winter in 65 minutes of podcast!
S4E15 – Beau Miles. Our Famous Backyard Adventurer
S4E14 – Dr Michael Mumford: Pioneering Medical Marijuana
S4E13 – How to be Indistractable with Nir Eyal
S4E12 - Mark Wales: Survivor Redux
S4E11 – Cam & Sharn Watts: Foxhole Buddies In the Fight Against PTSD
S4E10– Meet Liv Robinson v2.0- Beating Anorexia and Dominating Life through Art Therapy
S4E9–Cleared Hot! Shannon Huffman Polson on flying Apache Gunships, bagging big peaks and being a badass
S4E8– Olympian Melissa Wu is Diving Into Life!
S4E7– Brian Firth – Breathing – you’re doing it wrong!
S4E6– Mick Neven is Fair Dinkum
S4E5B– Kev Toonen – Training SpecOps, Sports Stars and Celebrities: Part B
S4E5A– Kev Toonen – Training SpecOps, Sports Stars and Celebrities: Part A
S4E4 – Be All There to Enjoy the Moments of Magic with Psychologist Ali Hill
S4E3 – Dean Fechner: Sharing hard-won lessons on resilience
S4E2 – Tom Moore- How ‘WithYouWithMe’ is Disrupting Normal
S4E1 - Harry Garside: Fighting the good fight – inside and outside the ring
@RV28 – Season 3 Finale ….. Reflections & into the Future
S3E20 –Standout Life with Ali Hill
S3E19 –Lessons in Leadership with Randy Powell
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