In this episode of the Science for Sport Podcast, Richard Graves is joined by Dr Ben Rosenblatt, Founder of 292 Performance and former Lead Men’s Physical Performance Coach at The Football Association.

Ben draws on his experience preparing the England men’s football team for two World Cups and a European Championship, alongside his work with Olympic athletes, GB Hockey and elite performers across a range of sports.

The conversation explores what it really takes to prepare athletes for tournament football at the highest level. Ben discusses why physical preparation cannot begin when players arrive in camp, how small doses of training can create meaningful change during a tournament, and why “available” is very different from “ready to compete” when returning players from injury.

He also explains the physical and psychological challenges of competing in extreme environments, from heat and altitude to fatigue and pressure, and shares how the best performance teams use data, observation, communication and athlete understanding together to make better decisions.

For practitioners working in elite sport, this episode offers a detailed insight into preparing players not simply to take part in major tournaments, but to perform when the demands are at their highest.

In this episode you will learn

• Why effective tournament preparation starts months before the first game.
• How England used micro-dosed strength training during the 2018 World Cup to improve players’ power and hamstring strength.
• Why athletes must continually adapt and “reinvent” themselves to sustain performance at the highest level.
• How Ben used daily monitoring with GB Hockey to prepare players for the demands of eight matches in 13 days at the Rio Olympics.
• Why data should be considered alongside observation, athlete feedback, staff conversations and practitioner judgement.
• The difference between returning a player to availability and preparing them to compete in the decisive stages of a major tournament.
• How performance teams can prepare players for heat, humidity, altitude and travel during the 2026 World Cup.
• Why recovery, nutrition, strength training and sprint exposure must be individualised rather than delivered as a single team-wide solution.
• How clarity, trust and pressure training help athletes execute when the stakes are highest.
• What the best high-performance environments look and feel like behind the scenes.

About Dr Ben Rosenblatt
Dr Ben Rosenblatt is the Founder and Director of 292 Performance, a multidisciplinary performance consultancy supporting elite athletes and organisations.

He previously served as Lead Men’s Physical Performance Coach at The Football Association, where he supported the England men’s senior team through two World Cups and a European Championship. His career has also included work with the British Olympic Association, GB Hockey, elite football and Olympic athletes across multiple Games.

Ben holds a PhD in biomechanics and motor learning, and his work focuses on helping athletes and teams prepare for the most demanding moments in high-performance sport.

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Eric competed for Germany in bobsleigh, winning Olympic silver in Pyeongchang 2018 alongside multiple World Championship medals across two-man and four-man competition. Since retiring from elite competition, he has moved into high performance coaching, working with athletes in speed development, sprint mechanics and sliding sports.

This conversation explores what it really takes to perform under Olympic pressure, the physical demands of bobsleigh, and why speed still doesn’t always get the attention it deserves in team sport environments.

Eric breaks down the qualities needed to accelerate a heavy sled on ice, the difference between being fast and being effective in a sport-specific context, and why developing speed requires more than simply adding sprint drills into a programme.

He also reflects openly on his own career, including the mistakes he made as an athlete, the value of testing and tracking progress honestly, and how his coaching philosophy has developed around communication, individualisation and helping athletes become more independent decision-makers.

For sports science professionals, coaches and practitioners working in elite sport, this episode offers a detailed look at speed development, athlete management, pressure, and the transition from elite performer to high performance coach.

In this episode you will learn

• What it feels like to compete at the Olympic Games and handle pressure when medals are expected
• The role of the brakeman in bobsleigh and why the start phase is so technically and physically demanding
• Why sprint speed does not always transfer directly into bobsleigh performance
• The key physical qualities behind acceleration, rate of force development and efficient movement
• Why speed training needs to be prioritised properly within the weekly training structure
• How plyometrics, jumping and coordination can support speed development
• Why Eric believes athletes can sometimes spend too much time in the gym
• The importance of testing, measuring and honestly tracking progress
• How Eric’s experience as a self-coached athlete now shapes the way he coaches others
• Why experienced athletes often need guidance, guardrails and conversation rather than simply being told what to do
• How coaches can adapt communication to the individual athlete in front of them
• Why Eric’s ultimate coaching goal is to create “sovereign athletes” who can make better decisions when the coach is not there

About Eric Franke
Eric Franke is a former German bobsleigh athlete and Olympic silver medallist. He competed at the highest level in both two-man and four-man bobsleigh, winning silver at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang and multiple medals at World Championship level.

