Holding higher expectations for yourself.

Growing up as a young athlete I played most of my tennis at MITS, the Melbourne International Tennis School. MITS was where aspiring tennis proffessionals from all over the world would travel for the tennis edge. MITS consisted of, and exposed its athletes to high level coaches and sporting professionals ( including, Michael Baroch, coach of Mark Philippoussis and Maria Sharapova. Noel Blundell, coach of Paul Annacone, Nicole Pratt and renowned Sports Psychologist for Carrie Webb and many world class golfing and sporting professionals.) There was a host of other coaches and experts in nutrition, recovery, fitness, running and more and this kind of exposure put me in the know with regards to high level sporting performance. 

Have you ever desired to know more? When every bone in your body craves knowledge and information. That was me. I was like a sponge soaking it all up and that is what it takes to be the best.

Common questions were:

What does it take to be a professional?

How do we get the best out of our bodies?

Why do we need to be strong in the shoulder?

How do we plan for success?

How do we choose the best exercises to drive the results that we require?

Recovery Shmuvery...Is it so important?

It doesn't matter where your starting or what your starting with. The only question that matters is what do you want??

Take a moment to stop and think about what is important to you..

Do you want to be a better athlete? Do you suffer back pain and want to get rid of it? Do you want to walk up a flight of stairs without puffing? What is it for you?

I encourage you to take at least 5 minutes to make a massive list of about 10 or more things that are really important to you and what you want from your body and health. Then rate them 1-10. 1 being most important and 10 being least important. 

My list looks like this

1. To be as fit and strong as I can be so that i can inspire and encourage my athletes to live a strong healthy life.
2. To have GPP General Physical Preparedness so that I can take on any physical challenge at any moment and be well prepared to take it on.
3. To be strong enough to pick my girlfriend up and carry her to bed like a princess.
4. To be physically capable of competing against Victorian Grade 1 tennis players, I want to stay in touch with the game at a high level.
5. To reduce my chance of injury from everyday life by being in great shape.
6. To be able to play sports with 100% commitment.
7. To be able to work a full time job and still have the energy and motivation to give my body the workout it needs to be fit, healthy strong and mobile.
8. To be able to demonstrate technique and skill across a broad range of skills and activities.
9. To be able to perform manual labour as a favour to friends of family without getting tired.
10. To be better everyday.

Now we know what matters to us!!

This is the stuff that matters.

When your brain wants to rest, when your body says no it's up to you to decide whether you are being slack or smart. It is smart to rest when your body is on the brink of injury so take a day or two to rest. Or use that day to get into yoga and lengthen your muscles and tendons so that when you go back to training there is less resistance from major muscle groups and doing what you used to do is now easier. The body can move more freely with increased mobility so use your days off to move you closer to your desires above. 

My life looks like this.

TIME/DAY	MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY	SATURDAY	SUNDA
5:30	Welding	Welding	Welding	Welding	Welding
6:30	Welding	Welding	Welding	Welding	Welding
7:30	Welding	Welding	Welding	Welding	Welding
8:30	Welding	Welding	Welding	Welding	Welding	PT
9:10	Eat+ Stretch	Eat+ Stretch	Eat+ Stretch	Eat+ Stretch	Eat+ Stretch
9:40	Welding	Welding	Welding	Welding	Welding	Trickyfit	TrickyFit
10:30	Welding	Welding	Welding	Welding	Welding		PT
11:30	Welding	Welding	Welding	Welding	Welding		PT
12:30	Welding	Welding	Welding	Welding	Welding
13:30	Welding	Welding	Welding	Welding	Welding
14:30	Welding	Welding	Welding	Welding	Welding
15:30	Sleep	Sleep	Sleep	Sleep	Sleep
16:30	Yoga 90min	Trickyfit 45	TrickyFit 45	Foam Roller	Stretch 45
17:30		PT	PT		PT	TrickyFit	Bike Ride
18:30		PT			PT
19:30		Study		PT
20:30		Study		PT
21:30	Sleep	Sleep	Sleep	Sleep	Sleep	Sleep	Sleep

Starting out labouring and welding 9 hours a day and 45 hours a week I knew that my body was going to hurt and it did. I constantly had to have ice baths and stretch daily. Now I have them because I want to. Ice baths, stretching, yoga, mid day sleeps and stretching in my lunch break allows me to be alive and mobile in the hours after work when I craft my life. Welding is not my passion but it supplies the money that is required to fund my life and my TrickyFit business. My passion is fitness, health and guiding people towards creating their own results. By taking the best care of myself I can take the best care of others. This is totally aligned with my ambitions and that is why I can stay fit, active and motivated. When I am slack and don't want to train or can't be bothered eating right I remind myself that I am letting my clients down, my friends down and the people around me that love to exercise with me. 

Take the time to figure out what you want and how you want to spend your time. We are creatures of habit - everyone has heard this and it is true. Your plan doesn't have to look strict like mine, but do plan your new habits and try follow them on a path to achievement.