16th January 2025
Meet Lingfield's Head of S & C, Joe Bullen
"Train well, train often and keep it simple"!
As part of our Sports Scholarship program, sports scholars can take advantage of tailored training with Head of Strength and Conditioning Mr Bullen. S&C is essential for anyone competing regularly in sport, so we asked him his top tips for keeping fit and injury-free!
How did you start in strength & conditioning?
My journey into strength conditioning began whilst I was studying for my undergraduate degree in sports science which was almost 20 years ago now. The UKSCA was founded 1 year before I started at university, and strength and conditioning became a recognised profession in the UK. This appealed to me due to my interest in injury prevention and performance enhancement, and it was during my master's degree that I began applying the scientific training principles I learnt about to the range of athletes I was coaching at the time.
What do you love about strength & conditioning?
Training and performance have always been a passion of mine due to my love of sport. My background in football and athletics and a desire to improve my own performance as much as possible led me down a path of trying different methods to make myself better and this is what I love about S&C! You apply scientific theory and principles and you can get better. You can get stronger, faster, fitter, and more powerful by simply training smart. What isn't there to love about that?
How do you plan to inspire the students through strength & conditioning?
Educating our students about how simple it is to develop themselves to be the best they can be is imperative to getting them to train smart throughout their athletic careers. Use of games and friendly competition are often the best ways to get buy-in and create fun activities that expose our young athletes to what they need in order to adapt and develop, for example:
- Pick up heavy stuff and get stronger.
- Move quickly and get faster.
- Move with intent and get powerful.
What advice do you have for our young athletes regarding strength & conditioning?
Train well and train often, but most importantly, keep it stupidly simple. If you want to know what you should be doing, come and see me in the fitness suite, and I can get you started on your journey to being as athletic, as coachable, and as resilient as possible.
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