Adaptation and acceptance: being an athlete with chronic illness

Julia Key (Brooklyn Training Hall Athlete) shares with us the experience of being diagnosed with
Type 1 Diabetes and KC and Blanco share how they approached coaching Julia.

Living with - let alone - training with chronic conditions can be really hard, are physically and mentally draining, and often come with unexpected obstacles to overcome. People with chronic illnesses and disabilities have to constantly adapt both physically and mentally to tough situations, so adding that on top of trying to perform at one’s highest level possible is really tough. So how do you create a sustainable mindset and athlete-coach relationship with these challenges in mind? How do we talk about these struggles without using them as an excuse or bringing ourselves down? As a coach, how do you talk to your athlete when things just aren’t clicking?