Hey All,

I’m going to format my post so that I give you an update on practice, advice to young athletes, and tips for the average person. I have each section in bold.

Practice Update

I just finished my second week of practice. The first week was what they call an “introduction” week and even though it was supposed to be mild, everyone in the group would agree it was anything but mild. Everyone was sore!!! Especially me, because as you know I haven’t trained since last year. This week was even more intense with timed runs that equaled about 300 – 600 meters on the track. This was a great opportunity to see what kind of shape I am actually in and how far I have to go. To my surprise, I am not too far off. 🙂 But I still have a ways to go.

The highlight of the week for me was actually not on the track but in the weight room! The training group that I work with is BIG on technique with everything (drills, running, and warm up) and that includes the weight room. This week after years of snatching incorrectly (snatching is an olympic lift that athletes use to gain power and strength for more information Click Here) and one on one work with the weight room conditioning coach, I hit a major milestone and perfected the snatch. I know you are probably thinking, “how did you go so long without learning proper technique?” Well, when you are surrounded by other athletes and there are only a few coaches (one or two) available and you’re as terrible as I was and slowly improving, it is easy to let it slide and get away with close enough. So after two weeks here and one on one coaching (I was also starting from a much better place than a few years ago thanks to my previous coaches), I finally got it!!!!! It only proves that this is going to be my best year yet! With proper technique on and off the track, I’ll use the correct muscles, the right way and be stronger and faster than ever before!

Advice to Young Athletes

My advice to young athletes is to learn the proper way NOW! The benefits to executing proper technique are enormous and the sooner you begin the more you will reap from it and you will most likely be ahead of the curve. My problem was, I never liked the weight room so I never took the extra time to learn how to do things the right way. I remember in high school, we had great weight room coaches and instead of taking advantage of it, I was too worried about not looking manly. Lol. And now at 27 I am just learning proper technique, smh. I suggest young athletes to go above and beyond to figure it out! Schedule private sessions with your weight room coach if you are not getting it or if they have too many athletes to really show you. Look up videos on youtube! Put in the extra effort now so you don’t have to worry about it later! I sure wish I had.

Workout TIps 

For the normal person trying to get strong or lose weight, I actually don’t think it is necessary for you to use weights and definitely not using olympic lifts like the snatch or power clean. For the average person, I would suggest using body weight and circuit exercises. Not only will it give you great results but it will also save you $$ cash!! Here are 50 great bodyweight exercises you should try (Click this link) and to transform those exercises into a circuit just do about 5-8 of them for about 30- 60 seconds depending on the exercise (or 10 – 20 reps) and run about 20 meters in-between each one. When doing circuits it is best to do about 3-5 sets. Don’t take a break during the set and in-between take anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes depending on how you feel! As the circuits get easier decrease your rest time. And remember you will be sore when you first working out but the great thing about working out is the more you workout the less sore you will be. And the soreness only last for a few days. So don’t give up!!!

Thanks for Reading!

I’ll continue to keep everyone updated on how training is going and give tips for young athletes and the average person. Leave a comment and let me know if you want to know anything and I’ll make sure to respond or write a blog post about it!!!

Thanks for reading and thanks for all your love and support!!