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The First KM is a Liar
blood is diverted away from your limbs to protect your breathing muscles. Your legs turn heavy and useless, and you start questioning your training, life choices, and possibly the race director’s competence.

Sonya Brotherton
Nov 24, 20255 min read


Why You Are Faster Than Your FTP
You outperform your FTP not because the number is wrong, but because it’s incomplete. Because on race day, you are not operating in the fresh, controlled conditions of a threshold test. You are operating in the real world: heat, wind, hunger, anxiety, fatigue, unpredictability.

Sonya Brotherton
Nov 15, 20254 min read


Why Lifting Heavy Makes Your Zone 2 Easier
Because the truth — the part nobody bothers to tell you — is that Zone 2 is not merely cardiovascular; it is neuromuscular, mechanical, endocrine, and behavioural, and unless you understand how all these systems interact under load, you will keep blaming yourself for a physiological situation you did not create, do not control, and absolutely can change.

Sonya Brotherton
Nov 13, 20256 min read


Where's My Mojo ?
something shifts. It’s small, subtle, and easy to miss. But that is the moment the dopamine loop rewires. The anticipation begins to return.
So the work of coming back is not about proving anything to anyone, including yourself. It is about creating conditions in which the body can remember the precise, unmistakable sensation of belonging to the moment you are in.

Sonya Brotherton
Nov 6, 20258 min read


Breathe
I did not breathe to chase oxygen. I tolerated the subtle rise in CO₂ without panic. Underwater, urgency speaks loudly. The instinct is to gasp, to pull air in quickly. But the ocean rewards slowness. When I breathed with patience, my lungs increased in volume, my buoyancy shifted, and I rose just enough to float above the precious coral so as not to touch it.

Sonya Brotherton
Oct 31, 20257 min read


Data or Intuition?
This is part 1 of an article exploring the nervous system, identity and motivation. I didn’t always believe in things I couldn’t measure. When my daughter was six weeks old, I took her to a cranial osteopath. She was colicky, inconsolable, arching her tiny back as if trying to escape her own skin. I remember sitting there, watching this stranger hover her hands near my baby’s head as though adjusting invisible threads. I thought it was utter voodoo nonsense. I wanted monito

Sonya Brotherton
Oct 29, 20255 min read


IMPROVE YOUR PERFORMANCE WITH 360 BREATHING 🫁
The lungs are not merely passive air pumps; they are critical, dynamic players in endurance, helping athletes harness oxygen 🌬️ and maintai

Sonya Brotherton
Jan 18, 20257 min read


Purposeful Recovery: The Key to Optimal Performance
Beyond rest, purposeful recovery facilitates physiological and psychological adaptations that amplify athletic potential.

Sonya Brotherton
Jan 18, 20255 min read


"Sandbagging" What Is It? 💭
Sam Long at T100 in London 2024 Speaking candidly, I know I am definitely guilty of this. It may be backing off training, swapping to alternatives, avoiding competitions, setting the bar low for my own expectations, or just general avoidance. It is not always through fear of the actual race though, but often the logistics of getting to them and being ready for the start line creates anxiety that can trigger sandbagging for me. I will even convice myself I no longer even h

Sonya Brotherton
Jan 18, 20254 min read


Squat Mechanics - Short Femurs
Shifting the Emphasis to Hips When You Have Short Femurs Having shorter femurs generally makes it easier to maintain an upright torso in the squat, naturally placing more emphasis on the quads. However, if your goal is to involve your hips, glutes, and hamstrings more (making the squat more “hip-focused”), there are several technique tweaks and exercise variations you can try. Here are some tips to help you shift that emphasis: Experiment with a Low-Bar Back Squat High-Bar vs

Sonya Brotherton
Jan 5, 20254 min read


Interval Training
When people talk about “intervals” (e.g., HIIT, sprint intervals, threshold intervals), it often sounds counterintuitive that short bouts of extremely intense exercise can significantly improve your ability to go faster for longer in endurance sports. After all, we know “zone 2” training builds a solid aerobic base and increases mitochondria for energy production. So how do relatively brief (but intense) intervals also boost VO₂ max, lactate threshold, and mitochondrial funct

