Be Realistic You are what you are! You can only work to maximize what you have to be the best athlete you can be.
Working outside your genetic limit will lead to injuries, missed workouts and mental letdown.
Many athletes try to work outside their genetic limits by using performance-enhancing drugs.
This will lead to injuries, possible legal sanctions and emotional let down.
If an athlete uses drugs in high school and then goes to college they may be tested.
Once in a testing system the athlete runs the risk of losing eligibility.
It is best to stay clean and let the chips fall where they may.
Athletics is a great teacher of life.
If an athlete truly devotes all of his mental and physical energy to being the best he/she can possibly be the reward will be greater than the accolades he or she desires from athletics.
The mental and physical development achieved by what I call selling out to achieve ones best will carry over into all of aspects of a person's life forever.
Life and sport is a series of stress and relaxation moments.
Victory-Defeat, Happiness- Sadness, Pain-Pleasure are the ups and downs of competition.
In the process of developing an athlete into the best that they can be, every one of these emotions is felt.
Workouts provide the challenge; rest provides the relaxation and reflection.
This leads to being prepared for competition.
Inside competition is the unknown of what will be delivered.
Learning to prepare as an athlete develops a skill that can be applied to everything in life.
Planning, preparing, working hard, thinking analytically and dealing with emotional ups and downs are all life skills.
Being a quality parent, spouse, teacher etc.
requires the same mental makeup as being a successful athlete.
I believe the important experience of being an athlete is focusing more on the development of the person and the ability to focus and truly maximize ones own ability than focusing on the external thoughts of accolades, prestige and notoriety.
Fame can be gone in a flash but personal development is eternal.
Anything Can Happen Kids can catch a growth spurt and become genetic lottery tickets that make it to college or the NFL.
I have seen kids that at first I thought had no chance to play college football turn into college players.
This is the reason you must dream and put every ounce of energy into your development of as an athlete.
Anything can happen so you must prepare hard.
The important thing is that the preparation is geared toward personal development not just accolades.
Athletics should always be about the development of the athlete as a person.
Get an Evaluation In my training system, I always start with a legitimate evaluation of an athlete and then give them an honest assessment based off of legitimate unbiased numbers.
For example some measurements are a 40 yd.
dash, a vertical jump or a short shuttle.
These numbers give me a good indication of how athletic a kid is based off how old they are at the time of the tests.
In my opinion it is best to lead an athlete with unbiased facts and move in a direction that is best for an athlete.
Getting an assessment by an unbiased authority will allow you to move an athlete in the right direction.
I have seen many times where a parent or coach will tell or influence a kid to work towards unrealistic goals.
This leads to an emotional let down of both parties not to mention wasted time.
The emotional want of success for a kid or pupil leads to a distorted viewpoint.
An example in football is a parent who takes his son to football camps like Ohio State University or University of Nebraska, which are division 1 programs when the kid is realistically a division 2 player.
This is a complete waste of time and money for both parent and kid.
It is important to get an evaluation for an athlete for their playing ability.
Evaluations can be performed by credible coaches or educated former players.
This helps determine the direction an athlete should go if they want to move to the next level.
It is important to move in the right direction or a let down will occur.
Commitment If you really want to be a great athlete and make it to higher levels you have to be fully committed.
You have to have a vision that consumes your mind everyday.
It has to be the number one thing you think about.
Without this focus you will just be mediocre.
Every great athlete I have coached was committed and totally focused.
If this meant no vacation, no girlfriend, no partying, no messing around then it has to be done.
I am not saying to blow things off like school and loved ones or other enjoyable activities.
What I am saying is the thought has to always be how do I get my sleep, my workouts, my meals, my practices and my social life all in at once.
If this means you cut social life more to train then you must do it.
You have the rest of your life to party, socialize, date etc.
If any of these things causes you to miss any part of your training then you need to re-evaluate your priorities or you are just wasting your time.
Ever since I was in high school I would not date a girl that did not allow my training to be number one.
I never went on vacation unless there was a place to train and good food to eat.
My training was always number one.
Needless to say I did not get married until I was 30 but I did reach my goal of making it to professional sports and into an N.
F.
L camp.
You have to see yourself where you want to be.
In college at San Diego State University I would walk to class and tell myself you will run a 4.
5 40 yd.
dash, you will weigh 250 lbs.
you will bench press 400 lbs.
and whatever other numbers I felt I needed to get into the N.
F.
L.
I know all the best athletes I have trained had this mentality and that is why I love training athletes and get along with them so well.
I know how they think and feel and it is just awesome to be around like-minded motivated people.
I did have fun in college and I did date girls and I did go on vacation but training was always number one.
Honestly that mentality was transferable to my coaching.
I would not be denied as a coach either to come up with information for my athletes to succeed.
This has shown in the amount of kids that I have trained and parents that have brought their kids to me.
It is because of my commitment to be great that kids and parents trust me.
Motivation "Alex I need some motivation to workout on my own!" This is a phrase I am used to and leads to another of my weight loss motivation tips.
Working out on your own can be difficult.
If you get into great shape it is not as hard.
Getting into great shape is always the challenge for most people.
From my years as a personal trainer I have provided much outside motivation for others.
It is a very real concept to need a good coach or partner.
If not I would have been out of business a long time ago.
I have based my business on teaching people how to feel better, look better and live better.
This all comes from the information given in this website.
I personally use outside motivation to keep myself in shape and not get too far off the path of physical fitness.
Some of the people I lean on are my good friends.
Luckily I have good friends who are very fitness oriented.
When I sense I am getting off track I align myself with my friends and work to set up a schedule that allows us to workout together.
Sometimes we play games, other times we train in the gym and other times we train outside when the weather is nice in Scottsdale, Arizona.
This is another of my best weight loss motivation tips.
Some advice I would give you as a friend is to surround yourself with people who value physical fitness, hire a coach or join some organization that focuses on physical fitness.
I feel so much better when I am in shape and my good friends know this also.
We push each other to get in shape so we can enjoy life.
One of my good friends motto is "I work hard so I can play hard!" Good friends, coaches and partners stay on top of you to be consistent and hold you accountable when you start missing workouts, making excuses and stop doing the things you need to do to stay in shape!