MJ Perform

Strength & conditioning for soccer players. 12+ years keeping athletes on the pitch. Protocols, not guesswork.

[MJ Perform @mjperform]

Most soccer players recover the same way gym-goers do. That's the problem. Team sport recovery is fundamentally different and getting it wrong is why players underperform and break down mid season.
3 years of data, 155 studies. Here is what I found 🧵:

[MJ Perform @mjperform]

Youth athletes don't need more running. They play football 3-4x a week. They run plenty.

What they need:
- Bodyweight mastery
- Eccentric hamstring work
- Landing and deceleration drills
- Loaded patterns when movement quality is there

Zero junk miles. Every minute matters

[MJ Perform @mjperform]

Per-athlete pricing at 20 players (approx, as of March 2026):

TrainHeroic: ~$200/mo
TrueCoach: ~$49/mo
PlayerPlan: $39/mo

Same 20 players. One of these includes football-specific AI, energy system builders, match-day frameworks, and GPS velocity zones.

$1.95 per player p/mth

[MJ Perform @mjperform]

And don't drop eccentric work.

Maintaining Nordics in-season (even 2x4 twice a week) keeps the injury protection you built in pre-season.

Drop them completely and you lose the protective effect in 4-6 weeks.

In-season is where good programming separates itself.

[MJ Perform @mjperform]

The key: anchor everything to match day.

MD-3 = heaviest session. 72 hours to recover.
MD-1 = activation only.

Use wellness data to auto-regulate. If soreness is 4/5 and sleep is 2/5, drop volume 30%. The plan is the starting point, not the final word.

[MJ Perform @mjperform]

"In-season we just maintain."

No. In-season you can still progress. You just have to be smart about it.

Reduce volume. Maintain intensity. A player doing 2x4 at 82% in-season will hold or improve their strength from pre-season.

[MJ Perform @mjperform]

Lesson from this week: "simple" is the hardest thing to build.

The player view looks like nothing. One link, today's session, video demos, wellness check-in.

Behind it: token validation, security rules, real-time scheduling logic, video URL parsing, responsive layout

[MJ Perform @mjperform]

S&C coaches — what's the biggest daily headache in your practice?

Not "getting more clients." The operational stuff.

Programming for 10 different players? Tracking compliance? Seeing the full load picture? Looking professional on a solo budget?

[MJ Perform @mjperform]

The feature I spent the most time on (programme designer) isn't the one coaches talk about most. The share link is. "My players just open a link." That's it. That's the feature.

[MJ Perform @mjperform]

Coaches test software completely differently from developers. A developer asks "does it work?" A coach asks "can I use this at 6:30am in a gym with one hand while watching a player's squat form?" Different standard entirely.

[MJ Perform @mjperform]

Every coach's workflow is slightly different. Supersets + tempo + RPE + block dividers + energy system blocks + notes — all in one session. Edge cases aren't edge cases. They're Tuesday.

Still building. Still coaching.

[MJ Perform @mjperform]

Nordic hamstring exercises reduce hamstring injuries by 51% (van Dyk et al., 2019 — 8,459 athletes).

Two sets. Twice a week. That's it.

If you're working with footballers and not programming eccentric hamstring work, you're ignoring one of the most evidence-supported tools

[MJ Perform @mjperform]

Pushed a fix this week: wellness scores now show a 7-day trend line on the coach dashboard.

One of my test users caught a player's soreness creeping up over 5 days. Adjusted his session before anything went wrong.

That's not a feature. That's injury prevention.

[MJ Perform @mjperform]

@AdvFtbAcad Posture control as primary driver, than his technical skill of kicking

[MJ Perform @mjperform]

@AdvFtbAcad He is easily in top 5 players ALL TIME in Football/Soccer IQ, hands down, for me probably #1 all time... but don't underestimate his physical ability. Ps. find what Fabregas said about him

[MJ Perform @mjperform]

Interesting pattern from user data:

The feature coaches request most isn't the drag-and-drop builder or the AI.

It's the external training log — where players log what they did at club.

Turns out seeing the full load picture matters more than fancy tools.

[Listen My Son @Listen__Son]

Creatine is the most researched supplement on Earth (it’s not a steroid).

Backed by 1,000+ studies, it’s proven to boost brain function, build muscle & slow aging (naturally)

Here’s how to tell if your creatine is pure (+ 7 insane benefits):

[MJ Perform @mjperform]

What my players see when they open their training link:

- Today's session with video demos
- Full programme calendar
- 15-second wellness check-in
- Session feedback
- External training log

No app download. No login. Just a link on WhatsApp.

[MJ Perform @mjperform]

Most semi-pro players do pre-season → feel great → plateau by October.

The reason is almost always the same: they trained volume, not quality.

Running more ≠ running better.
Lifting more ≠ more power.

S&C is about the right stimulus, not the most stimulus.

[MJ Perform @mjperform]

Most coaching software doesn't understand this.

Ask PlayerPlan's AI for an MD-3 session for a centre-back. It gives you posterior chain work. Not bicep curls.

Because it was built for football S&C.

[MJ Perform @mjperform]

MD-3: Heavy day. Squats, trap bar deads, Nordics. 72 hours to recover.

MD-2: Speed & power. Plyos, short sprints. CNS stimulus, low fatigue.

MD-1: Activation only. Movement prep, band work. Feel sharp, not tired.

[MJ Perform @mjperform]

MD+1: Recovery. Pool, cycling, mobility.

MD+2: Assess and reload. Check wellness, reintroduce load based on how they actually feel.