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Welcome back to a third season of the Upper Left Performance Podcast. We are kicking things off with a recent chat I had with Pratik Patel. Pratik is currently a PhD student and consultant for athletes ranging from high school to the professional level. He previously worked for the New York Giants, University of Oregon, Michigan State and Kansas State primarily as a dietician, but also as a strength coach with the Giants.
Pratik and I discussed the potential pitfalls facing professional sports in relation to physical preparation. We touched on the NFL's CBA and how it actually can work against an athlete's ability to stay physically ready for the rigors of an NFL season. Kicking the can a bit further, Pratik also detailed how the sudden onset of training camp can be catastrophic for some players. He mentions sleep, nutrition, and loading and just how we can do better as performance specialists to get those things right for the athlete.
I really appreciated Pratik's candor in focusing on the issues facing elite sport and how performance staffs can go about improving their systems to ensure as little as possible slips through the cracks. We all know communication between all members of a team is important, but it was great to hear him expound upon that with his real world experience.
Though Pratik has worked primarily with nutrition, he possesses a deep knowledge of all the working parts that go into athlete success and it's quite obvious that his understanding of the interconnectedness in sport is something more of us need to embrace. Follow Pratik on social media @pratikxpatel on both twitter and IG.