Today’s podcast features Liz Gleadle. Liz is a three-time Olympian, high-performance consultant, and TEDx speaker. After retiring in 2022, Liz had a transformative epiphany, recognizing the profound impact of emotions on posture, movement quality, and power production. At that moment, she decided to “un-retire” and train with a whole new approach to rewire her mind and movement patterns for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
There is a wealth of material in training and coaching on exercises, sets, reps, parameters, and “positions” athletes should be in. In general, much of movement training is based on static ideas, positions, or black-and-white constructions. The reality of movement, training, and performance runs much deeper, is more connected, and has a far greater richness to it.
On today’s podcast, Liz speaks on her process of infusing dance, flow, and connection into the throwing javelin while also leveling up athletically. Liz digs into key aspects of training: “training side-quests,” connectivity, overcoming fear in movement, and facilitating a dynamic ecosystem of training, learning, and growth. Liz has an expansive perspective on the deeper process of athletic movement, and this episode pushes into a new and powerful space of human performance.
Today’s episode is brought to you by TeamBuildr and Plyomat.
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Liz Gleadle Main Points
6:12– Enhancing Athletic Performance through Dynamic Choreography14:03– Choreographic Approach Enhances Javelin Precision
22:39– Dynamic Preparatory Routine for Javelin Practice
28:43– Enhancing Athletic Performance Through Foot Proprioception
32:49– Building Confidence to Overcome Hurdle Fear
40:14– Precision Development Through Varied Javelin Weights
42:10– Discover Technique through Varied Javelin Weights
50:34– Enhancing Athletic Performance Through Dance and Connection
53:03– The Intricate Connection of Successful Jumping
58:07– Sensory Communication Through Hands and Feet
1:06:49– Embodiment of Rhythmic Self-Expression through Dance
1:10:41– Enhancing Athletic Performance Through Rhythmic Movement
1:12:48– Gratitude-Driven Precision in Javelin Throwing
Quotes
2:55 “I started diving into all the different ways that I had been holding myself back due to my thoughts about my lack of athleticism, my lack of being able to jump, my lack of explosiveness, my klutziness, and I realized that it had completely dictated the way I moved as a thrower and as an athlete, and it had completely held me back from reaching my peak.” Liz Gleadle
7:25 “I think it’s almost like sometimes coaches crave static for certainty. Oh, we’re certain about this static thing, and that’s how we can measure progress. But in reality, the actual being in the movement and embodying it, there’s certainly. Yeah, it’s definitely. You’re getting into dancing territory now” Liz Gleadle
17:20 “When I say dance, I don’t mean choreographed dance or having to follow a specific way of moving. I mean exploring in time relative to music and really simple movements, but feeling a connection to your body” Liz Gleadle
17:40 “When we hit that beat, we get dopamine. When we feel a connection from one side of our body to the other, we get another huge hit of dopamine. If we do it in conjunction with other people, even something as simply as bouncing in time, we get a massive hit of oxytocin. And all these things make us learn faster” Liz Gleadle
24:50 “I’m constantly asking myself, where do I feel like? Do I have the connection line all the way from fingertip to toe across my body, on the same sides of my body, between my legs, between my arms, and where am I missing it and what do I need to do to activate that part of the line so that the whole line can be connected” Liz Gleadle
26:54 “There’s a lot more waves in the process than that, especially with like the down waves, things that dip into the sensation, rhythm and the feeling of something. And then you take that back with you into that maximal output.” Joel Smith
42:40 “But then you say, okay, I understand the difference between a six and a one kilo, or 600 grams and a one kilo. Now, what’s the difference between a six and an eight? What’s the difference between a six and a seven? And so when you keep comparing it back towards the middle, each one teaches you something different” Liz Gleadle
49:57 “I like thinking about, like everything has to have some sort of precision to it. And there might be a maximal there, but it might not be in exactly the way we start out thinking about maximal, but I think there’s beauty in that.” Joel Smith
53:31 “It was like I was on a pogo stick, and he was looking at me, and he’s like, I’ve never seen you jump like that in your life. And it was because I’d understood dance and timing, and I was starting to understand, again just the connection between my hands and my feet and the idea of pulling myself off the ground. And all of a sudden, my arms, because they were moving up, were making my body more weightless. And it was like, the most thrilling feeling I’ve ever experienced in my life.” Liz Gleadle
1:01:39 “Your hands also communicate your intention, and, like, they’re how we communicate a lot of the time, we communicate with our facial expression.” Liz Gleadle
About Liz Gleadle
Liz Gleadle is a three-time Olympian, and a high-performance consultant and speaker. She recently recorded her TEDx talk, “Gratitude: Enter the Upwards Spiral”.
After retiring in 2022, Liz had a transformative epiphany, recognizing the profound impact of emotions on posture, movement quality, and power production.
At that moment she decided to “un-retire” and train with a whole new approach to rewire her mind and movement patterns for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Through this process, her athleticism expanded drastically, including learning to dance, do acrobatics, and get over her fear of jumping.
Liz shares her process and evolution on her Instagram (@javelizz), and is gathering her notes to write a book to help others reach their athletic potential.
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