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Zidan Hernandez Akers | Athlete & Performance Coach

@stepaheadcoaching_

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If you’re new here… welcome! 👣

Step Ahead Coaching is for part-time / semi-pro athletes who want pro-level structure without living a pro-life.

I’m Zidan:
ex-pro, still competing (semi-pro football + HYROX/endurance), and I built this because I know the pressure of balancing work, life, training and big goals… while trying to plan everything yourself.

What we do is simple:
✅ 1:1 coaching (online + in person)
✅ training structure built around your week
✅ strength, speed, engine + durability, without frying you

No fluff. No ego. Just work that transfers.

If you want the details, DM “STEPAHEAD” or hit the link in bio.

#StepAheadCoaching 👣 taken in Elite Edge Fitness by @stepaheadcoaching_

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4 months ago

PROOF OVER PROMISES.

These are athletes with real jobs, real schedules, real setbacks, and real goals.

Footballers trying to move up levels.
HYROX athletes and runners chasing PBs.
Injured athletes working their way back properly.

Different sports.
Different starting points.
Same thing behind the progress:

Structure.
Accountability.
The right plan at the right time.

This is what Step Ahead Coaching is built for.

Not random sessions.
Not guessing.
Not training hard for the sake of it.

Pro-level structure for part-time athletes who want to perform, stay available, and actually see the work transfer.

If you’re ready to stop guessing, DM START 👣 taken in Elite Edge Fitness by @stepaheadcoaching_

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4 months ago

HOW WE WORK &
WHO WE HELP 👣

The system.

Part-time athletes wanting to train on a professional level usually come up with the same problems…

- Inconsistent training / recovery / nutrition
- Guessing programs, sessions, and exercises
- Constantly “managing” injuries instead of building momentum.

Step Ahead Coaching is built to fix that.

Pro-level structure, planned around your week, goals and lifestyle
progressed week by week so results become predictable, not accidental.

We assess → find weak links → build your weekly structure (high → low) → coach you through it.

We cover the full journey: performance and rehab/prehab/return to play, so you stay available.

If you’re ready to stop guessing,

DM START or hit the link in bio.

#StepAheadCoaching 👣 taken in Elite Edge Fitness by @stepaheadcoaching_

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4 months ago

HOW TO TRAIN MONDAY ⁉️

Monday is often my footballers’ heaviest lower-body gym day.

Even when they play Tuesday.

Sounds backwards until you look at the whole week.

What happened Saturday?
How many minutes did they play?
How have they recovered?
What have they got coming up?

For a lot of part-time footballers, there isn’t a perfect day to train.

There’s work. Football training. Midweek games. Saturday fixtures. Recovery. And everything else outside of football.

So the goal isn’t to find the “perfect” training week.

It’s to make the best decisions with the week you’ve actually got.

High intent. Low volume. Enough stimulus to keep developing the qualities we need without creating unnecessary fatigue for tomorrow.

Look back. Look forward. Then program.

#StepAheadCoaching 👣 taken in Elite Edge Fitness by @stepaheadcoaching_

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7 hours ago

Coaching In Real Life.

Coaching has never just been about writing a good session.

Everyone I work with has something different to balance; football, work, injuries, family, recovery, other training and everything else life throws in.

My job is to make all of those pieces fit together, so they don’t have to spend their spare time trying to figure it out themselves.

I know the value of that because I do exactly the same with my own coach.

You do the work. I’ll worry about making it all fit.

Part-time athletes. Pro standards.

#StepAheadCoaching 👣 taken in Elite Edge Fitness by @stepaheadcoaching_

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3 days ago

Into October We Go… 🍁 👻

September: Another full on month with fixtures, competition, new athletes coming into the fold, testing weeks, injury rehabilitation and steady progression for our team inside their training.

#StepAheadCoaching taken in South East England by @stepaheadcoaching_

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5 days ago

WHAT’S HOLDING YOU BACK.

By this point in the season, you’ve probably got enough evidence to know what’s actually holding you back.

Maybe it’s fitness.

Maybe you’re not getting enough minutes and missing the running exposure.

Maybe the same injury keeps coming back.

Maybe you’re getting outmuscled, fading late, or just not physically giving the manager enough reason to trust you.

Whatever it is, the answer isn’t always do more.

It’s doing the right work around the football you’re actually playing.

Top-up running when minutes are low.
Strength and resilience where you keep breaking down.
Conditioning where you’re fading.
And a weekly plan that changes around fixtures, team training, work and recovery.

The season isn’t gone.

But if you know something isn’t working, don’t wait another month to deal with it.

#StepAheadCoaching 👣 taken in Elite Edge Fitness by @stepaheadcoaching_

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12 days ago

Athletes In Action 👣🏃🏽‍♂️⚽️ 🏋️

What a group we have

On the pitch, in the gym, on the track or putting the miles in, proud of the work this lot put in week after week.

Different sports, different goals, all making time to improve alongside everything else life throws at them. The effort, commitment and trust you put into the process means a lot to me.

A few moments from the people who make the S.A.C what it is. Grateful to be part of your journeys 🙏🏾

P.S.
Sorry if I’ve missed you out it only gives me 20 slots! 😂

#StepAheadCoaching 👣 taken in Elite Edge Fitness by @stepaheadcoaching_

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21 days ago

Talent x Hard Work

and the patience to earn every step.

From Step 5 to Step 3, consistently producing goals and assists. A play-off campaign, a six-week trial at Fulham, and now his first professional contract at 21 👏🏾

These clips are from our time working together

Testing helped us identify where he could improve and give his training a clear direction. The important part was then going away and chasing those improvements.

That willingness to work, learn and keep progressing has carried him through the levels.

Through it all, God remains our reason and our leader. He guides us, protects us and blesses us. Keep Him at the centre, bro, stay rooted in your faith and carry that same humility into this next chapter. I’ll be praying for your journey, your health and everything ahead of you 🙏🏾

Proud to have played a small part in your journey. You’ll always be part of the ZHA story, and seeing you earn this opportunity means a lot.

Massive congratulations, @josesani
Enjoy this moment, then keep pushing.
Excited to see what comes next 👊🏾

#StepAheadCoaching 👣 taken in Elite Edge Fitness by @stepaheadcoaching_

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a month ago

Candid August 🎥

#StepAheadCoaching 👣 taken in South East England by @stepaheadcoaching_

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a month ago

Same exercise.
Different job.

The trap-bar deadlift isn’t just a “strength exercise”.

Change the load, range, tempo, reps or intent and you can change what you’re actually asking the athlete to produce.

That’s also why I ask my athletes to send me training videos.

You can be doing the right movement with decent technique and still completely miss the quality we programmed it for.

The exercise is the easy bit.

Knowing what you’re trying to get from it and adjusting when you’re not getting it is where coaching comes in.

If every set looks the same, ask yourself what you’re actually trying to train.

#StepAheadCoaching 👣 taken in Elite Edge Fitness by @stepaheadcoaching_

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a month ago

What to do Wednesday 🤔

It isn’t automatically a recovery day.

It isn’t automatically a gym day either.

It depends on what the player actually did on Tuesday, how they’ve responded, and what Thursday requires.

Minutes matter.

But so do match intensity, extra running, sprint exposure, soreness, pain and readiness.

That’s why two players can reach Wednesday and need completely different sessions.

The day of the week doesn’t decide the work. The athlete does.

#StepAheadCoaching 👣 taken in Elite Edge Fitness by @stepaheadcoaching_

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a month ago