Since retiring from competition, Eric has moved into high performance coaching, with a particular focus on speed development, sprint performance and athlete decision-making. He works with athletes across different performance environments, including bobsleigh and skeleton, helping them improve physical qualities while developing a deeper understanding of their own training process.

His coaching approach is shaped by his own experience as an elite athlete, combining technical speed development with individualised communication, clear training frameworks and an emphasis on helping athletes become more self-sufficient.

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Ryan brings a unique perspective to this conversation. A former action sports athlete himself whose career was cut short by a life-threatening injury, he has since spent over 20 years working across elite sport, academy systems, private education, and national governing bodies, before circling back to the world he started in. Today, he works as a performance consultant for British Water Ski and Wakeboard, Head of Sport Science at St Paul's School in London, and Lead Tutor for the Youth Strength and Conditioning Association.

This isn't a conversation about conventional periodisation or standard gym metrics. Ryan challenges the assumptions baked into most traditional performance models and makes a compelling case for why action sports, think X Games, halfpipe snowboarding, freestyle skiing, demand an entirely different approach. One built not around chasing peaks, but around building repeatable, durable performance that holds up under fatigue, variable terrain, and real-world unpredictability.
He talks through his Restore, Apply, Own framework in practical terms, explains why training in a fresh state but competing in a fatigued one is one of the most underappreciated problems in sport, and shares how he uses a blend of velocity-based training, jump testing, readiness monitoring, and athlete-specific education tools to close that gap. He also weighs in on the growing use of AI in competition judging, the rapid rise of the X Games League, and why the preparation systems in action sports simply haven't caught up with where the sport is heading.
Whether you're a sports scientist, strength and conditioning coach, or simply someone with an interest in how elite performance is built at the fringes of mainstream sport, this is a conversation worth your time.

In This Episode You Will Learn

• Why traditional performance models fall short in action and adventure sports, and what needs to change
• The difference between performance capacity and durability — and why durability is the more important target in action sports
• How Ryan's Restore, Apply, Own framework structures athlete preparation from the ground up
• Why training athletes in a fatigued state is just as important as having them fresh — and how to do it effectively
• How to use a simple SWOT analysis to identify athlete needs and prioritise support when resources are limited
• The role of technology in action sports performance, including VBT, jump testing, readiness monitoring, and AI in competition judging
• Why strength training alone doesn't transfer to sport performance without progression through capacity, application, and environment
• How the rapid growth of the X Games League and Olympic inclusion is creating both opportunity and a preparation gap in action sports
• Practical first steps for coaches and athletes looking to engage with a more structured performance system in action sports

About Ryan Blake
Ryan Blake is a performance coach and consultant specialising in action and adventure sports. He founded Extreme Sports Performance in 2018 after a career that has taken him through elite academy systems, professional sport, private education, and national governing body consultancy. He holds accreditations from both the UKSCA and NSCA, holds an MSc in Maintenance and Enhancement of Elite Performance from the University of Portsmouth, and has worked with world champion athletes and Olympic medallists across disciplines including British Tennis, England Cricket, British Cycling, and now British Water Ski and Wakeboard.
Alongside his consultancy work, Ryan serves as Head of Sport Science at St Paul's School in London and as Lead Tutor for the Youth Strength and Conditioning Association. His own background as an action sports athlete — and the life-threatening injury that ended that chapter — underpins his philosophy around risk, durability, and long-term performance. He is based in Guildford and can be found on Instagram at @extremesportsperformance or at extremesportsperformance.com.

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SIGN UP NOW: https://bit.ly/SFSepisode241

​ Learn Quicker & More Effectively
​ Optimise Your Athletes' Recovery
​ Position Yourself As An Expert To Your Athletes And Naturally Improve Buy-In
​ Reduce Your Athletes' Injury Ratese
​ Save 100's Of Dollars A Year That Would Otherwise Be Spent On Books, Courses And More
​ Improve Your Athletes' Performance
​ Advance Forward In Your Career, Allowing You To Earn More Money And Work With Elite-Level Athletes
​ Save Yourself The Stress & Worry Of Constantly Trying To Stay Up-To-Date With Sports Science Research