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Syreeta Fonso, MSc Sports Psych

@syreeta_fonso

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Human Performance, Wellbeing & Athlete Transition
MSc Sports Psych • B Media • PT L3
theblackbodyhub.com
Head of RAIN Lab @rainwellbeing

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It’s World Menopause Day, and I want to talk about the part that happens in your head ...it’s not easy. I’m 48, I know.

When you’ve trained for years, you build a deal with your body: put the work in, and it shows up.

Perimenopause can change that deal overnight. It’s VERY rude. 😫 Sleep is broken, recovery is slower, motivation dips.

So yeah, the physical changes aren’t easy. But the mental ones can actually be harder.🙃

Identity. If being strong is part of who you are, struggling to perform can feel like losing a piece of yourself.

Comparison. If you’re measuring yourself against who you were ten years ago, it’s pointless - you just won’t win that race. You’re dealing with a different deck of cards.

Measure your progress from where you are now - it’s better for confidence.

Self-talk. A bad session is sometimes just physiology. Self-compassion helps people bounce back from setbacks without lowering their standards.

These things may help:
⭐️set goals that fit the body you have now
⭐️track consistency and how sessions FEEL, as well as the numbers
⭐️stay close to the people and places that make you feel you belong - but won’t let you accept defeat

Midlife is a new chapter in your athletic story. The reality is, you do have to work harder and smarter, for the same results. But you can, and should, have appreciation for your body, at any age and stage. 💫 🙏🏾

Going through it? What’s been your biggest mental shift? Tell me below. 👇🏾
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#WorldMenopauseDay #menopause #midlifeathlete #sportpsychology #humanperformance by @syreeta_fonso

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a day ago

😴🧠😶‍🌫️😴🧠😶‍🌫️😴🧠😶‍🌫️😴🧠😶‍🌫️😴

When people describe burnout, they usually say they're really really tired. But it’s worth looking more deeply about what's causing the tiredness.

Of the all the areas burnout researchers look at, the one I keep coming back to is values.

You can love what you do, be good at it, have a manageable workload and still feel really drained. Sometimes that’s because the work is asking you to act in ways that don’t sit right with you.

The gap is actually exhausting. You're spending energy bridging the gap between who you are and what you’re being asked to do - and actually it can be hard to even realise you’re doing it. That’s when a week off or a better sleep routine can help for a while, and then the same feeling creeps back.

I see it in sport too. High performance asks a lot, and it should. Results matter, and most athletes and coaches wouldn’t want it any other way.

The strain comes when the performance targets drift away from the reasons someone loves what they do. An athlete who thrives on the craft of their sport but only ever hears about the numbers. Or coach who came into it to develop people and finds less and less space for that. The standards haven’t changed, but the meaning behind them has started to change.

Burnout happens when people find it hard to sustain effort.

When people can see HOW the results connect to what they care about, they’re often better placed to sustain the effort it takes to get them. If you’re feeling you might be in burnout, swipe through to see whether any of these things apply to you.

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#burnout #humanperformance #sportpsychology #wellbeing #mentalhealthmatters by @syreeta_fonso

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2 days ago

🏋🏾‍♀️🏋🏾‍♀️🏋🏾‍♀️

Reasons women should lift weights
(from a woman who lifts weights😉)

✨ Because “Can someone help me move this?” becomes “Stand back, I’ve got it.”💪🏽

✨ Because muscle is the original anti-ageing treatment. 🙌🏾

✨ Because confidence doesn’t drop from the sky. It’s built. 🧱

✨ Because your future 80-year-old self would like to get off the toilet unassisted. 😩

✨ Because lifting heavy things teaches you that you’re capable of hard things.🏆

✨ Because life already weighs enough. You may as well get good at lifting.🤷🏽‍♀️

✨ Because feeling powerful is addictive.🤭

✨ Because your bones need a plan too. 🦴

✨ Because strength looks good on every body. 💁🏻‍♀️

✨ Because nothing says “main character energy” like putting your own suitcase in the overhead locker. 🧳

✨ Because your daughters are watching. 👀

✨ Because your sons are watching too.👀

✨ Because your metabolism appreciates the support.🙏🏾

✨ Because being able to open your own jars is deeply satisfying.🫙

✨ Because “I can’t” becomes “watch me.” 😅

Lift weights. Not because you hate your body as it is. Because you respect it enough to make it stronger. 💪🏾 by @syreeta_fonso

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4 days ago

😮‍💨💪🏾😮‍💨💪🏾😮‍💨💪🏾😮‍💨💪🏾😮‍💨💪🏾😮‍💨💪🏾😮‍💨

I always say that when you are completely overwhelmed, "top-down" has it's limits. Because it's really hard to think your way out of stress!🧠😵‍💫

