Training is at the core of an athlete’s high-performance life, but it’s so much more than that.
Ever wonder how professional athletes stay on top? How they perform consistently well, day in, day out? Yes, they train hard, but that only gets them so far. The real secret to their success is a holistic approach to achieving their goals. A 24/7 commitment to being their best across their mindset, training, nutrition and recovery. We don’t expect you to be aiming for superhuman, pro-athlete status, of course. But, whatever level you are, if you want to become the greatest version of yourself, you need to embrace this holistic mindset, too. Find out what 3 building blocks make up this approach and how they connect to each other.
1. Training Diversity
To keep growing, it’s important to challenge your body to develop by giving it new stimuli. First, through training variety whereby you split your year into 3 or 4 training journeys, each with a different primary focus. Second, by training in different heart rate intensity zones to condition your body in different ways. Learn more in our article on workout variety.
2. Fuel for Greatness
● Eating clean: Healthy nutrition through clean eating fuels the body with exactly what it needs to achieve both mental and physical strength. This back-to-basics nutrition concept supports you in numerous ways, from boosting brain productivity and raising energy levels to helping prevent health risks like high blood pressure, and assisting in recovery.
● Hydrating properly: It seems obvious that if you sweat a lot, you need to drink a lot. Yet this important nutrition habit sometimes gets overlooked or isn’t done the right way, and it can harm your performance in all kinds of ways.
● Adapting intake: It’s important to adapt your nutritional intake as you progress in your training goals. Your metabolism ramps up as your body develops, meaning that it needs to consume more calories over time. Not fueling up at the right level can slow down your athletic performance.
3. Recovery: No Rest No Reward
● Training breaks: Athletic progress takes place not just in training but also during days off. Exercise stimulates muscles, while rest enables muscles to regenerate and grow. To progress in your goals, you need to strike a balance between training and recovery periods.
● Relaxation techniques: It’s important to build relaxation into your daily routine as a way to reduce stress. Why? Stress is the enemy of achieving athletic goals. It messes up your sleep, drains your energy for training, leads to poor eating habits, and sends your attitude spiraling downward. Techniques like meditation, yoga and breathing exercises do wonders to relax your body and mind to ward off stress. Find what works for you.
● Sleep: We’ve said it before, but we’ll keep on repeating it – good sleep is essential to performance. It supports muscle growth, stress reduction and overall well-being. Don’t even try to succeed without it.
Putting Together the Holistic Puzzle
Body, brain, attitude – they’re all connected. When you improve in one area, you automatically enrich the others. Good nutrition and recovery support training goals. Seeing good results from training stokes your motivation, and that drives you to set the bar higher, and to be more disciplined about eating, training and recovering. The cycle repeats. Success builds on success. It takes all 3 pieces to build the puzzle we call long-term athletic development. It isn’t always easy, but it’s the only way to reach your true potential.
