Share your story! We invite listeners of the podcast to share how they've applied the concepts, strategies, and lessons from our podcast to their everyday lives. Whether you’re enhancing productivity, improving decision-making, or fostering better relationships, we want to hear how Performance Intelligence (PQ) has impacted you.

In this episode, Ryan Shepheard shares his passion for the intersection of performance in sports and education, offering valuable insights into his journey. Ryan served as a FIFA international futsal referee for 16 years and was part of the AFC elite panel for 15 years. He had the honour of officiating at two World Cups in 2021 and 2024.

Join us as we explore these inspiring real-world applications and celebrate the transformative power of PQ in action!

Interested in sharing your story? Email Producer Shannon at support@performanceintelligence.com today with your story and contact details.

Use Code "PIPODCAST10" to get 10% off your Lumo Coffee order:https://lumocoffee.com/

Learn more about Andrew and Performance Intelligence: https://performanceintelligence.com/
Find out more about Andrew's Keynotes : https://performanceintelligence.com/keynotes/

Follow Andrew May: https://www.instagram.com/andrewmay/

If you enjoy the podcast, we would really appreciate you leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Play. It takes less than 60 seconds and really helps us build our audience and continue to provide high quality guests.

In this episode Andrew and Shona discuss:

0:10 Shona’s definition of recovery, training is important but you need to recover and the research into mental recovery that led to Shona’s work at the AIS.

6:30 How to make physical and mental recovery sound normal to the average person, there’s a lot of magic in the mental side of recovery and crossing mental and physical recovery.

11:00 How Shona measures recovery, is wearable tech all that useful in recovery and knowing all your stats isn’t always the best thing for some people.

16:20 Sleep is the most important factor in recovery, every athlete is different in how much knowledge you can load them up with in the pre-season and Shona’s example of how this had played out with a team she worked with.

25:30 The strong link between learning and sleep, Simone Biles taking time off and coming back even stronger and the shorter off seasons players have compared to a few years ago.

33:10 Some examples of how you can add some recovery to your life, Shona’s role in starting up the recovery centre at the AIS and the concept of a recovery rocket alongside the recovery points system.

44:05 Coaches need some recovery for themselves, being tired and fatigued changes everything about your mood and some of the external factors such as family that can impact recovery.

52:00 Getting exercise in the time that works for you, walking to get your brain going and we don’t understand the effects screen time has on us.

56:40 Video games aren’t recovery, the growing use of VR in recovery and using AI along with VR to assist imagery.

1:03:15 How Andrew gets people to change their behaviours and where you can find Shona.

Listen to the Real Science of Sport episode mentioned: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-real-science-of-sport-podcast/id1461719225?i=1000712107079
Read the Recovery Umbrella article: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34941807/
View the Recovery Rocket:https://performanceintelligence.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/recovery-rocket-1.png

https://performanceintelligence.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/recovery-rocket-2.png

Use Code "PIPODCAST10" to get 10% off your Lumo Coffee order:https://lumocoffee.com/

Learn more about Andrew and Performance Intelligence: https://performanceintelligence.com/
Find out more about Andrew's Keynotes : https://performanceintelligence.com/keynotes/

Follow Andrew May: https://www.instagram.com/andrewmay/

If you enjoy the podcast, we would really appreciate you leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Play. It takes less than 60 seconds and really helps us build our audience and continue to provide high quality guests.

Discover the surprising power of vulnerability in leadership as Martin Sheppard shares the moment that reshaped his approach to leading teams. With insights from former NSW Premier Mike Baird, this episode dives into why every team member brings something unique—and how great leaders unlock that potential. Packed with real stories and actionable advice, it’s a must-listen for anyone ready to lead with authenticity and impact.

Connect with Martin at his LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martinsheppard1/?originalSubdomain=au
Or through the KPMG website: https://kpmg.com/au/en/home/contacts/s/martin-sheppard.html

Use Code "PIPODCAST10" to get 10% off your Lumo Coffee order:https://lumocoffee.com/

Learn more about Andrew and Performance Intelligence: https://performanceintelligence.com/
Find out more about Andrew's Keynotes : https://performanceintelligence.com/keynotes/

Follow Andrew May: https://www.instagram.com/andrewmay/

If you enjoy the podcast, we would really appreciate you leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Play. It takes less than 60 seconds and really helps us build our audience and continue to provide high quality guests.