Brigid Behan

Newport RI - Gettysburg College Women's Soccer

 

I experienced the most drastic change of my soccer career once I started training with Jesse, and I owe 99.9% of my success as a collegiate athlete to these training sessions. I started Boxfit going into my junior year and, as my coach will confirm, I discovered a new potential in my overall athletic ability.

 

In the first two years prior to training with Jesse I finished my fitness tests with pretty average results, started three games total, and had a variety of muscle injuries. This all changed after my Boxfit workouts. In my junior year preseason I finished first in every fitness test, and I started all but one game throughout my junior year and senior year. Boxing was and continues to be the most effective way to build up and maintain my cardio, especially as a soccer player expected to run for 90 minutes a game.

 

In terms of training for upcoming seasons, Jesse was able to make every workout relevant to my soccer training, proving how every exercise would benefit me in a game. The workouts were the hardest I have ever experienced, but I saw steady progress with each session. Overall, I saw improvements in my speed, endurance, strength, balance, and flexibility.

 

As a female athlete, it is hard to push yourself to your maximum potential, especially with weights. Nonetheless, by incorporating a well-versed weight-training program into my workout regime, I recognized an immediate improvement in my ability to physically compete in games without getting knocked off the ball. The workouts were far from repetitive; one day I ran beach sprints and the next I did burpees up a hill. Incorporating the soccer ball when appropriate, there was a clear balance within each session. They were also carefully planned in terms of a day-to-day structure and for the long term.

 

As I recovered from a torn hamstring, the workouts were structured to strengthen my muscles while also keeping a large focus on recovery. I was mentally prepared for whatever my coach had in store because I knew that I would not experience a workout tougher than my training sessions with Jesse. Each workout was specialized, including the ones I did while recovering from bi-lateral compartmental release surgery. Jesse’s thorough knowledge on injury maintenance and recovery (while still pushing me to my limits) enabled me to return to play in half the time that was expected. As I started to prepare for my final season, I was not required to follow my team fitness program. My coach simply asked me to “continue doing whatever it was I did last year”.