"Bottom-up" works faster when you want to shift quickly into another mode. Physical signals like breathing or tensing and releasing muscles send a more immediate signal from the body straight to the brain - "ok you - we're doing something different now". 🙂

When I was at school in the 80s(yes🙃), any kid who'd been crying, the teacher would say "go and splash your face with cold water". (I grew up in Sydney so it was normally hot enough for that response to be acceptable , lol😅) - but my point is that sensory shifts that are initiated by physical actions can activate the vagus nerve and help your nervous system chill, fast. 😌

So when in you’re in intense overwhelm and need to take control, take the "bottom-up" approach. Physical first. It's MUCH easier to make a shift into a mentally balanced state. ⚖️

Then you can go smash it.😉
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#humanperformance #athletemindset #athletementalhealth #performancepsychology #wellbeing by @syreeta_fonso

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6 days ago

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Not training for anything. Just training.

Go get it. 😉 by @syreeta_fonso

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7 days ago

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In sport, "I'm fine" is the safest answer you can give. It keeps you in the team, in the session and in the coach's good books.

Today is World Mental Health Day.

The official theme is "Lived Experiences Heard: Real Voices, Real Change."

But a voice only counts if it's safe to use - and that depends on what an honest answer costs the person giving it.

So before we ask athletes to speak up, it's worth asking what speaking up could cost them. I've set that out in this carousel.

If you're a coach, a parent or a teammate, try asking: "What would make it safer to tell me the truth?"

If you need support, Sporting Chance (sportingchanceclinic.com) is a UK charity for current and former professional sportspeople. The Samaritans are free, 24/7, on 116 123.

Send this to someone who's always fine. 🤍

More on the psychology of silence in sport coming soon.
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#WorldMentalHealthDay #AthleteMentalHealth #SportPsychology #HumanPerformance by @syreeta_fonso

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10 days ago

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Just over a year ago, I made a decision that felt both exciting and terrifying.

At 47, as a lifelong athlete, communications professional, leader and mum of two incredible girls, I returned to university to study something that has fascinated me for decades: the psychology of human performance.

There were research projects, deadlines, presentations, self-doubt, long nights and early mornings. There were moments when the finish line felt very far away.

Today, at 48, I can finally say:
I’ve been awarded an MSc in Sport Psychology with Distinction.

More than a qualification, this represents a commitment to understanding how athletes perform, grow, adapt and thrive through challenge.

I’m immensely grateful to every participant, athlete, lecturer, supervisor and colleague who contributed to this journey. Thank you for trusting me with your stories, challenges and ambitions.

This year deepened my understanding of performance psychology, but it also reinforced my belief that every athlete’s story deserves to be heard, especially those whose experiences have too often been overlooked.

To my daughters, thank you for reminding me every day that growth never stops.

And to anyone wondering whether it’s too late to start something meaningful - It isn’t.

The next chapter begins now. 💫
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#SportPsychology #LifelongLearning #PerformancePsychology #MidlifeGrowth #AthleteMindset by @syreeta_fonso

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11 days ago

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“I don’t have the energy to train.”

Maybe.

But maybe what’s missing isn’t energy. Maybe it’s action.

One of the biggest myths in performance is that motivation comes first. The reality? Energy, confidence and momentum are more often generated by movement itself.

The power walk creates the desire to run. The session creates the confidence to return. The action creates the outcome.

You cannot experience the benefits of a behaviour you haven’t started.

The most powerful performance strategy is moving before you feel like it.

Believe me when I say, the thing you’re looking for is on the other side of doing the thing. 💫
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#performancepsychology #athletemindset #humanperformance by @syreeta_fonso

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13 days ago

🏋🏾‍♀️😟🏋🏾‍♀️😟🏋🏾‍♀️😟🏋🏾‍♀️😟🏋🏾‍♀️😟🏋🏾‍♀️😟🏋🏾‍♀️

The biggest barrier to sport and exercise isn’t always fitness. Sometimes it’s walking through the door.

'Gymtimidation' is real. But it's rarely about the gym itself.

It's often driven by social evaluation anxiety: the worry that other people are watching, judging or comparing us.

You might notice it as:
🙃 Avoiding certain areas of the gym
🙃 Sticking only to exercises you already know
🙃 Comparing yourself to everyone around you
🙃 Feeling like you don't belong
🙃 Skipping sessions because the discomfort feels too great

The irony?

Research shows we tend to OVER-ESTIMATE how much attention other people pay to us. It’s a cognitive bias called the "spotlight effect". In reality, most people don't give a rat's backside about what you're doing - they are focused on their own workout!

So how do you overcome gym anxiety?

Well, not by waiting for confidence.

Sport psychology consistently highlights the importance of self-efficacy: your belief in your ability to perform a specific task. Higher exercise self-efficacy is associated with greater participation and better 'stickability' when it comes to exercise. Basically, you’ll do more of it, for longer.

