What does it take to keep elite athletes at their peak, even under relentless travel, pressure, and fatigue? In this episode of Purpose Driven Movement, host Tarek Michael Chouja speaks with Dr Stephen Bird, a professor in sport and exercise science, about the realities of athlete development. You'll hear about the power of planning, the importance of self-care, and why small routines—on and off the court—make all the difference. Plus, practical strategies you can apply to your own life or your clients’ lives, whether they’re an athlete or not. Listen now and get ready to rethink how you approach performance, preparation, and wellbeing!
Our favourite quotable moments:
“Our goal is to assist the player as we've already mentioned to present their best version of themselves next time they hop on court.” - Dr Stephen Bird
“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” - Dr Stephen Bird
Dr Stephen Bird - Website, UniSQ Profile, and Facebook
Dr Stephen Bird’s Book Recommendation: When Winning Matters: Lessons Learned from Sports Elite
Get 15% off any of our online courses. Simply go to Functional Training Institute and input 'PDM15' at cart checkout.
Check out our best selling book Purpose Driven Movement by host Tarek Michael-Chouja and Dan Henderson.
About Our Guest: Professor Stephen Bird, Director of High-Performance Sport at the University of Southern Queensland, is an acclaimed performance scientist and strength and conditioning coach. He has supported athletes across six countries and 26 major events, including two Olympic Games, achieving Olympic gold. Recipient of the inaugural ESSA Medal (2006), he has contributed to the field as Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Strength and Conditioning and through roles with professional associations. Currently leading the 2 WIN Student-Athlete Empowerment Project, he also serves as Strength and Conditioning Lead for GB Basketball (Women), focusing his research on optimizing health and performance in elite female athletes.
About Your Host: Tarek is the co-founder of the functional training institute and FitWell Education lab. Tarek is an international educator and speaker who has presented numerous times at the biggest convention in Australia, Asia and the US. In addition, Tarek has presented courses to thousands of trainers throughout Australia, Asia, the Middle East and South America. Tarek is also a best-selling author of ‘Purpose Driven Movement.
This podcast is produced by Brave Moon Podcasts.
We sometimes include links to products and services we find interesting. These may or may not be affiliate links. Thanks for your support!
This podcast is sponsored by ZIVA. Discover more at www.ziva.com.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.