5 Lessons the Everday Athlete can Learn from Elite Sport
“Performance” - development of an athlete's technical, tactical, physiological and psychological/social characteristics to execute a given skill, role or sport.
I am mad about sport.
If you’ve heard of it or seen it on the telly, chances are I have played it in some shape or form.
Rugby, surfing. hockey and cricket among others were at the centre of my life growing up - and when I wasn’t on the pitch, at the crease or in the sea, I was usually watching it on the box. Hardly surprising with two parents who share an obsession with anything involving a ball!
As such, I have always been engrossed by the intricacies of elite sport: the ins and outs of how individuals and teams train to reach the ever-growing peaks of strength, skill and stamina.
From reading books and documentaries on peak performance, as well as being lucky enough to meet some legends from the world of sport, there are select underlying principles that seem to be the common denominator within top-level Athletes.
These principles, which I am going to explore further below, are essential to my coaching philosophy with my Team of Everyday Athletes - and can have a hugely beneficial impact on anyone and everyone in their own fitness journeys, regardless of where you are at.
Obviously certain aspects are going to be vastly different due to the fact we, as muggles, don’t have anywhere near the same resources (time, financial, access etc) that elite Athletes do; but nonetheless, the idea underpinning each principle remains wholly relevant to us normies.
Let me explain…
#01 - Moving with Purpose, Intent & Intensity
Every action, movement or session an Athlete does serves a specific purpose; whether that’s warming up, developing sport-specific strength, or recovering from a game/event at the weekend.
When undertaking every session, the exercises involved are executed with intent - that is, acute concentration on the task at hand so as to create precision and accuracy with whatever it is that they are doing.
Done so at an appropriate intensity for the desired outcome.
So how does this translate to us as Everyday Athletes?
Most of us are pretty strapped for time when it comes to what we can do training-wise during the week. Due to family, work or just general life commitments, we only have a finite amount of time to dedicate to our fitness.
BUT, if we apply the principle above and move with Purpose, Intention and Intensity, then it is amazing how much more efficient you can become - improving your ability to get the work needed to achieve your goals done in a shorter period of time.
This means reducing distractions during a gym session by turning the phone on DND.
Excluding any unnecessary exercises from your session that don’t align with your goal (‘Junk Volume’)
Swapping out a longer run midweek for a shorter interval session that may be a more efficient use of your time.
Whatever it is, there are so many ways to improve EFFICIENCY of your training - and ensure that every action you take with regards to your fitness has a definite purpose within your routine.
And save yourself time wasted doing fluffy b*llocks that has no tangible impact on anything!
#02 - The Holistic Approach - Adopting the Lifestyle
Athletes at the top of to food chain live, eat and breathe their discipline.
Everything in their daily routine is geared towards supporting their athletic progression - be that their nutrition, their sleep, their stress management or managing their mental health.
Partly why so many Elites really struggle in retirement.
Now here comes the caveat when applying this principle to yourself. I am not saying you need to become one of those where going to the gym or running IS your personality (in fact I’ll actively dissuade you from doing so…).
The takeaway from this is to simply take a MORE HOLISTIC approach when it comes to your health and fitness - understanding the value that factors outside of training have on success.
Improving sleep hygiene by drilling a 10-15 minute bedtime routine.
Eating 8-10 servings of the Good Stuff on the daily.
Keeping a short daily journal to stay on top of things in the Upstairs Department.
Any fitness goal - losing some timber, training for a half, rehabbing an injury etc - requires some form of adaptation; and in order to adapt, things have to change. More than simply adding an additional hour or two of exercise per week.
Immersing yourself in the lifestyle necessary to stimulate these changed will not only allow you to reach your initial goal quicker - but I can guarantee that doing so will spark a newfound desire to reach for bigger and better things.
Therefore, having a more holistic approach to your fitness will prove valuable far beyond an initial 12 week training block - instead, it’ll set you up for a longer, healthier life…
#03 - Ruthless Consistency
Elite sport is the embodiment of consistency. Individuals turning up, week in week out, to train hard and take steps ever closer towards the top of their game.
The best way to describe it is a term coined by a clever bloke called Michael Canic:
“Ruthless Consistency” - where “everything you do is consistently aligned with your purpose (and) intentions”
Consistency on the elite level is undoubtedly ‘ruthless’ - and it’s something I encourage on a less intense level with my own Athletes (that is to say, not devoting your entire life to fitness - refer to previous comment re personality…)
What do I mean?
Being consistently good instead of occasionally perfect.
Ticking the boxes MOST of the time, while allowing for inevitable life sh*t getting in the way every now and then.
Understanding that you’re not necessarily going to be motivated throughout the journey, and sometimes it’s going to require a hefty dose of discipline to get the job done.
Ruthless Consistency is all about the long game; whereby you put in the work over an extended period of time, and thus achieve a much greater outcome. If you look at Olympians, for example, who train for 4 years for one race/event - cumulative progression over a period of years that explains how they reach the top of the game.
Applying the concept of RC and adapting it accordingly to your own journey will inevitably set you in good stead to achieve what you want to.
