Ben Pullen – Using Strength-Based Activities to Empower Children

Ben Pullen (bpullen_coach) is a PhD student in Paediatric Strength and Conditioning in the Youth Physical Development Centre at Cardiff Metropolitan University. His research investigates the effect of Strength and Conditioning in Physical Education on the athletic motor skill competencies and psychological constructs of school children.

Check out his latest peer-reviewed paper here.

Ben also owns a private training facility in the UK where he uses strength-based activities to empower children.

Kia ora!

If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts. It takes less than 60 seconds and really helps me keep producing the show. I also love hearing your feedback!

Sign up for Craig’s free weekly newsletter by scrolling down. It’s full of research-backed, practical ideas for helping youth athletes defend against injury, overtraining and burning out.

Follow Craig:

Instagram: instagram.com/drcraigharrison/
Facebook: facebook.com/drcraigharrison
Twitter: twitter.com/drcraigharrison

I met Chris Donaldson on the red rubber of the Caledonian, Dunedin’s athletic track, in 2000.

He had what all of us in the training group so desperately wanted. Speed. And plenty of it.

But more than that, he was the ultimate professional. On a perpetual search for the “the ultimate race, when everything comes together and produces something magical”, finding his best meant everything to Chris. It was inspiring.

I also enjoyed his humour. Chris never took himself too seriously, which from what I learnt, helps to offset the rigorous demands of professional sport

Chris made his name on the track and represented his country at two Olympic Games. In 1998, he ran 10.17 seconds over 100 m in Kuala Lumpur – the second-fastest time in NZ history.

He is also an optimist. As he explains in our chat, every race was a chance at success. Rarely thinking about the consequence of loss, Chris lit up every time he got to compete – especially against the best in the world.

This is a conversation about how his positivity came to be. It’s about going all-in on a passion, what it really takes to pursue your best, and the empathy needed from your support network along the way.

But it’s also a conversation about change.

Just before the 200 Olympic Games commenced, Chris went down with an Achilles tendon injury that, despite being in the best shape of his life, ended his sprinting career and stopped him short of realising his dreams.

And so out of nowhere, the hard road out of sport began. Chris talks openly about where he looked, and what he found.

Chris oozes energy – you can hear it in his voice. This is a great conversation with a man who gives his all to what he loves.

Kia ora!

– Craig

Inner drive is crucial to realising potential – I’ve seen it play out countless times in aspiring athletes.

And there’s no better example than David Gerrard – a man who swam for NZ at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

Growing up, David would strap his togs to the handlebars, throw his towel around his neck and bike his way the few blocks to the Mt Eden pool. His mum and dad never woke him up at 5 am to get him to the pool. He knew what he had to do to get better. And if he wasn’t prepared to it, that was his problem.

David’s internal drive to get better not only served him well in his athletics but in a long and illustrious career in medicine.

David worked a the University of Otago for 35 years and became a Professor in 2014. He retired two years later and was granted the title of Emeritus Professor.

He has also held a number of highly distinguished sport administration roles including Chef de Mission at the 1994 Victoria Commonwealth Games and 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, Medical Commissioner to eight Summer Olympic Games, Chairman of Drug Free Sport NZ, a member of World Rugby’s Anti Doping Advisory Committee, Chair of the World Anti-Doping Agency Therapeutic Use Exemption Committee and President of Swimming NZ.

In 2007, David was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

Today he shares his inspirational story, dropping pearls of wisdom along the way.

This is a conversation about the type of motivation that breeds success, and where it comes from.

It’s also a conversation about fairness in sport. And in life. Inspired early in life by Ludwig Gutmann – founder of the Paralympic Games – David learnt the importance of equitable environments. His life’s work in sports medicine and the use of therapeutic drugs to level the playing field in sport is clear evidence of that.

But more than anything else, this is a conversation about values. Raised by working-class parents in the 1950s, David grew up learning the importance of knowing where you come from and the power of unconditional familial support.

David is a thoughtful and kind man and I love this conversation.

Craig –

Richard Cheetham (@twowheelprof) is a Senior Fellow in Sports Coaching at the University of Winchester. Before that, he spent three years teaching and coaching in New Zealand. 

Richard was awarded an MBE for his work in Community Education and Sport. He has a strong reputation for creative thinking and innovation within coach education and development and has spent time inside many sporting organisations including Saracens RFC Academy, Fulham Football Club, and more recently, British Triathlon. His research focuses on a holistic approach to coaching.

Is this episode, Richard talks about the 3 years he spent in New Zealand, failure, projection, the art of effective communication, relinquishing the ego, writing pre-mortems, creating healthy partnerships with your athletes, and the challenges of teaching online. 

Please enjoy!