The aspects of life on the road often go overlooked by people pursuing their athletic peak. To better understand the extent that these outside factors can impact performance, I brought in Lauren Embree. As a junior, Lauren was ranked Number 1 in every age division in the US. She is a two time NCAA Champion and 5 time All-American at Florida and was recently inducted into the 2023 Florida Hall of Fame, She left college ranked #1 in the country, and as a pro, she was ranked top 250 in the world. She has played all around the world, and has a first person understanding of the challenges on the road. Since retiring from professional tennis, she coached college tennis, and now has transitioned her focus to functional medicine and nutrition. All aimed at helping athletes create better systems for their health. In this episode we touch on what makes an effective coach at all levels, the challenges associated with going up each level of sport, and how diet and stress could be the biggest kryptonite or secret weapon for aspiring athletes. Lauren’s Links Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lembree888/ Website: https://www.embreewellness.org/ Exponential Athlete Socials Twitter: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/athletexpodcast Instagram: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/exponentialathlete/ LinkedIn: ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-exponential-athlete-podcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4XmCCYsVVOVmRavFYT5b1C Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-exponential-athlete/id1726985417 Website: https://exponentialathlete.co/ Research: - Praising effort over outcome - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6176062/ Affiliates: Track your health data with Whoop. Get 1 month free - join.whoop.com/exponentialathlete Fount FLyKitt - www.fount.bio (Use code "ATHLETEX" for 10% off) Timestamps: 00:02:17 - How do sports change as you go up in level? 00:04:53 - The role of coaching 00:07:05 - How Parents Can Be Good Coaches 00:11:39 - Keeping Parenting and coaching separate 00:15:22 - What did Lauren Love about Tennis? 00:17:41 - Challenges of Life on the Tour 00:23:27 - Off Court Variables 00:30:09 - Walking Away From Professional tennis 00:31:56 - What got you there? 00:33:56 - What Would You Have Done Differently? 00:40:17 - Transition into coaching 00:46:26 - Coach in College Vs tennis Coach 00:49:58 - Biggest Surprise Athlete to Coach 00:53:01 - How Should You Evaluate Coaches 00:59:48 - Transitioning to Nutrition and Functional Medicine 01:05:46 - How Do Stress and Nutrition Impact Sports Outcomes 01:10:11 - what are athletes overlooking diet wise 01:12:56 - Role of the gut microbiome 01:16:44 - Favorite meal for athletes 01:18:37 - What is so important about protein? 01:20:50 - Hypothetical 1: Tennis Player vs football player 01:21:41 - Hypothetical 2: Designing a Program for a Tennis Player