Performance People 2025 Wrapped | Insights, Lessons & Funnies from Elite Sport

Could your commitment to fitness be leaving you exhausted rather than stronger? This week on Performance People, Georgie talks to Dr Shannon Ritchey, a doctor of physical therapy and creator of the “gentle consistency” approach, which builds strength without burnout. Shannon shares how persistent pain and an unexpected break from exercise made her rethink her own training. She explains why more isn’t always better, what effective effort looks like and how to build a routine you can sustain around work, family and everyday life. They explore why high achievers can struggle to pull back, how chasing exhaustion can distract from progress, and why patience might be the missing ingredient in your training.

Why are women still being asked to perform in a system built around men? Dr Emma Ross, Co-Founder of The Well HQ, joins Georgie Ainslie to discuss what women should have been taught about their bodies, and why that knowledge matters in sport, at work and throughout life. Having spent a decade as Head of Physiology at the English Institute of Sport, Emma saw how training, equipment and research often overlooked women’s needs. She explains how those gaps affect everyone from Olympic athletes to teenage girls and women navigating midlife. Emma challenges the negative associations surrounding the word “hormonal”, exploring how our cycles can influence energy, mood and confidence, and why understanding your individual experience is more useful than following a universal formula. They also discuss strength training, pelvic floor health, the barriers driving girls away from sport, and why female athletes’ injuries demand a closer look at coaching, kit and playing conditions. Plus, why debilitating symptoms should never be dismissed as something women simply have to tolerate, and how coaches, colleagues and partners can make conversations about women’s health easier. The Performance People podcast, in partnership with J.P. Morgan Private Bank. _______ Connect with Performance People Hit subscribe today for the latest. 🎧 Spotify/Apple Music http://www.performancepeoplepodcast.com/ https:// www.instagram.com/performance.people/ ________ The views and opinions expressed on Performance People are those of the guests and hosts, and do not necessarily represent the views of ainslie + ainslie, J.P. Morgan Private Bank, or any affiliated organisations. This podcast is produced by Gameface Limited and is intended for general information and entertainment purposes only. © Gameface Limited 2026. All rights reserved. Connect with Performance People Hit subscribe today for the latest. 🎧 Spotify/Apple Music http://www.performancepeoplepodcast.com/ https://www.instagram.com/performance.people/ ________________________________ The views and opinions expressed on Performance People are those of the guests and hosts, and do not necessarily represent the views of ainslie + ainslie, J.P. Morgan Private Bank, or any affiliated organisations. This podcast is produced by Gameface Limited and is intended for general information and entertainment purposes only. © Gameface Limited 2026. All rights reserved. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Orthopaedic surgeon & longevity expert, Dr Vonda Wright, joins Georgie Ainslie to challenge how we think about getting older and explain why building strength is an investment in our future freedom. From lifting her grandson into a tree to preparing for a three-day endurance event in Utah, Vonda has a clear motivation: staying capable of doing the things she loves. She shares how she approaches training, why runners need strength work too, and why losing weight shouldn’t mean losing sight of muscle. Plus, why looking after your health deserves a place in your working diary and why Vonda would rather take her cue from Dylan Thomas than quietly accept decline. Less grace. More rage. In this episode: • Ageing powerfully and protecting your independence • Vonda’s five foundations for a healthier life • Strength training, endurance and finding the right balance • Weight-loss medication and the importance of preserving muscle • Menopause, hormones and changes in physical performance • Why your best workout time depends on you • Social connection and the people you grow older alongside • Making your own health a priority

700 kilometres through the Congo Basin. An inflatable kayak. And a firm instruction to be home for Halloween. Adventurer and five-time world-first record holder Ash Dykes joins Georgie Ainslie to discuss the expedition launching Project Six: six missions across six extreme environments, with barely enough time between them to recover. Having crossed Mongolia alone, hiked the length of Madagascar and spent nearly a year following China’s Yangtze River, Ash knows what it takes to keep moving when everything is telling you to stop. He also knows how quickly confidence can become complacency and why the jungle won’t give you much room for either. Ahead of his Congo mission, Ash explains the planning behind the apparent madness, why an inflatable kayak makes more sense than it sounds, and the responsibility of taking a small team into unfamiliar territory. He also revisits his encounters with malaria and heatstroke, and the mental challenge of returning to environments that nearly killed him. There’s ambition beyond the adventure, too. Frustrated with television, Ash is betting on himself and taking his expeditions directly to audiences through YouTube and social media. A conversation about fear, leadership and wanting more from life, with a man who admits he’s scared of dying, but refuses to let that stop him living.

John Amaechi OBE didn’t pick up a basketball until he was 17. Within a few years, he was playing at the highest level of the sport in the NBA. But John doesn’t see his story as proof of natural talent. Instead, he credits the people and environments that allowed him to discover what he was capable of, and believes far too many people never get that opportunity. Founder of APS Intelligence, organisational psychologist and author, John has spent his second career studying what enables people and leaders to perform at their best. In this conversation with Georgie Ainslie, he challenges the idea of the “natural leader” and explains why extraordinary leadership is built through behaviours that can be observed, practised and learned. They discuss why potential is so often overlooked, how class and stereotypes influence who we see as talented, why leaders need to become better at difficult feedback, and the difference between genuine vulnerability and simply admitting defeat. John also reflects on the extraordinary journey that took him from a small basketball gym in Manchester to the NBA, why he never actually fell in love with basketball, and why retiring from the sport ultimately felt like freedom. His latest book, It’s Not Magic, argues that great leadership isn’t mysterious. The skills can be understood, developed and repeated. This is a conversation about leadership, human potential, identity, feedback and the people who help us become capable of more than we imagined.