Try this:
✅ Have a plan before you arrive
✅ Focus on effort, not comparison
✅ Set small, achievable goals
✅ Celebrate consistency
✅ Remember that confidence follows action, not the other way round

Don't focus on eliminating anxiety. That feels stressful. Focus on building enough self belief to act anyway.

Every confident person in the gym was once the beginner who nearly turned around and went home.
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#SportPsychology #GymAnxiety #AthleteMindset #MentalPerformance #PerformancePsychology by @syreeta_fonso

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14 days ago

Hope isn’t wishful thinking.

According to Hope Theory, hope is the belief that you can find a way forward and the confidence that you can keep moving towards what matters, even when the path isn’t straightforward.

It’s built on two things:

1) agency - the belief that you can take action
2) pathways - the ability to see alternative routes when obstacles appear

The people who sustain hope are the ones who refuse to let setbacks become the end of the story. Be one of them. 😉

Choose to place more attention and energy on where you are going 💫
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#performancespsychology #futurefocused #personalgrowth #growthmindset by @syreeta_fonso

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15 days ago

🧠🧠🧠🧠🧠🧠🧠🧠🧠🧠

Today I had the privilege of attending the Sporting Chance Summit: Championing Athlete Mental Health.

I listened to some great speakers, those who really gripped me:

⭐️ Ex pro rugby player @dansarginson23 personal story of triumph after learning a new definition of resilience after loss

⭐️ Pro footballer @michailantonio story of living through the blur of pressure, learning to ask for help and rebuilding after a car crash threatened to end his career. (I've just ordered Michail's book "Humans Not Robots: When Elite Sport and Real Life Collide")

⭐️ World Champion sprinter Adam Gemili’s story about dealing with loss of identity after the Tokyo Olympics was postponed due to Covid.

⭐️ Ex pro goalkeeper @frankitching98 journey back to health after a serious head injury and losses of teammates rocked her world.

⭐️ Grand National winning jockey @dazjacob on what it means to be able to ask for help, and the benefits of being proactive and making connections outside of the sport in the lead-up to retirement.

⭐️ Dr Derek McKenzie's home-hitting presentation on structural racism in sport, never forgetting to think "what is the athlete being asked to carry?" and recognising that racism is a mental health issue.

⭐️ Amazing insights from @social.protect highlighting the true costs of online abuse.

⭐️ @drphilclarke on his framework for changing the norms around help-seeking in professional sport

⭐️ And of course, an illuminating address from the inimitable @tonyadamsofficial, Founder of Sporting Chance.

...and so many others.

I am more excited than ever, to get stuck into my sports psychology and human performance work - especially exploring how best to support athletes through times of stress - not only in sport - but beyond the pitch, track or court.

Athletes, current and retiring, need support as humans. And when they come to us, we must assume they have been as damaged as they have been celebrated. That's the reality. Beauty ....and it's beast.

Thankyou @sportingchanceclinic, for a great event. Thanks for the company @racketwrangling.
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#athletementalhealth #sportspschology #humanperformance #athletewellbeing by @syreeta_fonso

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18 days ago

🧠🧠🧠🧠🧠🧠🧠🧠🧠🧠🧠🧠

Stress doesn't just occupy your head. You can also see it in how you move.

When you feel under pressure, your body actually changes the way it trains:

😮‍💨 Breath gets shallow, or even stops. Holding the breath through a lift or a stride messes up rhythm and timing.

😮‍💨 Muscles brace. Opposing muscle groups tighten at the same time, so movement gets stiff and less fluid, and burns more energy.

😮‍💨 Focus narrows. You kind of go into a tunnel and miss the cues around you. Could be your footing. Or the instruction.

😮‍💨 You overthink what's normally automatic. Moves you've done a gazillion times can suddenly feel clunky, because you're consciously checking every step. "Choking" can starts here.

😮‍💨 Old habits creep back. Under stress, we default to the patterns we've drilled longest, not always the ones we've been refining.

😮‍💨 Everything speeds up. Tempo gets rushed and effort feels harder than it actually is.

So what do I do when an athlete is stuck in their head? I often don't start with a conversation. I start with the body.

🧠➡️💪🏾

I'm a massive believer in this.

One basic physical cue, like "push the floor away", "long exhale on the way up" or "soft hands", says one clear job. It interrupts the spiral, gets the movement flowing, and can shift the whole tone of a session in seconds.

Sometimes the fastest route to a calmer mind is through the body.

What's the one cue that brings you back when training feels heavy? Drop it below.👇🏾
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#HumanPerformance #SportPsychology #MindBodyConnection #PerformanceUnderPressure by @syreeta_fonso

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20 days ago