Friday, January 8, 2016

Can you tweak your training to make it better this year?

Messing around at the Science Gallery - me behind the screens!


At this time of year everyone wants to be an Olympian or World Champion and that is really a great thing. So how do we get from competing in small tournaments (no matter the sport) to taking home that gold medal? 

One of the smallest changes is just training more, or training smarter. For me that means getting up a bit earlier now for more plyometrics, and proper stretching after running. This is the plan anyhow, reality will probably be scuppered by the rain based on the deluge in Dublin so far. 

It probably doesn't sound like a huge change but I've found those tiny tweaks give better long-term results than anything else. I go to a Pilates class every week, so last year I started adding some omoves to my daily stretches. Now I can look back and feel how differently things are working.  I still can't put my feet behind my head or anything super-flexible though ...

And I've accepted I've lost some of my MuayThai skills just because I don't train as often or as hard as I used to. There was a long break (excuse the pun) after some nasty injuries and I made a big effort last year to listen to other trainers and go back to basics with my own stuff.

I didn't need a personal trainer or expensive gadgets. I just needed to listen to the people around me who spotted my flaws.  

A big part of that was adjusting a 'get it now' attitude. So I was delighted to see one of my favourite magazines Women's Health making this announcement: No more Bikini Body stories.

Now we don't do sport to have a bikini body but if we' re honest that little voice is often at the back of our heads - that voice expecting instant muscle or speed improvements.

The editor wrote: "We’d rather focus on the greater benefits of getting a strong-as-hell core: running, surfing, dancing, climbing, being able to carry a 2-year-old up and down the stairs 10 times a day."

All those things take time. There's no reason why anyone reading this today couldn't come back next January with a list of medals, titles, faster times, more fights. 

Homework


Take some time, think about one small change which you can make to your sports training and DO IT ...

Let me know what it is? All the magazines say there's something about telling other people that makes us more likely to stick to the plans so they must be right! 
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