The Holy Trifecta of Patience, Consistency and Discipline…
#04 - Peaks & Troughs - Periodisation
Athletes work through different training phases in accordance with peaking at the point of competition.
These include off-season, pre-season, competition & recovery - a continuous cycle where training loads and volumes change according to where the individual sits time-wise in relation to their training peak.
This is known as Periodisation - adjusting variables to improve long-term performance¹.
Applying this approach to you as an Everyday Athlete, whereby you peak in whatever it is you are looking to do, will allow you to achieve optimal results while simultaneously providing variety in the long run to keep you motivated and conscious that you are moving in the right direction.
Primarily, periodisation is essential for anyone looking to train for a specific event - whether it’s your 1st or your 50th. This means, in a nutshell:
2-4 weeks building a base level of general physical fitness;
6-10 weeks of progressive loading specific to the event;
1-2 weeks of tapering down for the event to ensure the rig is fully recovered.
This cyclical way of approaching training for something specific will provide maximal adaptation and improvement in your discipline - and thus prove successful at its conclusion.²
But a more nuanced way of looking at it is periodising your exercise according to LIFE factors.
Planning ahead of time to account for periods of the year where you may be more or less able to dedicate time to training due to various work, family or personal commitments.
This may give you the peace of mind that you will be able to keep progressing despite challenges that lie ahead.
For example, I am currently training for a 215-mile continuous race in Scotland - which, as you can imagine, requires a hefty load of running as part of preparations. However, I am also in the process of moving into a new flat which has, and undoubtedly will, take up a lot of my time.
As such, I have mapped out my training to allow for the fact I won’t have as much disposable time to train by increasing the distances I am running at the weekend; and thus give me more time during the week to get everything that needs to be sorted, sorted.
Either way, periodising your training to peak at certain points across the year is an awesome way to give you the confidence that whatever it is you want to achieve becomes a certainty as opposed to a distant possibility.
As the old saying goes, fail to plan, plan to fail…
#05 - Recovery is King
If you have ever watched professional sport, you will understand the insane amount of emphasis placed on recovery.
From personal chefs and nutritionists, to physios, masseuses and osteopaths, elite athletes usually have an army of professionals behind them to maximise recovery from competition - leaving not even the tiniest of stones unturned on the matter.
For most, the time dedicated to recovery far outweighs that of the actual training itself due to the sheer intensities that they work at - and in the case of individuals such as footballers, the requirement for peak performance comes thick and fast due to a dense calendar of fixtures.
It’s all well and good to put in the grind during sessions in the gym, on the roads or elsewhere; but if it is not backed up with appropriate levels of rest and recovery, then all of your hard work will be ineffective relative to its potential.
Now I am not referring to the groovy gadgets or swanky fitness watches on the market in 2024 - I am talking nailing the basics.
Ensuring that the food and drink game is supporting your physical exertion - taking into consideration the fact that standard Recommended Daily Allowances (RDA’s) are often far below what you actually need in certain areas of your diet (namely, protein and water intake among others).
Taking steps to improve the quality of your sleep.
Practising some form of mobility work or stretching, preferably relevant to your activity of choice/movement.
None of this stuff costs money (well, technically food - but there are so many ways to make simple swaps that cost the same if not less than previous choices) - it simply requires a bit of conscious effort to make changes to your routine that will have a hugely positive effect on the outcome of your fitness journey.
If you are erring towards the more serious side of the island with your exercise, then make the most of the fact that cutting-edge sport science relating to recovery is scarily accessible these days. I am talking the Whoops and Garmins of the world, that provide valuable biometric data fields at your fingertips to ensure that your recovery game is appropriate to that of your exercise routine.
Whatever your experience level in the Wonderful World of Fitness, make sure that you take necessary steps to recovery harder than your training and thus reduce risk of injury while simultaneously increasing output of all your graft during sessions.
The Final Word
Elite Athletes are role models for a reason, not least in their work ethic, discipline and sheer physiological achievement that seems to grow ever larger year on year.
As Everyday Athletes, we can learn so many valuable lessons from those at the top of their game - lessons that can be tailored, scaled and implemented at EVERY level of the fitness pyramid from beginner to expert.
Try it and see for yourself - add a touch of the Athlete Approach to your routine and watch your results skyrocket…
For information about becoming one of my Everyday Athletes at TGPT, drop me a line using the link below to get in touch.
References
Lorenz D, Morrison S. CURRENT CONCEPTS IN PERIODIZATION OF STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING FOR THE SPORTS PHYSICAL THERAPIST. Int J Sports Phys Ther. 2015 Nov;10(6):734-47. PMID: 26618056; PMCID: PMC4637911.
Cunanan AJ, DeWeese BH, Wagle JP, Carroll KM, Sausaman R, Hornsby WG 3rd, Haff GG, Triplett NT, Pierce KC, Stone MH. The General Adaptation Syndrome: A Foundation for the Concept of Periodization. Sports Med. 2018 Apr;48(4):787-797. doi: 10.1007/s40279-017-0855-3. PMID: 29307100.