Sonya Brotherton
Jan 5, 20255 min read


From Whole Muscle to Myofilaments
A skeletal muscle can be visualised as a series of nested tubes. At the outermost level, you have the whole muscle; as you move inwards, you reach bundles of muscle fibres (fascicles), then individual muscle fibres (muscle cells), and finally the myofibrils and sarcomeres inside each fibre. Epimysium is the tough outer layer of connective tissue that surrounds the entire muscle. It helps protect muscles from friction with other tissues and maintains their structural integri

Sonya Brotherton
Jan 5, 20254 min read


Mitochondria and Muscle Fibres: Why They Matter
Mitochondria are often called the “powerhouses” of the cell because they generate the majority of the cell’s energy (ATP) through oxidative metabolism. In skeletal muscle, mitochondria play a crucial role in determining your endurance capacity and how efficiently your body produces and utilises energy. Muscle fibres can be broadly split into three main types: Type I (slow-twitch) Type IIa (fast oxidative-glycolytic) Type IIb (fast glycolytic) Each fibre type is distinct in

Sonya Brotherton
Jan 4, 20255 min read


How Your Proportions Shape Your Squat
Femur Length and Squat Mechanics: Have you ever wondered why some people sink into a squat with ease and maintain a near-perfect upright torso, while others tend to tilt forward no matter how hard they try? A key player behind this difference could be your femur length! In this article, we’ll explore how to calculate femur length as a percentage of your overall height, why it matters for squatting, and provide some top tips for improving mobility and technique—especially for

Sonya Brotherton
Jan 4, 20253 min read


"Tissue Lays Down Along the Lines of Force"
The Science Behind Myofascial Trains and Mobility The phrase “tissue lays down along the lines of force” succinctly describes how our bodies adapt to the stresses and strains placed upon them. Whether you’re an athlete, a desk-bound professional, or someone simply curious about the mechanics of the human body, understanding this principle can help you optimise your movement, prevent injuries, and enhance overall mobility. In this blog, we’ll delve into the science behind thi

Sonya Brotherton
Jan 2, 20254 min read


Is Compression For You?
Compression wear - is it truly a performance game-changer or just a fashionable trend? Weymouth 70.3 Ironman 2024 In essence, compression garments apply a snug fit around muscles in the legs, arms, or torso, aiming to improve blood circulation and reduce muscle vibration. Advocates believe they can help with everything from faster recovery to enhanced endurance, though the science is still a bit mixed. Nonetheless, many athletes find that using compression wear feels support

Sonya Brotherton
Dec 31, 20243 min read


Brain Fog
From walking into a room and not remembering why, to other memory problems, lack of mental clarity, poor concentration and inability to focus, brain fog can be a real murky problem. I have been one to live by the post it note, frantically scrawled webinar records, and of course the multiple reading lists & bookmarks. My definition of trauma might include someone closing my open tabs, eek! But when it goes beyond the need for some memory strategies and you start to put the mi
Onya Coaching
Oct 21, 20239 min read


ICF SUP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS GDYNIA POLAND7 – 11 SEPTEMBER 2022
GREAT BRITAIN ON TOP OF THE WORLD WINNING A GOLD, SILVER AND BRONZE IN THE INDIVIDUAL EVENTS AND SILVER AND BRONZE IN THE TEAM NATIONS CUPS Photo credits Ó SupJunkie Some of the 14 Athletes from Great Britain that made the trip to Gdynia The 3rd ICF Stand-up Paddling World Championships saw nearly 500 competitors from 42 countries compete over the 5-days to crown this year’s SUP World Champions. Great Britain had 14 athletes who made the trip including the teams s
Onya Coaching
Feb 28, 20237 min read
White Water SUP Symonds Yat April 2021
Coreflow's first lessons in White Water SUP

Sonya Brotherton
May 8, 20215 min read
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