CT Peak Performance

Sharing a recent clip from a podcast I was invited on to, sharing my journey through sport to burnout.

My experience in sport lead me to doing the work I do today, supporting, guiding and educating athletes, coaches and active people on what you can do to help avoid over-training and burnout, the tools and strategies I wished I knew when I was a competitive athlete.

Full Podcast available https://youtube.com/?si=5exxd65PnJHAFKBr

https://youtube.com/shorts/er5rOwQsVog?si=u-JiSD0xuWZYCHeG

Wait, you retired at 19 because of burnout? Wait, you retired at 19 because of burnout? 🤯 Clare’s story is a wake-up call for anyone constantly pushing themselves.She had to learn how to emotionally r...

Why do Breathing Training on Land for Swimmers? 👇

Most swimmers think performance is built in the pool.

But the real gains often start on land with how you breathe.

Breathing training on land helps swimmers teach their bodies to:

💨 Become more tolerant to carbon dioxide (CO₂)
💪 Use oxygen more efficiently
⚡ Conserve energy and delay fatigue

Why does this matter?

Because breathing itself uses oxygen, anywhere from 5–15% of your total oxygen intake during moderate to intense exercise.

If your breathing is inefficient, your muscles get less oxygen and your performance suffers.

By improving CO₂ tolerance through land-based breathing drills, swimmers learn to:

✅ Take fewer, more efficient breaths (for example, every 5 strokes instead of every 3)
✅ Move with better rhythm and flow in the water
✅ Reduce hydrodynamic drag, every unnecessary breath slightly disrupts body position and flow
✅ Train the respiratory muscles to work harder
with less ventilation meaning you can swim longer, with less effort

Think of it like strength training for your breathing system:

🫁 Fewer breaths → less drag → smoother swimming
🫁 Stronger respiratory muscles → more efficient energy use
🫁 Better breathing control → improved recovery and focus

When you learn to breathe better on land, your body learns to move better in water.

The goal of breathing retraining isn’t to hold your breath longer, it’s to teach your body to do more with less

Less effort. Less drag. More control. More performance.

Here we go of to training camp #2 at Rio Maior Sports Centre with Alliance ASC.

A total of 11 training sessions planned for the week ahead with my focus being on dryland and improving oxygen efficiency. 💨

I've worked with female athletes for over 20 years. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned (and lived), it’s this:

performance, recovery, and resilience shift across the month.

Research shows female hormones influence breathing, energy, stress tolerance, and injury risk — and yet most training advice ignores this entirely.

That’s not OK!

If you’re an active woman, athlete, or coach who works with women, this matters more than you may even realise.

Understanding hormonal fluctuations and how they affect breathing, performance, and recovery can be the difference between thriving and burning out.

You don’t have to push through every phase the same way.

You can learn to adapt, align, and keep showing up, powerfully.

I’ve been busy, quietly building something in the background to help women and girls do just that.

Today, I want to shine a light on one of the remarkable athletes I’ve had the privilege to mentor over the past couple of years, Genna.

Genna is a dedicated gymnast who has been navigating the intense world of high-level sport, where the physical demands are only part of the story.

Behind the routines and results lies an equally demanding journey of mental and emotional resilience.

Over the past few years, Genna and I have worked closely on developing tools to manage the constant pressures of performance, build confidence, and deepen her connection to herself as both an athlete and a person.

She’s shown incredible courage, vulnerability, and determination in facing not just the physical challenges of her sport, but also the emotional highs and lows that come with pursuing excellence.

Her recent performances are a testament to how far she’s come, not only in her skills but in her capacity to stay grounded, focused, and joyful under pressure.

It’s important to remember that it takes a team to support an athlete’s journey.

Coaches, families, mentors, and practitioners all play a role in helping athletes grow, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. I’m honoured to be part of Genna’s support team and so inspired by the young woman and athlete she’s becoming.

Here’s to Genna and all the athletes out there doing the inner work that no one sees. Your strength goes far beyond the arena.

Dryland breathwork training isn't just an extra, it's a game-changer for serious swimmers.

Most swimmers focus on technique and conditioning, but here’s what often gets overlooked:

➡️ At rest: your breathing system uses 2–3% of your total oxygen
➡️ During moderate exercise: 5–10%
➡️ In intense efforts like swimming? 10–15% — or more

And if your breathing is inefficient, that’s oxygen your muscles can’t use.

Now imagine what happens if your respiratory system is working smarter, not harder.

That’s what dryland breathwork does.

✅ Increases carbon dioxide tolerance
✅ Reduces breathlessness and anxiety
✅ Trains your body to breathe less often, but more efficiently
✅ Conserves energy and improves rhythm in the water
✅ Builds capacity for longer distances and better recovery
✅Reduces drag through learning to breathe less

This is part of the dryland coaching I do with competitive swimmers, to help them swim longer, faster, and with less effort by training the nervous and respiratory systems, not just the muscles.

Fewer breaths = smoother swim